KATY and the BIG SNOW

When I was 13 I got a job babysitting twice weekly for a local Assembly of God for two of their weekly meetings. I would stay in the nursery with the little kids, while their parents prayed or studied in the sanctuary. One little boy, by the name of Hunter, was very fond of trucks, so I brought a book from home to read to him. It was KATY and the BIG SNOW,\’c3\’82\’c2\~ by Virginia Lee Burton, a book I had read to my younger siblings, and which was already all taped up on the side from too much love. Hunter loved it. He wanted me to read it to him every time, sometimes several times, and before too long, he was practically reading it to me. I grew out of that job, and moved on, but another little boy at my parents church saw the book when he was over at my mom and dad’s and he also loved it, and borrowed it on a semi-permanent basis. Eventually, he too moved on, and the book returned to my parent’s shelves.\par
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Sometime in the past year, my mom offered to let me go through her children’s books and “borrow” (on a semi-permanent basis!) some of them for my boys. She made sure that I saw KATY and I brought it home, but forgot about it. While we were talking about Judah’s love of heavy equipment the other day on the phone she asked if I’d read KATY to him yet – I hadn’t, but I got it out. And yes, again, it is a hit. Judah was mesmerized, the first time, which isn’t entirely unusual. He asked for it again the next day, and ever since then, although we’ve only been reading it once a day, he’s going around quoting from the book, “Help! Help!… Follow Me, said Katy!”\par
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What is the appeal of this book? I don’t understand! Perhaps it’s all of the little pictures, outside of the central illustration, of various equipment pieces, clearly labeled. Probably the repetition of lines helps:\’c3\’82\’c2\~”Help! Help! said the policeman, Help us get out to protect the city!” “Sure, said KD, Follow me!” and the same with the firemen, and the water and electric company, and the post office… I don’t know what exactly about it appeals to the psyche of a small boy, but something tells me I’ll be reading it over and over and over again for the next 3 -5 years!