Name: I Know a Lot of Things
ISBN: 9780811866156

Ann Rand

This reissue of the childhood classic I Know a Lot of Things is a celebration of all the new and intriguing knowledge children delight in possessing. Written from the simplicity of a child's perspective, the plain-but-powerful text voices important childhood knowledge such as "I know when I look in the mirror, what I see is me" and that "dogs go bowwow and that is how they talk." Illustrated with graphic designer Paul Rand's colorful, playful artwork, I Know a Lot of Things, with all the teeny nuggets of wisdom contained therein, is destined to please a new generation.

I Know a Lot of Things

renee badenoch

Read this book because I mistakenly thought it was by AYN Rand, not Ann Rand, and I was curious about what kind of nonsensical fucker AYN Rand would write in a children's book. The mistake was joyfully mine, because this book was charming and cute. 

The text is written from the perspective of an unseen child narrator who is listing the things he knows. It reminded me a lot of the more-popular Ruth Krauss´ book A Hole is To Dig, with the tone being very matter-of fact while sometimes being matter of factly silly. "I know a cat says meow" is one statement while a mushroom is "Just a little fellow with a big umbrella". The illustrations feel a lot like advertising you'd see in the late 1950´s in terms of color and composition, but done in a whimsical collage.