I am looking for a book my father often read to my sister and me when we were very little. She was born in 1978; I was born in 1980. The book title (I think) was about a “busy day.” There are two lines/quotes from the book that stand out to me that my father recalled years later:
I start my day with breakfast. I drink from my own cup.
Next I play dress-up. Look! That’s me, the fire chief!
The book definitely seemed to be written in the first person, and it contains some kind of reference to drinking from a cup and playing dress up as a fireman.
Any ideas? Thanks for any potential leads you can give. My father died in 2015, and my sister and I are always looking for ways to help our own children know him. This book would be such a special connection!
i know of an english children’s book called “my day” that’s narrated in first person present tense. i don’t recall the fireman, and it definitely took place in england. nappies & sausages & the shops.
Rachel Isadora has a series of three board books called I Hear, I Touch, and I See. They were published in the mid-80s. Their phrasing sounds as you are describing. Here is a PW review of one of the books: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780688042554 I have all three around here somewhere but my youngest is 7 so I’m not sure where they are.
Oh and please don’t dismiss this idea if yours were not board books as I believe they were also published as softcovers!