Re: Memories about books -- my reply is long!
Posted by: Blc914 <Blc914@...>
[email protected] writes:
> I remember my parents reading "Yertle the Turtle" by Dr. Seuss to me long
> before Kindergarten. Other similar books also - like "The Cat in the Hat".
>
>
We are big Seuss fans here! We have 2 very special friends -- they are our
kids special "aunt and uncle" -- anyway "Uncle" Eddie loves Dr. Seuss and he
gives the kids a book for each birthday and Christmas. My 13 yo has a big
collection! Yertle is one we do not have. 🙁 But we have checked it out from
the library.
> I was a good reader quite young, and I remember having "Show and Tell" in
> 1st
> grade and I brought a book called "The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings".
>
> The teacher made a big deal about it and said "Susan loves to read SO much
> that she bought this book with HER OWN money!"
>
So proud of you! I spent lots of my $$ on books too. When I was in 3rd grade
our school was in a big old building that backed up to our local library.
Both my parents worked -- something rare in those days -- and so after
school, I would swing on the playground a bit with my friends -- until their
moms came and collected them and then I would walk around the corner to the
library. Now lest you worry about me remember that this would have been
1970-71 and times were much different! Our library was a large 2 story. You
came into a big lobby that was open all the way up and there 2 curved
staircases going upstairs. Downstairs was the adult and reference section (it
was a big deal when you were old enough to go there!) Upstairs was the kids
section -- it was huge! There were books and records and lots of room to
read. There were lots of windows looking out on that beautiful part of town
and lots of neat old stuff. I grew up in Natchez, MS -- the oldest settlement
on the Natchez Trace and a town full of history and many antebellum mansions
that survived the War. They had these things -- wish I could remember what
they were called! -- you looked through a modified glasses thingie at a
picture that was stuck at the end. Sort of like a primitive viewmaster! I
loved to look at the old pictures. ANYWAY -- I had to wait 30 minutes to 1
hour for my mom to pick me up. I know some are thinking Poor Baby -- and yes,
I will admit that being at home with my mom would have been better, but this
was the way life was and I never felt cheated or lonely. I loved it there
with all those books! I read and read and read! It was a dream!
> I have my dad's Thornton W Burgess books from when he was a little boy (in
> the 1920's) - there is a whole series of them - Paddy the Beaver, Reddy the
> Fox, etc.
>
How special! My dad's parents lost most of his childhood possessions over the
years -- mainly during the depression. So I have no childhood books or toys,
but I have some of my mom's. I have a Honey Bunch, Lorna Doone, Zane Grey,
Bobsey Twins and several others. They are so neat!
> I remember reading the Carolyn Haywood books - easy chapter books on the
> same
> order as Beverly Cleary but a bit more old-fashioned. I also remember
> having
> some Golden Books, especially "The Pokey Little Puppy".
My dd never got into the Haywood books and she hates Beverly Cleary -- I
loved her -- , but I purchased Eddie the Dog handler by Haywood at a used
book sale for my son a couple of years ago. He loved it and read it several
times!
My dd -- age 13 -- loves the Golden Books and collects them! She recently
found several at a shop. They had some really neat collectible ones, but they
were a bit price for her. I am hoping to go back and get her 1 or 2 as a
treat! I remember reading these when I was very small -- they sold them on a
rack in the grocery -- wonder what happened to all mine? They probably wore
out from being read again and again!
>
> I was an avid reader as a child and I remember being so excited when my mom
> decided that I was old enough to stay at the library alone while she went
> grocery shopping - I was probably about 8 years old. I remember finding
> the
> non-fiction books and I remember reading a couple books about animals as I
> sat there, feeling very grown-up.
>
See I am not the only one that thought staying at the library was a treat!
> One of my favorite childhood books was "On Your Toes Susie". It was a
> Scholastic Book Club book and it was about a girl named "Susie" who
> was in a ballet class and she got the mumps (or was it measles or chicken
> pox?) and couldn't go to her recital. I never took dance lessons, and this
> book was fascinating to me. I also read Nancy Drew books, and some science
> fiction (Robert Heinlein).
>
Now you have stumped me! I have never heard of the Susie book. But I do know
Nancy Drew! My best friend and I had every one -- between us! We shared them.
I remember giving them all to her younger sister and never thinking I would
want them back ... HA!
Did you ever hear of the Happy Hollisters? I did not until a few years ago.
They were a series also -- from the 40s I think. A friend of mine's mom was
cleaning out her house to move and had a complete set of them that had been
my friend's brothers. He gave them to my friend for her boys. My daughter
read a couple and was hooked and has collected some of them. They are good.
> I don't have my childhood books - my dad passed away when I was 16 and we
> moved from a house to an apartment and I think lots of things were left in
> the attic or lost in the shuffle. 🙁 I do have the Burgess books, however.
>
I have some, but not many. I became an aunt at 9! My oldest brother is 18
years older than I. My mom loaned several to my niece when she was young. She
loved books like I did. Her baby brother came along 5 years later and his mom
let him color in the books and tear out the pages! Most were destroyed! I do
have a few picture books that mom kept and my kids have them. 2 are Harry
Books -- Harry the Dirty Dog and Harry Goes to the Beach -- both my kids
loved these books. I also have No Place for Spiders, Gentle John and my
favorite... We Were Tired of Living in a House. Oh yes, I also have an old
book of Bible stories that was my other brother's (he is 9 years older than
me) and I have an old Bible Story book that was my mom's .... forgot about
that one! And lastly, I have a big red book that I got for Christmas when I
was 5. It is a compilation of lots of the stories Disney did -- Pinocchio,
Bambi, Donald Duck Stories, Lady and the Tramp, Scamp, Mickey Mouse Stories,
Uncle Remus.... I loved that book! It is held together with tape these days!
