Reading Copy Book Blog

Yesterday I found a beautiful newer edition of the book Heidi.  The beautifully inexpensive price made it impossible for me to leave it in the shop so home with me it came to find its place amongst my growing collection of children’s books.  It wasn’t just the price that swayed me into this purchase (although I confess that did play a big part), but I considered it to be one of the classic children’s books that I’d want my child, should I have one,  to be read or to read independently. 

Then I thought, “Wait a second…did I read this book as a child?  Or was it ever read to me?”  For the life of me, I can’t remember!  I recall the story itself but am not sure if that’s from watching the movie or from reading the book.  So then that led to the thought of what is it about a book that makes us decide that it’s a must read for new generations? That was then followed by recollections of books from my childhood.  What books impacted me and did I enjoy the most? 

The ones that have most, or most accessible, memory space in my brain :

• Dorrie the Witch series by Patricia Coombs

I remember with each trip to the library I would eagerly hope that one I hadn’t yet read was available.  I loved her mismatched socks and how she never quite “got” the witchy activities. I’ve recently look for these books only to discover that the editions I read have become quite collectable!

• William’s Doll by Charlotte Zolotow (Which I do now own!)
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

These two books were read to my Kindergarten class by the school librarian whom I worshipped.  A former ballerina who spent entire days amongst books – how’s that for a perfect life?!

• Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• The Famous Five and Secret Seven series by Enid Blyton

These were read to me before bed by my father.  He always managed to end with cliff-hanger leaving me begging for more and not just because it would give me more “staying up” time but because I neeeeeeeeeeeeded to know!

• B is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood

This was one of the very first chapter books that I read on my own. 

And now that these titles have come to the forefront of my mind, I’m on a quest to add them to my collection. (Ahhh working at AbeBooks can be a perilous thing!!) Who knows if they’ll be enjoyed by another child as much as I enjoyed them but they will forever evoke happy memories for me.

But the real point of my ramblings is that I came to realize that no matter what the book is, the meaningful thing is that they make an impact and instil the love of reading. I thank my parents for teaching me to read at a very young age and for leading by example by being voracious readers themselves.  Should I ever be a parent myself, I hope that I can do this for my child. 

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 4:09 pm and is filed under AbeBooks, author, books, collecting, life, reading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.