1.06.2015

To Be a Kid Again!

wikicommons


Do you read to your children? Do they clamor for a story before going to sleep? Do they try to read along with you? If you answered “yes,” then they are one of the lucky ones. In this day of visual entertainment, I fear the practice is dying out.

Some of my earliest memories are of cherished books. The bedtime stories, reading on my own, letting my imagination take flight. I still remember my favorite book about the Bobsey Twins, a collection of 365 stories, one for every day of the year. That was *mumble* years ago (back in the age of the dinosaurs) and yet the stories shaped my life, instilling a lifelong love of reading for me.

What memories do you have from childhood books? What favorites are lodged in your brain cells? I’d love to have you share them in your comments.

Happy reading!

32 comments:

  1. Hi River - Happy New Year ... we were definitely read to ... and we left to our own devices to read, play, read some more ... there was a large stash of children's books around, then the murder mysteries that I moved onto .. I found the romances at school.

    But I'd love to be a child - and just take the 'day off' ... reading, reading, reading ... I must plan this in for 2015 - have a very good year - Hilary

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    1. Happy New Year, Hilary! I find it amazing how much books have impacted the memories of our childhoods and instilled a life-long love for reading. You should treat yourself to many days of curling up with a good book in 2015. :)

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  2. We were read to. Often. And The Just So Stories were prime favourites. To the extent that my mother learned several by heart and recited them to us while she cooked the evening meal. I can still recite great slabs of them - particularly The Elephant's Child (naturally), and How the Leopard got its Spots. And each celebration we were given books. There are things about my childhood which leave me underwhelmed but I am beyond grateful that I was given the gift of pleasure in reading.

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    1. Elephant's Child - Our early memories are so much sharper, aren't they? The gift of reading carries through for a lifetime of pleasure and entertainment. I hope new parents will continue the tradition.

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  3. I don't have any memories of my parents reading to me, but I read a lot from an early age. I remember cuddling up with my big collection of stuffed animals and reading Nancy Drew or a Choose Your Own Adventure. My husband and I read every night to our son, and he reads during the day. We've been sure to nurture that love of reading in him.

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    1. Christine - Your son is very lucky to have that kind of encouragement! I can picture the nest of stuffed animals and a favorite book. :)

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  4. I loved reading. I loved library day at school and my mother took us to the library every other week. I'd have a pile of books. I read Man O' War by Walter Farley 5 bazillion times. My name was on the checkout card at least 50 times.

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    1. Very cool, Mary! I didn't live very near a library growing up so never developed the habit of checking out books, although my school had a robust system of borrowing books.

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  5. My mom read me books like Bambi. My dad read me Edgar Allen Poe. Haha, guess that's why I love dark fiction so much!

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  6. I remember going to the library when I was young. It was in a converted house. There was a section with biographies of early Americans which I read through and then I discovered Jack London and then Greek mythology. I love reading to my kids. Just one more chapter is the usual refrain.

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    1. Your kids are lucky, Jeff! You're showing them your love of adventure.

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  7. I read the Bobsey Twin books also as a child. I also read a series of books, they were a dingy dark red bound, I recall, one about the life of each U.S. President.

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    1. Strayer - Another Bobsey Twin fan! Reading about the presidents was certainly ambitious for a child. Hats off to you for accomplishing it. :)

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  8. All of my favorites when I was a kid were animal books. Big surprise, right? I loved the Beatrix Potter books, Freddie the Pig, Paddington Bear, and Winnie the Pooh. My parents took me to the library at least once a week and I loved nothing more than library day.

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    1. Julie - I've never heard of Freddie the Pig. Now I feel deprived... ;) Yay on you for weekly library trips!

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  9. I loved to read. When i was 4 I went through the Art Encyclopedia my mom had. Even though I couldn;t read the big words i loved the paintings and my favourite was Rubens "Rape of the Sabine Women" Now I didn't know what that meant or what was going on, I just loved the look of the fabric falling off the women and the horses of the men. I was lucky, many, many years later to actually see the painting in Munich. I recall reading "Call of the Wild", "And Then There Were None", Little House on the Prairie books, Grimm Fairy Tales and The Great Movie Stars"

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    1. Birgit - *snort* At least the beautiful pictures inspired you to read! :D The fairy tales in the older books were darker than the cleaned-up versions around today, too.

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  10. I loved reading as a child, but I hated being read to. I used to read a lot of Nancy Drew books and Sweet Valley High. My favorite childhood book was Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur.

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    1. Cherie - You liked to do things for yourself. That's a good way to be! Dinosaurs... ;)

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  11. I was a huge reader when I was a child, and my school had programs that encouraged me to keep it up. Sadly, I stopped in middle school and high school and didn't pick it back up until I was in my twenties. I have no kids, but my sister does and she makes sure to read to hers nightly. Hopefully, they'll be big readers thanks to her.

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    1. Hi Patricia! I think high school kids lose interest because it seems like work instead of enjoyment, don't you think? I'm so glad you rediscovered your love for reading!

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  12. I remember the Bobsey Twins. Loved them, read them often. I think anyone who doesn't remember reading as a child was truly deprived. It's a joy, and I love watching young kids as they first start learning to read. It's great!

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    1. Debi - Watching a child learn to read is the most awesome thing, isn't it? They have such delight in their accomplishments! :)

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  13. Another animal books lover - selection like Julie Flanders above. No memories of being read to very much, more of finding a quiet corner with a book. Still have original 1932 copy of Old Mr Fox by George Brooksbank - father's.Then moved on to Alan Garner and C S Lewis, so beginning my love of fantasy.

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    1. Roland - A quiet corner with a book is one of my fondest memories as well. I wish I still had some of the books from childhood. Arthur C Clarke was one of my favorites.

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  14. I wasn't read to as a child, but I discovered books on my own once I started school and discovered the school library. My daughter, on the other hand, wouldn't go to bed without a story. I miss reading to her!

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    1. Gwen - They grow up too fast...though at the time it doesn't seem like it. ;) I enjoyed reading to my kids, too, but they learned too quickly how to take over the job!

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  15. I used to read to my kids when they were itty bitty and that encouraged them to find joy in reading now that they're older.

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    1. Hi Elsie. I do think reading to kids encourages them to read on their own later!

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  16. We lived far out in the country and our books were very precious. During the school year, my teacher used to unlock the library before school for me so I could fill my need to read and read and read. I gobbled up The Black Stallion books and Jack London. I bought them all for my son as soon as he was old enough to read them. I never appreciated that wonderful teacher enough.

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    1. What an awesome teacher, Susan! It's amazing what someone like that can do to touch a child's life. I had a couple of fantastic teachers along the way too, even though I didn't recognize how above and beyond they were at the time.

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