A tale of two critters

I loved the Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer when I was a kid and it's been fun introducing them to our son.  We bought several of the multivolume sets when he was fairly little and have been enjoying them again and again, well most of them.  I love the wit, whimsy, love, humor, and grace with which these books portray everyday life with small kids, at least in the older books.  Some of the newer ones are a downright bore.  Yep, just another book about eating right and exercising and being nice to people, not that there is anything wrong with that sort of book, it is just rather disappointing after reading the previous generation of books, which addressed similar topics but in a far more attractive manner.  The wit and whimsy have been replaced by the tedious mantras we hear from public service announcements and motivational speakers and internet gurus.  The wit and whimsy can reach the heart and mind of an over-teched and informationally saturated generation but the mantras will just bounce off like rain off an umbrella, so much have they been inundated since their first breath.  But that is the beauty of a book: a good one lives forever, especially in the hearts and minds of its lovers.  And happily there are enough god books in the series to keep the kids of this generation and the previous ones busy for a lifetime!