Call me crazy, but I have decided, for some reason that I cannot articulate, that it is extremely important for my daughter to know about all sorts of analogue stuff that has become almost obsolete but that, in my opinion, remain far more desirable than their modern digital counterparts.
She knows how to put a record on the turntable, she can dial a rotary phone, and one of our favorite books is The Lonely Phone Booth, by Peter Ackerman with wonderful, slightly cock-eyed illustrations by Max Dalton.
It tells the story of a real live phone booth (still standing today!) on the upper west side of Manhattan that is ignored in favor of cell phones until an electrical storm takes out the cell towers.
Here’s the phonebooth, wondering what on earth those little silver things are that everybody is speaking into.
Maybe I love this book because the story celebrates a relic of my youth, growing up in NYC. Or maybe I love the storyline because it reminds us how fleeting all of this digital technology is. Or maybe I just like it because it justifies my rotary phone (which worked during the last 2 huge power outages, by the way…)
Whatever the reason, it’s a sweet story, and a great thing for a city kid to read. Plus the next time you’re on 100th street and West End Avenue, you might just be tempted to make a call.
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