Both are not-to-be-missed classics.īut my favorite work of Barbara Cooney’s is ROXABOXEN, which was written by the late Alice McLerran Later on there were others, but these were the first.Īnd must have belonged to others, long before.”ĭo you remember playing house or store in an empty appliance box? How about drawing twisting chalk-lined paths to follow in the street? Or imagining the one-time cottage that is now just an outline of rotting wood in a vacant lot?Ĭhildren’s book author Barbara Cooney (1917-2000) is best remembered for writing and illustrating MISS RUMPHIUS (1982), for which she won a National Book Award and for illustrating OX-CART MAN (1979) by Donald Hall, for which she won the Caldecott Medal. Oh, and Eleanor, naturally, and Jamie with his brother Paul. Of course all of Marian’s sisters came: Anna May and Frances and little Jean.Ĭharles from next door, even though he was twelve,

After that you had to ford a river to reach Roxaboxen. “The street between Roxaboxen and the houses curved like a river, so Marian named it the River Rhode. from “Why Unstructured Play is Important to Child Development” It specifically helps creativity and imagination, problem-solving abilities and social skills.” It’s been shown to foster cognitive development while boosting physical development and social and emotional development. “Unstructured play allows children the freedom to explore, create and discover without predetermined rules or guidelines. “Our house is a very very very fine house”

Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran