Happy Birthday
Today I read that Spot just turned 40! I can hardly believe this little pup is so old. Luckily for all readers he never ages - Spot will always be a little mischievous pup with beautiful patient parents (Sally and Sam) and very special friends.
When Christopher was two, Eric made up a story to read to him at bedtime about a small puppy. The extraordinary success of Where's Spot?, published in 1980, gave Eric Hill the confidence to work full-time as an author. The second title, Spot's first Walk, was published a year later. The publishing phenomenon that is Spot was born! There are over 40 million books in print read by children in more than 100 countries. The adventures of Spot have been translated into 65 languages … Penguin
Here is Eric Hill reading his book on the occasion of the 30th anniversary. Here is a review from the Bottom Shelf which contains a video of Kathy Lette reading Where's Spot. The Penguin Random House website lists 42 Spot books. The new 40th Anniversary edition has a beautiful ruby foil cover. Here are a few more titles from the Spot series:
Eric Hill was born in London in 1927. He moved to Arizona in 1983 and he died at the age of 86 in 2014. The Spot stories were made into a series of television shows and even a live theatre production.
I often think someone could write a PhD thesis on the universal appeal of Spot. Those flaps and voices are just magic when you read to a child - mysterious magic!
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