You can tell it was loved! My mom would read Uncle Remus' The Tar Baby and I
just laughed at the voices she used! I remember the Christmas I got it and
each of my brothers and both parents read to me out of it all day! I just
kept asking for more and more! My dad thought they should return all the
other toys (I was spoiled rotten!) and just stick with the book!
>
> My hubby and I started reading to our oldest daughter when she was just a
> few
> months old. We took our babies to the library at about 1 week of age! We
> always brought home PILES of children's books - sometimes we had 50-60
> books
> out at any given time. We have a really excellent library for the size
> suburb we live in, but we also went to other neighboring libraries just for
> fun sometimes.
You sound like us! DH has a cute picture of dd when she is less than a month
old. I have her propped up on me and I am reading Good Night Moon to her --
which I could recite in the dark on the way home from grandma's by the time
she was able to talk and ask for it! That and Mr. Brown Can Moo!!!!
I worked when my first child was small -- until her brother came along when
she was 4 1/2. I would get off work, pick her up at daycare and we would come
home, clean up, get a snack and sit int he big comfy chair and read. There
was always a stack of books there and we read for at least 1/2 hour or more.
She loved it! We read tons to her at bedtime too. She loves picture books,
etc., and by 5 we were reading the wonderful classic chapter books like
Charlotte's Web. She even mentioned that earlier this evening!
We did the same with her brother! We own so many books it is unreal and we
use our library! They know us well!
>
> Some of my fondest parenting memories come from taking the girls to the
> library and getting a huge pile of books and we'd come home and make supper
> or do something while they all sat quietly and "read" the books for a good
> hour or more! My kids loved "Goodnight Moon" and the Shirley Hughes books
> (the Alfie ones).
>
I already told you we loved Goodnight Moon.... we loved Alfie too! Remember
the one where he gets locked out?
> When our kids were little, we always went to church and taught them about
> Jesus - the Christmas story, what He did for us on the cross, etc., but I
> never had a hunger for God's Word and I didn't read many Christian books to
> the kids and we didn't do bedtime prayers (true confessions here!). In
> 1989,
> I bought "Sandi Patti and the Friendship Company" audiotape for my middle
> daughter who was turning 8. The girls loved it and sang the songs
> memorized
> it and would do dances to the music, etc. I became very sick in 1990 and
> ended up spending 166 days in the hospital during the next 13 months.
>
Now see in 1989 I bought Friendship Company too, but my older child was 1!
She loved that tape! We did read lots of Bible Stories to our kids and did
the nighttime prayers. I am thankful for that! We have gone through spells of
not being faithful church attenders -- long story and this email is long
enough now! Suffice it to say that I know those Bible Stories and prayers
have gone along way! Also, when my soon to be 9yo was about 3 my parents
discovered the Homecoming Kids Tapes from Bill and Gloria Gaither. My son
loved them -- still does! They have 3 Homecoming Kids tapes and 2 Gaither's
Pond. We also do Veggie Tales. Oh yes, and Adventures In Odyssey -- although
we do these on audio tapes. Oh yes, and Sugar Creek Gang -- these books were
written in the 40s and became a radio program. They are so good and
wholesome, but not boring. I bought an audio tape for my son for Christmas
and he has almost worn it out listening to it. I want to get more for his
birthday!
> Gradually I started buying more and more Christian music (I'd get it in
> between hospital stays!). So I first learned God's Word through the lyrics
> of those songs (I'm not saying that's the best way - it's just what
> happened
> with me).
It is so awesome when I find a song I have heard in the Bible! I love seeing
where the writer got his/her inspiration!
They were about the age where
> they were starting to listen to music and might've been interested in the
> secular stations if I hadn't found better stuff. So they've listened to
> Christian music almost exclusively for about 11 years now.
My kids have been raised on Christian music and I am so glad. One of my
fondest memories of ds is when he was 2. I as pushing him in the buggy in
WalMart and he started singing (he always sings!!!!) "Lord You Are More
Precious than Silver....." (You know that praise chorus) Folks just looked at
him and smiled. It was so sweet. Even now I love to hear them sing -- they
will be working in the yard or folding laundry and start singing. Not just
Contemporary Christian, but gospel and hymns too! We all love to watch
Gaither Homecoming Videos and dd even went to a concert with dh and I and our
folks -- ds was too young -- we are watching for concerts to come to our area
for our entire family to attend.
My DH listens to Christian music -- radio or CD -- at work and he says it
makes all the difference in his day! And I can tell! It keeps his mind
renewed and grounded!
> I think I've chatted long enough... Would be interested in hearing others'
> stories or your reactions to mine.
>
Well, I went on and on too! Whew! This is a super long email! Sorry y'all!
But I am loving this discussion and Susan, I honestly feel we are kindred
spirits. I am wowed at some of the similar paths our lives have taken!
OK -- someone else speak up and tell us your childhood memories about books!
Barb C.