When I was a little boy I had this small picture book with the title of "Nothing Ever Happens On My Street". Each page showed the same little boy sitting on the curb of his urban street with his head in his hands and a scowl on his face. He looked entirely bored and discontent. On the first page he mumbled the words of the title, "Nothing ever happens on my street." The rest of the book showed him in the exact same pose but a keen eye observed that on each page interesting and exciting things were happening all behind him, around him and nearly right in front of him. It was sort of a "find the difference" book. It was designed for a child to examine each page carefully and find out what was different in that picture than in the preceeding picture. I LOVED that book. I found it humorous and fun. Even as a young boy I realized that the true message of the book was that boredom and discontent is a choice. A blinding choice. The attitude blinds you to all the interesting and exciting things actually going on around you. If anyone knows how to get a copy of this book, I would love to own it once again.
Today.... don't let self-imposed boredom and discontent blind you to the wonderful world around you!
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My parents moved out of my childhood home a couple of years ago, and gave me and my siblings stuff from the house and our childhood. One thing I received was "Nothing Ever Happens on My Street". Sadly, It was one of my faves to, so I can't give it up, but I could give you info about publisher etc... Let me dig it up.
Thanks for the comment! I would absolutely love to get a copy of it!
Hi Joel!
One of my faves as a kid, too! Fab book. It was called, "Nothing Ever Happens on My Block" (not "Street") and the author was Ellen Raskin. Barnes and Noble and Amazon both offer it, but B&N notes it is out-of-stock whereas Amazon lists resellers. Price is $50 to $100. Here is a blog about it...http://www.vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com/2009/04/nothing-ever-happens-on-my-block.html. They show up on Ebay regularly and there is one now with a 16.95 buy-it-now price, but the condition is a bit worn.
Cheers!
Scott
www.scottinstockholm.wordpress.com
It's been a long time now since you posted here. Has anything ever happened on your street yet or are you still sitting there grumbling?
That was one of my favorite books when I was a child. I had it for a long time and read it to my children. Now when something major is happening around the city, one of my kids will snark out, "geez, nothing ever happens on my street."
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