Dav Pilkey is hands-down my favorite children’s author for the Captain Underpants series, our favorite bedtime book “When Cats Dream,” and this new-to-us series about a simple dragon’s daily life. Pilkey also wrote the Dumb Bunny series, “Kat Kong,” and “Dogzilla.”
Last night a friend came over for dinner and we talked about children’s literature. I gave him a copy of one of E’s books we received for Christmas from a Feministe reader, a Dav Pilkey book about mourning and loss. In “A Friend For Dragon,” the lonely dragon is tricked by a pesky snake into thinking an apple is his friend. When the apple eventually perishes in the most suspicious of ways, the dragon is heartbroken.
It’s a wonderful book, as are all of Pilkey’s books. I was relating this to my friend last night, telling him how much I love Pilkey’s eye for silly.
Ethan turned to me and rolled his eyes. “Ness,” he said.
“What?”
“Ness, Mom.” He ate a bite of spaghetti. “Silly. Ness.”
My friend and I looked at one another, astonished at what had just occurred. “Did you just correct my grammar?” I asked Ethan.
“Yup. It’s silliness. This spaghetti doesn’t taste very well.”
Thus, at last night’s dinner, my son not only corrected my grammar, but he also insulted my cooking. Nonetheless I’m proud of him. I mean, he corrected my grammar. It sort of reminds me of that thing with the box. He is his mother’s son.