Tuesday, February 21, 2006
What did you grow up reading?
I went to a book sale last weekend and saw some books that caused a wave of familiarity to wash over me. In fact, I bought them because I had such fond memories of reading them as a young girl. The books in question are two Trixie Beldon books and two of those bright blue spined Hardy Boys books. Not many have heard of Trixie Beldon, but she was one of my favorites in late elementary school. She and her best friend Honey solved mysteries. I read the beginning of one of the books I bought this weekend and could not believe how dated it is. One of the character's favorite word of surprise is "Gleeps!" I can't wait to read them both through and relive that experience! The Hardy Boys books are more known and probably have a bit more substance to them. I really wanted to date one of those Hardy Boys...Frank or Joe, didn't matter. My grandparents had the entire set of books- it's over 100 I think. When my brother and I would spend a week of the summer at their farm, I would read 4 or 5 of those books. I loved them. When my grandparents moved to a house in town they got rid of tons of their things, including that set of books. They didn't know I would have loved to have them. Well, now I own 2 out of those 100 or so books, and I guess I can always add to it until I build my own set. I really look forward to sharing these old favorites with Ava and Nate one day. I was also into Nancy Drew. What about you? I'm curious what books you cherish as favorites from growing up. You can put it as a comment to this post.
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Do you guys remember the line from the movie "You've Got Mail" where Meg Ryan (Kathleen Kelly), who runs that Children's bookstore, says "When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does."? Looking back, that is definately true for me. I will always love those books that took me away when I read them, which is what I love so much about reading even now.
With that, here's my list:
I usually liked to read series for some reason like: Nancy Drew (I loved these and read almost every one), the Chronicles of Narnia, the Boxcar Children, Sweet Valley High (hard to admit now that I read these!). I also loved the series of Little House on the Prarie and Anne of Green Gables, and actually still do. I also got into Mary Higgins Clark books when I was in Jr. High, which are suspense novels. And of course, I loved Charlotte's Web, Little Women and this wacky book called Sideway Stories from Wayside School.
OH! How funny! I totally loved that book Sideways Stories from Wayside School. I think I got it in the 5th grade at a school book fair. When I went up to pay for it, I was a dime short and my teacher, who was sitting there next to the check out, tossed in a dime for me. I felt so indebted to her. I saw a copy of it several years ago and read a bit. It was remarkable how much I remembered. Now I want to find it again. I don't have my copy anymore. I also liked the series of Little House on the Prarie books. My set came in a sturdy cardboard case, and I read them over and over. My mom has a lot of my old books in storage and I hopefully will get them soon...but who knows what condition they are in after all these years.
Casey and I were talking just the other day about those Book Fairs and how much we loved when those came to our schools. For one thing, you got time out of class to go buy books, and we also both love books in general. I remember them setting up their temporary displays in the library and passing out the 2-3 page leaflet with all their selections on it. That was so much fun!
Rachel, I was just talking the other day about book fairs too! I also used to love the Troll book orders that we would get from time to time at school. I would go crazy ordering books, and my parents didn't care because it was all in the sake of education.
My very favorite book growing up was The Secret Garden. I found it at the book sale the other day and told Chris that I had to have it. I am looking forward to reading it again.
My mom took us to the library to check out books all of the time, so I consumed as many books as I could. One of my favorite memories as a child was the Summer Reading Program at the library. I would read constantly all summer long to win prizes, but it was also a lot of fun.
I also read the Sweet Valley High books as well as the Babysitting Club books, but I read books like To Kill a Mockingbird, A Separate Peace, etc. Basically I just read whatever I could get my hands on!
Okay, I will also admit to reading and loving the Sweet Valley High series. What was that sports car they had? Something that started with an "F" maybe? I remember thinking at the time it must have been a car that was popular in CA, because I had never heard of it before. I also read & loved To Kill A Mockingbird. My Dad had a huge part in me reading that book. He liked it so much, he wanted to nickname me "Scout". Of course, I absolutely threw a fit when he would call me that. I didn't want to be nicknamed after a tomboy character. Now, that I look back, I feel a little bad for being so ugly about that. I also read The Little House on the Prairie series. We had the series that came in the light blue cardboard box, too. My mom still has them & she just recently finished rereading them. My sisters & I all grew up loving that series. One other book that really stands out in my mind is called The Teddy Bear Tree. It was a book I checked out frequently from the library, but I have no idea who the author is. For some reason, that I can't seem to figure out, that book holds a special place in my memories.
Didn't they have a Fiat? I might wonder about myself if that's actually correct!
Go ahead & start wondering, Rachel, because I think you're right!
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