One of my favorite pastimes is to roam used bookstores in search of treasured books from my childhood. Like hearing an "oldie" song on the radio and returning in my mind to when I regularly heard that song, these books from my childhood evoke the place and emotions of when I first read the stories.Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey was the first book I checked out from the public library. I remember holding my breath while Policeman Michael and the other brave officers halted traffic on the busy Boston streets so Mrs. Mallard and her brood of ducklings could waddle safely across the intersection.
I grew up in a large city. I empathized with The Little House (by Virginia Burton) when the encroaching city threatened to choke it, and cheered at the happy resolution.
One of my favorite series was the "Betsy Tacy" books by Maud Hart Lovelace. These delightful 
books are based on the author's childhood in Mankato, Minnesota in the early 1900's. I longed to live in this simpler time with Betsy and Tacy as my friends. I'll never forget the thrill of doing a book signing in "Tacy's" house (restored by the Betsy-Tacy Society) a few years ago.
books are based on the author's childhood in Mankato, Minnesota in the early 1900's. I longed to live in this simpler time with Betsy and Tacy as my friends. I'll never forget the thrill of doing a book signing in "Tacy's" house (restored by the Betsy-Tacy Society) a few years ago.
The March sisters in Little Women by Louise May Alcott became my make-believe sisters. When Beth died I cried as though I'd lost a member of my own family. Each year children's authors supply us with a banquet table of new titles. I celebrate these books and their authors during Children's Book Week. But there's something special about these childhood "oldies" that tug at my heart...
What about you? What were some of your favorite childhood books?
14 comments:
My favorite book from childhood, hands down, is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I love cranky little Mary, her unlikely friendship with Dickon and all of his animal friends, and their shared project as they coax the secret garden back to life. Someday I'm going to have a secret garden!
The one that sticks out in my head is "Miss Osborne the Mop". I forget who wrote it. I bought it at the book fair when I was in 5th grade ... let's see, that would be 39 years ago! I loved it so much, I went on alibris.com and found it a couple of years back. It was just as much fun as when I first read it. :)
Oh, Judy, you brought back great memories! I loved Calico Captive and Witch of Blackbird Pond. I must also mention Johnny Tremain. Wait, no, I have to say Blue Willow was my favorite. I read this growing up in Maryland and was enchanted by the setting and characters. Then, as an adult, we moved to the San Joaquin Valley in California and I realized that I was living in the setting for the book, so I read it again.
Judy, I've been a voracious reader from an early age, so it's impossible to name all my favorites. The Witch of Blackbird Pond, the Little House books, the Narnia Chronicles, The Hobbit. But it was The Wolf, by Dr. Michael Fox, that inspired a lifelong fascination with wolves, and my first novel (a blatant imitation), in the fourth grade. I recently found a used copy of it on line. So good to see the gorgeous illustrations again.
Then followed Julie of the Wolves, Silver Wolf, and Never Cry Wolf (a bit old for my tender years but the title had "Wolf" in it, so my parents bought it for me).
I loved a little book called The Snowy Day. And a book that's title is lost in my swiss cheese brain but I recall a picture of two friends washing a stone in the kitchen sink - strange, but it's an image that has stayed with me all these years.
I loved Judy Blume books and a heartbreaker called Please Don't Go.
The Trumpet of the Swan and A Wrinkle in Time stand out as well.
Oh..and I LOVED short fiction. I still read more short fiction than novels even today. So many wonderful compact stories.
My favorite picture book was A Big Ball of String. I read it when I was too old for picture books, but I loved it anyway.
My favorite chapter book writer was Armstrong Sperry.
Both of these are really odd choices, now that I think about them. I must have been an odd little kid!
I also constantly loved mysteries and biographies. Mystery of the Mooncusser (Eleanor Jewett) was a book that my sister and I fought over again and again. Don't tell her, LOL, but I'm getting her a copy, the original TAB version, for Christmas! With a note that she doesn't have to share it with me!
From Wendy Lawton:
As you know, Judy, I am your Maud Hart Lovelace sister, so yes, Betsy-Tacy. But I also loved Little Princess, The Five Little Peppers, Just David, Pollyanna, Secret Garden, The Little House books, Little Women and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Another favorite book that I read until the binding broke was Fifty Famous Fairy Stories.
I'm reading all your comments and thinking, "Oh, yes, how could I forget that one?" All of you are creating a list of some of the best in classic children's literature. Thanks for the memories!
Suzy, if you ever design a "secret garden," I want to come for a visit.
Pam, you can still find "Miss Osborne" in libraries. Occasionally someone asks for her.
Debbie, Johnny Tremain formed my first impressions of the Revolutionary War.
Lori, I'll have to come up with some new "wolf" recommendations for you. :-)
Anyone recognize Bonnie's "two friends washing a stone in the kitchen sink" book?
Wendy, the Betsy-Tacy books aren't the only favorite books we have in common, my friend.
Judy, your comments brought back some special memories of growing up. The library was one of my favorite places. Our head librarian had been a 1st grade teacher before moving into the library field, so she had a heart for introducing children to the wonderful world of books. Even as a child, I knew I was blessed that she took an interest in helping me find new titles to read. I can still remember the day she led me to the shelf that held the Betsy-Tacy books and told me she thought I'd enjoy them. What an understatement!
Then the was the Happy Hollisters series, which firmly established my love of mysteries at a young age.
And I can't leave out Andrew Lang's Fairy Books--all twelve colors!
I was captivated by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass when I read them as a third-grader. But what I liked just as much, perhaps more, were Enid Blyton's "Adventure" series (The Mountain of Adventure, The Circus of Adventure, The Valley of Adventure, etc.) and the Sue Barton series (Sue Barton, Student Nurse; Sue Barton, Visiting Nurse; etc.). Yikes! This was in the 1950s.
I also loved Follow My Leader, read by my teacher to our fourth-grade class; it's about a boy who is blinded in an accident and must adjust to a darkened world. And then there was The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek, which my fifth-grade teacher read to us; I found a copy of it at a used-book sale.
Janet, what a special gift for your sister! I promise not to tell. :-)
Carol, like your librarian, I was a first grade teacher before entering the library field.
Barbara, Sue Barton was another favorite series of mine. But I knew nursing wasn't for me. I still get squeamish in the presence of blood. :-)
Oh my, Judy...are you sure you have enough space?!
I loved The Yearling, The Secret Garden,The Bobbsey Twins, The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, the Oz series by L. Frank Baum, A Wrinkle in Time and East of the Sun West of the Moon (I read that one every year from 3rd grade through 8th grade, checked it out from my school library). Oh, and horse books...Misty of Chincoteague and dozens of others!
I also remember being frustrated the librarian would only let me take home 10 books at a time until she saw me twice a week several weeks in a row one summer. Then she let me check out as many books as the basket on my bike could safely hold! Visiting the library was my favorite part of the summer. Even when I'd go visit my grandmother for 2 weeks, she'd tell the bookmobile librarian a week in advance so there would be books for me when I came to visit!
I miss visiting libraries! Maybe I should start again since my house cannot hold all the books I'd like to own!
Carrie, you were lucky! Our library only allowed children to checkout five books at a time--no exceptions.
Yes, it's time for you to revisit the library. The number of books borrowed from our library system has skyrocketd during these tough economic times.
I love this topic! I loved Key to the Treasure, but I also loved Little House books, Little Women, and historical biographies of famous historical people as children.
Tough, because I love most children's books--even better than adult fiction. Sigh.
Post a Comment