My friend at Catholic Teacher Musing created a post recently that describes several books that hold significance to her from her childhood. I thought it was a great thought provoking post, and I am stealing her idea. :) I have always loved books, even when I was very young. I could not wait to start school so that I could learn to read. And read I did...here are a few of the highlights:Tag (First Grade Reader. I could not find a link for it.)
My first recollection of reading was with this book. It was our reading textbook in the first grade. I can vividly remember how exciting it was to be able to read several words together to make a sentence. Somehow even then I knew how significant reading would be to my life. It seemed to be like a superpower that opened up the limitations of time and space.
Stuart Little by E. B. White
My third grade teacher, Miss Rex, read this book to our class. She read everyday right after lunch for about a half hour or so. I would hang on her every word. I was fascinated by envisioning all of the tiny little belongings of Stuart and imagining how it must feel to be so small. He has so many adventures in that little car, and I mean, really…a mouse drinking sarsaparilla from a hat…that’s good stuff!
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
During the course of second and third grade I read all 13 books of the Little House series. I just could not get enough of those far away places. My favorite was “…Big Woods.” When they were little, my girls always called them the “dangers of the world” books because of all of the exciting but scary things that happened to the family. Pa would fight off panthers, and there would be four feet of snow from the blizzard. There was always a crisis to overcome. They enjoyed reading them also.
Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
I chose this title for a book report when I was in the fourth grade. This book represents my first memory of procrastination of a big project. I did not read the entire book, and I manufactured an oral book report complete with props totally from reading the back of the book cover. Rest assured this was not the last performance of this nature….I am sad to say.
Katie John by Mary Calhoun
When I was in about fourth grade or so, I devoured all of the Katie John books. She was a tomboy like me, and she had great inner dialogue. I think that it was because she was an only child, and she did not have other kids with which she could talk. She lived in a large mysterious house which had boarders. I think that I was jealous of all of the interesting people and happenings that occurred in the old house and in her life. I only had two kid sisters…and we were pretty boring. All except for my parents being KGB agents, but I digress…(I had a very vivid imagination when I was a kid)
Little Women Louisa May Alcott
I am not entirely sure exactly when I read this book, but I remember it well. My parents gave me a beautiful copy of this book for Christmas one year when I was a child. I still treasure it. It sits in the “important” book case where my “valuable” books are housed. I always felt such a connection to Jo…even though there was a character who shared my name, Amy. I didn’t like her as much. I have all sisters, so this book held a personal connection in terms of family dynamics, and I can fully empathize with the characters and their relationships, disagreements, alliances, etc.
My first recollection of reading was with this book. It was our reading textbook in the first grade. I can vividly remember how exciting it was to be able to read several words together to make a sentence. Somehow even then I knew how significant reading would be to my life. It seemed to be like a superpower that opened up the limitations of time and space.
Stuart Little by E. B. White
My third grade teacher, Miss Rex, read this book to our class. She read everyday right after lunch for about a half hour or so. I would hang on her every word. I was fascinated by envisioning all of the tiny little belongings of Stuart and imagining how it must feel to be so small. He has so many adventures in that little car, and I mean, really…a mouse drinking sarsaparilla from a hat…that’s good stuff!
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
During the course of second and third grade I read all 13 books of the Little House series. I just could not get enough of those far away places. My favorite was “…Big Woods.” When they were little, my girls always called them the “dangers of the world” books because of all of the exciting but scary things that happened to the family. Pa would fight off panthers, and there would be four feet of snow from the blizzard. There was always a crisis to overcome. They enjoyed reading them also.
Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
I chose this title for a book report when I was in the fourth grade. This book represents my first memory of procrastination of a big project. I did not read the entire book, and I manufactured an oral book report complete with props totally from reading the back of the book cover. Rest assured this was not the last performance of this nature….I am sad to say.
Katie John by Mary Calhoun
When I was in about fourth grade or so, I devoured all of the Katie John books. She was a tomboy like me, and she had great inner dialogue. I think that it was because she was an only child, and she did not have other kids with which she could talk. She lived in a large mysterious house which had boarders. I think that I was jealous of all of the interesting people and happenings that occurred in the old house and in her life. I only had two kid sisters…and we were pretty boring. All except for my parents being KGB agents, but I digress…(I had a very vivid imagination when I was a kid)
Little Women Louisa May Alcott
I am not entirely sure exactly when I read this book, but I remember it well. My parents gave me a beautiful copy of this book for Christmas one year when I was a child. I still treasure it. It sits in the “important” book case where my “valuable” books are housed. I always felt such a connection to Jo…even though there was a character who shared my name, Amy. I didn’t like her as much. I have all sisters, so this book held a personal connection in terms of family dynamics, and I can fully empathize with the characters and their relationships, disagreements, alliances, etc.
I spent the vast majority of my time in the summers during elementary school reading a gazillion Nancy Drew and Sierra Sisters books. I love the mystery and intrigue. I practically inhaled them. My dad, who is also a bibliophile, would take to me large book sales way out in the country in these really big barns. There were hundreds of books. He would give me a little money, and I could pick whatever books I liked. I always searched out Sierra Sisters. They were written by Carolyn Keene the author of Nancy Drew, but I think that even then they were no longer being published. I still have about seven or ten of them in the attic.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
My fifth grade teacher read this book to our class each day after lunch. (That seemed to be the popular time to read to the class) I was fascinated by how a little girl could be so rotten…I think that I secretly longed to be so mean. Eventually, she changed, and I felt so proud of her character’s development. I found the relationships in this book so compelling. I think this was probably the first book that held true substance for me or gave me pause to think about my relationships and their future. Other books were fun or silly, but this one held a depth that previous books did not. At the time, I felt that the book was a little “beneath” me in terms of difficulty as I was an avid reader even then. However, I am thankful to have read it when I was a little older. I would have missed much if I had read it when I was too young to understand some of its more significant meanings.
How about you? What are some of the titles that captivated you as a child?
5 comments:
Hi -- was looking for a way to e-mail you, but it seems comments are the only avenue for communication on this blog, lol. I first wanted to thank you for listing my book, "Reading the Enemy's Mind" among those you are currently reading. An author's main reward these days (in the face of a shrinking book market) is often just knowing that real people are engaged with his or her book. Second, regarding Krakauer, my wife has just finished "Into the Wild," and found it fascinating and compelling. Having spent three weeks in Alaska together this summer for my family reunion, she found it all the more interesting since she was able to place in her own experiences many of the locations mentioned in the book. Finally, given how you list your occupation, are you involved in the e-learning arena? I have an adult daughter working in the field, and am in the beginning stages of developing some e-learning resources for the remote viewing training I offer. Perhaps there is an opportunity here to compare notes!
I loved the Secret Garden when I was a kid. Such a fascinating story. Loved the movie too.
I loved the Secret Garden. I am looking forward to being able to share it with my daughter.
I love your list.
My 2nd grade teacher read Stuart Little to us.
I remember lying on my back on the rug and being entranced.
I read the Laura books because of well ....her name.
Seriously.
I grew up with the Little House books, dreamed with Little Women, and sleuthed away with Nancy Drew (to such an extent that my parents once gave me a FBI fingerprint kit for kids).
I love books . . .
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