We have a well-worn copy of And the Doorbell Rang at our house and every time I read it, I find it delightful. Just last night Phoebe and I read it again and she wanted to know whether the cat had been there all along and belonged to the family, or whether it had sneaked its way inside along with some of the many visitors the family welcomed that day. So we went back and found the cat on each page—and the cat kind of has its own little story within the story, which was fun to discover together. Pat Hutchins hides so many details—and alternative storylines—in her pictures.
We also have Where, Oh Where is Rosie's Chick (though I believe that one is in our shipment, may it arrive in one piece), which is great for teaching children to look for information in the pictures that is not shared in the text.
"You know, Pat Hutchins wrote a book that I really like called Which Witch is Which? But I've never been able to find a copy to share with my children and now that my children are all grown up, it doesn't seem worth it to find a copy at all. But I just love that book!" I said to Phoebe as we closed And the Doorbell Rang.
Phoebe snuggled in closer to me and looked up into my eyes.
"I am not all grown up," she pointed out.
And she's right! There's still time to find and share my favourite books with my kids!
Though it seems as if it's a little bit out of print, judging by these prices:
To be fair, it is possible to order a used copy for a much better. I just haven't ever done it.
But! You can check it out to read on Internet Archive! Actually, a lot of Pat Hutchins' titles are available there (though it's hit or miss on whether or not you can actually check them out to read). We read Which Witch is Which, which all the children enjoyed listening in on.
And then we checked out The Very Worst Monster (I remember this book fondly as well, now that I think about it). Inside there was a checkout slip and whose name was at the top of the slip? Nancy's!
The kids thought that was funny and wondered whether it was me on the slip, but I don't think it was because I didn't attend Jefferson Park Elementary. But we had a good conversation about how libraries used to keep track of circulation! (Which Witch is Which only had an envelope in the back, which Alexander was curious about, so it was lovely to see a check out slip with the very next book we checked out).
And, yes, The Very Worst Monster was also delightful!
Then we read Sticky Titch, which...wasn't my favourite (it's apparently based on a television show created by Pat Hutchins), but still had all of Pat Hutchins' usual charm.
Actually, Pat Hutchins' diverse illustration style(s) remind me a bit of Shauna Mooney Kawasaki (I really need to finish writing up that project...but I got busy with the whole "moving my family to Doha" project...and haven't). She has a very distinctive drawing style (actually...multiple styles that are very much recognizable as "her") but also works with other mediums, making miniature figures, fabric arts, clay...
The kids want to read a few other books from Pat Hutchins' collection...but we have to get ready to go to church...so we'll have to do that later.
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