I’m participating in the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I post every day in the month of April (except Sundays) and each day is a letter.

My theme for the month is a series of posts about the things that shaped me.

Xerus Won’t Allow It

SWEET PICKLES.

Oh my goodness did I love the whole series. Including Xerus Won’t Allow It, which makes it convenient for me to use for my “X” entry.

“Sweet Pickles” was a series of twenty-six picture books, published in the late 70s and early 80s. Each book was about a particular animal with a particular characteristic, both starting with the same letter. Like “Smarty Stork,” “Zany Zebra,” or “Doubtful Dog” (I distinctly remember asking my dad how to pronounce “doubt” — I’d never seen a word with “b” and “t” right next to each other).

I think these were part of some mail-order package my parents signed up for, and I loved ALL of them. Particular favorites:

  • Fish and Flips — Fearless Fish keeps trying to outdo herself with new stunts on her motorcycle.
  • Me Too Iguana — Imitating Iguana is annoying everyone in town with… well, imitating everyone.
  • Nuts to Nightingale — Nasty Nightingale plays nasty pranks she thinks are funny on everyone, and they’re tired of it.
  • Very Worried Walrus — Worried Walrus imagines all the terrible things that could happen if he rides his bike.

And now I will have to investigate my parents’ attic and hope they’re all still there, because all the books are out of print and I NEED to read them all over again.