Sunday, May 30, 2010

cherished childhood books



the air conditioner in samuel's room isn't working properly (just had a light bulb go on in my head today that perhaps it might be a good idea to change the filter since we've had it for about a year now. duh.) and i'm guessing the fact that his room is 83 degrees is the reason why he still isn't asleep an hour past his bedtime. he's been fed and burped and given hand fulls of pacifiers and i've even just added a fan to his room and there is nothing more i can do to make him comfortable. and so here i sit and listen to him fuss and and feel very sorry for the poor little fellow. i thought that writing a quick post may take my mind off of the whole unfortunate scenario.



tristan and i like to visit the local library about once a week. its actually a very tiny little place, with hardly any room for all of the books it contains, which is why there is a Brand New Library being built just down the road (!!!!!!) tristan and i are both extremely excited about this. anyhow, on our last trip to the library i picked up the book "blueberries for sal" by robert mccloskey just because it looked a little retro and fun and somehow reminded me of my childhood. once samuel was happily settled for his nap, tristan and i snuggled together on the couch and i read every single book to him at least once. when we got to the book "blueberries for sal", i opened it, read the first page and was immediately transported back in time to when i was a little girl and my own mom used to take us to the library, then snuggle with us on the couch and read each and every book to us at least once. i recognized the illustrations and even the story sounded familiar to me. it was a very good book, (tristan loved it too) and when i was done, i flipped to the last page to see what other books this man had written. oh, yes! the titles "make way for ducklings", "homer price" "and one morning in maine" (CLAM CHOWDER FOR LUNCH!) filled my mind with fragments of story lines long forgotten.



i've been thinking since then of other books that my mom read to us and books that i read on my own as a child that caused me to be the insatiable reader that i became. i think my most favorite children's books were the ones written by shirley hughes. i remember her character alfie so well and was thrilled to find a couple of books by her when i was in england 4 years ago. i picked them up, saving them for my own future children and i am always thrilled when tristan asks me to read them to him.




once we got a bit older, my mom would read chapter books instead of pictures books aloud to us before bed. she read scads of enid blyton books, as well as other classics like "james and the giant peach", "the borrowers", "stuart little", "charlotte's web", "henry and ribsy" and the entire "chronicles of narnia" which i read and re-read over again, never tiring of the magical stories.



on my own, i devoured the "ramona quimby" books by shirley hughes, then went on to read the "betsy, tacy and tib" series, running back to the library to get the next book each time i finished one.



of course, there are countless others that i haven't mentioned, but those are the ones that immediately came to mind when i think of my earliest reading memories. how about you? leave a comment sharing your favorite books as a child, the ones that you stayed up past your bedtime reading, telling your mom, "just one more chapter!" every time she told you to put the light out.

11 comments:

Shannon said...

filter is usually the cause- we change ours every 3 months. If it is blowing but not making cold air- it's probably frozen too and it needs to thaw out for a couple hours before you turn it on again. Also... if there is a lot of fluffy plant stuff floating in the air- check the unit outside. We have to spray our unit twice a year because of cottonwood. Course we are spoiled with central air but oh my gosh when it stops working we all get cranky and die.

I remember your mom taking me to the library and told me about the Betsy and Tacy books. She told me you really liked them... so I took them out (because Heidi was so cool and if she read them then I must too!) and I hated them. weird since I read almost everything at that library.

I was bummed that Ellie prefers to read Junie B Jones and has no interest in the Ramona books. ~sigh~

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

I loved the Betsy-Tracy-Tibs books way back when I was a third grader in the early 1960's, and they were already "old" books by then! As a SoCal child, I was jealous of their seasons.

Robert McCluskey's books were so interesting with the BLUE ink in the blueberries for Sal.

If you ever visit Portland Oregon, you might want to visit the Public library that has a whole room dedicated to their local author: Beverly Cleary!

But my favorite early-early childhood story was Golden Book title The Tawny Scrany Lion. My dad used to read it to me when I was three and four years old.

Someday I hope you really will study and become a librarian Heidi. You'd make a great one!

M.R. Tumnus said...

Oh, Heidi, those were fun times. I remember summertime - walking all four kids to the library just a few blocks away, Cherie in the stroller, then we'd occasionally sit on a blanket outside to "devour" these treasures. Thanks for twigging those memories - how fun for me to still be reading to kids. XO
PS Read aloud favorite, All time favorite these last few years at school has been "Treasure in an oatmeal box" by Ken Gire. For ages grade 3 to 5. "Treasure tree" by Gary Smalley for younger kids. "Boy" autobiograpical, by Roald Dahl, very descriptive and sometimes almost too graphic, grade 4 and up. Hilarious in parts.

thedycks said...

Heidi
did you know there is a movie coming out this summer based off the book Ramona, by Beverly. I can't wait to see it. That was hands down my fav book growing up.

Christy B. said...

Judy Blume. I remember getting "Superfudge" in HARDCOPY! Wow, that was a big deal back then :) I couldn't get enough of her books.

Jennifer said...

My 3rd grader has been on a major Erin Hunter kick.
I wish she'd like something a little cleaner like Nancy Drew though.

My 1st grader is writing yet another book as I type. He is into Mary Pope Osbourne though. And is almost done with Bridge to Teribithia. Says, he's one page 100and something.

Neha said...

I got the reading bug from my Grandapa, I guess, for no one else in the family reads anything expect the newspaper every morning.

Books are real treasure and it's even more fun when I read them out to my niece and nephew who are 3 and 6. While one likes to see the pictures, the older one wants to know the story as early as it can be read out to him!

Great that you are instilling this in your children. Goes a long way in giving them friends for life - Books :))

Cherie said...

Well this isnt a book, but Ben n I just watched Robin Hood, and the characters shot me back to watching & re watching the horribly recorded Disney Robin Hood. The characters were so similar! Prince John with his crown always falling off, so funny!

Bonnie said...

My favorite books were the "Amelia Bedelia" collection by Peggy Parish.
Another fave is one I think was called "Otto" about a fish that kept growing...no idea who the author is! I'd love to find it now.

Jacelyn said...

Oh my goodness, where do I start? Your mention of James and the Giant Peach brought back so many memories. That book was one of my cherished favourites that I tried to read every year if possible. Others in the group included A Little Princess, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Secret World of Og, The Secret Garden, the Chronicles of Narnia and the Little House on the Prairie Series. *Whew* And we're only just beginning!

The Velveteen Rabbit, any Beatrix Potter, Dr. Seuss, Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, and the Borrowers... *blush* Maybe I should stop...

Anika Lacerte | The Handcrafted Story said...

I have been collecting the books that I remember reading when I was little. I have probably at least a hundred. But to pick my favourites... hmmmm...

Eric Carle - Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? and many others

Ezra Jack Keats - Whistle for Willie and many others

Russell Hoban - Bread and Jam for Frances and others

Don Freeman - Quiet, there's a canary in the library and Corduroy and others

Peggy Parish - Amelia Bedelia

Shirley Hughes - Dogger and many others

Bill Peet - Farewell to Shady Glade and many others

I also loved Ramona and Encyclopedia Brown and of course, Curious George