
Sandra Boynton's whimsical animals have been delighting kids for 40 years - kposehn
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/hippos-birdies-t-rexes-pigs-how-sandra-boynton-built-an-empire-and-won-your-childs-heart/2017/09/12/9f99a0b6-95c8-11e7-89fa-bb822a46da5b_story.html?utm_term=.acf143fd3f1c
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mooreds
I didn't have these books growing up, but they've been a treasure to read to
my kiddos. When a kid picks a book for storytime, there are some that I
inwardly roll my eyes at, and there are others that are a joy. These books
fall in the latter category.

People without kids, are you looking to give a book to folks with a new
arrival? A Boynton board book is always a good choice.

It was fun to read this article and get to know the author a little better.

Thank you Sandra!

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matrix
Any standouts that you recommend? I ask because the two we were given are a
bit ordinary. Perhaps there's a wide variance in quality of her books?

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kbutler
We really enjoy "But not the Hippopotamus" and "The Going to Bed Book". If you
don't like those, I think you're probably not going to enjoy others.

For younger kids, Blue Hat, Green Hat, and it's quite adorable when little
kids complete the "Three singing pigs say..." "La la la!" (Moo, Baa, Lalala).

My younger kids had several Boynton books memorized, and I agree with the
grandparent - I enjoyed the interaction with the children while reading them.

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giarc
There's lots of great sentimental comments in here, but not much about her
innate sense of business and value of her craft.

>Then she was introduced to the founders of a Chicago upstart called Recycled
Paper Greetings. Mike Keiser and Phil Friedmann liked her animals and offered
to pay her $50 a design. “I want a royalty,” she remembers saying. “They said,
‘It’s just never done.’ ” But in the end, they agreed.

>Keiser recalls that when Boynton signed on, the company was doing about $1
million a year in sales. Within five years their annual revenue topped $100
million, almost all because of Sandra Boynton.

To be a young upstart making cards by hands and say that to card company takes
a lot of strength and foresight.

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ynniv
An Ivy League education and a parent in publishing helps.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Boynton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Boynton)

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mschaef
I'm wondering how much of a role that played in the demand for a royalty. I'm
guessing quite a bit, and that the total outcome might have been very
different otherwise.

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chrissnell
Belly buttons will always be "belly b's" in my house and even when our little
boys are grown and gone, I'm quite sure we will always remember Belly Button
Beach, "where tons of hippos stand around in bathing suits too little, in
hopes that you will admire the button on their middle".

My little sister has been telling me "Hippo birdee!" on every birthday since
we were in elementary school and even in our forties, she still posts it to my
Facebook wall reliably every year.

These cartoon friends are a treasured piece of my childhood and now part of my
kids', too. It's fitting that Ms. Boynton stayed true to her creations and
that we don't see Boynton moose and chickens on McDonalds cups and other low-
grade junk.

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replicatorblog
Beebo!

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mcphage
Her books are wonderful for small children-cute without being cloying, clever
without being obvious about it. It's a shame to hear that she hasn't won any
major awards for her works; probably, she'll be another of those artists who
aren't recognized until they're gone.

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jieiieifnfj88
Buying her books for your kids or the kids of someone you know is the right
way to recognize her.

Awards are circle jerks that add no new value on their own.

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mcphage
> Buying her books for your kids or the kids of someone you know is the right
> way to recognize her.

Then we've recognized her a _lot_ in my house :-)

> Awards are circle jerks that add no new value on their own.

There's nothing wrong with valuing respect from your peers.

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jieiieifnfj88
Don't need awards to give and receive respect from ones peers.

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mirceal
A cow says moo, a sheep says baaa, 3 singing pigs say...

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mcphage
No no, you say, that's not right, pigs say Oink all day and night.

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replicatorblog
It's quiet now, what do you say?

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kbutler
Shhh!

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fencepost
This reminds me that I should dig out the CDs I have of several of those
albums.... Maybe it's time to switch back to a Philadelphia Chickens ring tone
again.

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quantumhobbit
My two year old will not fall asleep without at least 1 sometimes 3 readings
of "snuggle puppy".

I definitely recommend any of these books to parents of toddlers.

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ceocoder
Yep! My daughter (16 months), loves Snuggle Puppy and Going to Bed Book. She
makes me sing it to Eric Stoltz[1] tune.

[1]
[https://open.spotify.com/track/0DtUUNXVc0768qe6ADtaas](https://open.spotify.com/track/0DtUUNXVc0768qe6ADtaas)

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thedudemabry
Oooooh, snuggle puppy of mine! I literally just read this book twenty minutes
ago before sending my kiddo off to school. They are pretty great, if a bit
different than the rhyming books I remember from my childhood.

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cyberferret
I've been wishing people "Hippo Birdie Two Ewes" to people celebrating their
trip around the sun for many years now, all because of Sandra.

I always found her animal cartoons to be wonderfully balanced. Not too cutesy
and cloying and quite lovable.

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dangoor
Aside from her books, "Dog Train" is one of the more listenable kids albums
(book+CD for about $12 on Amazon).

She has definitely done young children's book marketing well!

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mschaef
"The train goes nowhere, but it goes there fast..."

That CD is just full of gems...

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dkhenry
My kids and I have Barnyard Dance memorized. We will often recite it as we
dance around the room. I think Mrs. Boynton's work will be treasured for years
to come and I hope she receives the credit for the amazing work she has done.

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grumps
I almost _never_ write comments, but I had to write here and say that despite
having almost all the Boynton's books we own memorized that I still enjoy
reading them for my 18 mon old.

edit: clarify I don't have ALL Boynton books.

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univalent
We love these books for our two toddler girls! They are a treasure. Our
personal favorite is 'Doggies' which is so simple but is amazing for everyone
to bark along to (including the dogs in the house)

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Angostura
Interesting - from the comments here, it sounds like she is _really_ well
known in the US, but I haven't come across her work in the UK at all.

You would think this type of work would travel well.

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brians
It’s tight poetry, reliant on meter for memorability and often with tricky
internal meter, puns, and rhyme. It doesn’t depend on overt culture, but
prying it out of its native language works as well as Seuss or Joyce.

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LeifCarrotson
I agree it's tightly tied to the native language, but I don't think it's
particularly tied to its original dialect. It should work well enough in
British or Australian English.

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mysterydip
Just last night I read our 2yo daughter "Dinosaur Dance" and she "read" it
back to me afterwards (complete with my added animations)!

The words per page aren't enough that she gets bored, the illustrations are
colorful and silly, and each book lasts "just long enough". We've got a small
collection going now that she loves to have read to her. When I see one of the
books in a store, I know it's an easy buy.

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whistlerbrk
I like Dinosaur Dance a lot as well for my 17 month old but I found the
writing in the rest of the books bland or a bit annoying. The illustrations
are all cute.

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mysterydip
Try The Going to Bed Book, or Pajama Time (I actually watched a youtube vid on
how to "sing" that one because I couldn't work out the metering myself, but
it's now another of her favorites). She also likes Dinosaur's Binkit for the
interactivity. I admit I haven't read all of them, but the ones I have are a
hit so far.

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spking
No Paywall: [https://outline.com/6h6cuJ](https://outline.com/6h6cuJ)

