Speed Goldbug

Richard Scarry, I love you, but your books are looooong.

When I was a kid, the book titled Cars and Trucks and Things That Go was referred to as "Where's Goldbug?" Because the point of the book was to find this little tiny gold bug on every single page. Sure, there were also fascinating vehicles like the pickle car and the alligator car and the lemon car, but also, cleverly hidden on each and every page, was Goldbug. Often his little eyes and antennae were the only bits of him peaking out of a hot dog or ambulance or train so it could take a while to find him.

Where's Goldbug?

I loved these Richard Scarry books as a kid. I used to spend a lot of time wondering what it would be like to grow up and live in a shoe, or drive a banana mobile, or visit zoos where the animals held balloons. Even today theses books are one of my favorite gifts to give kids, and yet, when my kids are allowed one more book before bed and they choose one of these lengthy tomes, I inwardly groan. To my kids I say, "OK, let's do this." But really I'm checking the clock to see if we even have enough time to get to the middle of the book.

Now don't get me wrong, I really do love the details in these stories and if it's the first book we choose I usually enjoy it as much as the kids. It's when we're done reading and it's truly time for bed and I let the kids talk me into another book (because I also secretly love bed time snuggles and books), that I hope and pray for a shorter read.

Turbo knows this. When he's on his last book, whether it's an extra one or just the last of his allotted 5 books, he seeks out the longest book he can find. In the light of day I'm flattered. He wants to spend extra time with me? Ahh, shucks! But I know what he's doing, cheeky fellow.

Once daddy takes Smiley to bed, Turbo and I have time for one more book with just us. Tonight when the final book selected was the Cars and Trucks, I told him we didn't have enough time to do the whole book.

Turbo: "When I choose a book, we have to read the whole thing."

Mom: "Um, no. But I'll tell you what. We can play Speed Goldbug and do as many pages as we can in five minutes. We won't read the book, but we will look for Goldbug on each page."

Game on. Turns out we both had so much fun finding Goldbug that we laughed our way through the novel and I didn't look at the clock. Nicely done, Mr. Scarry. Nicely done. Thank you for spanning generations and providing opportunities for more quality with my children.