These books included Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Are You My Mother? and Babar. Babar's adventures in the jungle and civilization strongly influenced my reading development and imagination.
As a young
girl, I was influenced by Nancy Drew zipping around her hometown of River
Heights in a blue roadster solving mysteries and catching criminals. She had
beauty, cute clothes, courage, and a sense of justice. I often rode my bike
to the library to check out Nancy Drew's books. Looking back, it was probably the
start of my love of mysteries. Nancy was the original influencer on millions of
girls by giving them action-packed adventure and originality. Some notable
women inspired by Nancy Drew are Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Hillary Clinton,
Sonia Sotomayor, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Laura Bush.
During my
teenage years, I wrote short stories similar to Nancy
Drew. I tucked them away in my dresser drawer after they were completed. It never dawned on me to seek publication. Later, I read Agatha Christie,
Poe, and Mary Higgins Clark.
My love of
reading and writing mysteries turned my attention to detective shows such
as Perry Mason, Sherlock Holmes, Alfred Hitchcock, Columbo, and Murder
She Wrote, my all-time favorite. I’ve watched every episode of Murder
She Wrote and love the creative titles. The Corpse Flew First
Class, Simon Says Color Me Dead, and Murder She Spoke, to name a few.
After
marrying and starting a family, I often took my children to the library to be influenced
by books. I continued the tradition with my granddaughter who has a great
passion for reading. Arthur, Baby-Sitters Club, Berenstain Bears, Charlie
Brown, Clifford, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Madeline, and Harry Potter are
some favorites.
Today, I
still read mysteries but mostly books written by author friends. I love diverse
characters and the distinctive places they visit. As a cozy mystery author of
over a dozen short fiction and novella books, I love to create strong, female
characters similar to Nancy Drew who solve crime and murder.
What books influenced you? Post a comment and let us know!
The Story of Babar
I suspect my love of reading grew from my parents reading me books. Every night before bedtime, they'd read to me. After I learned to read I continued that tradition and still do all these years later.
ReplyDeleteThats’s a great tradition!!
DeleteMy reading path was similar to many other mystery writers: Nancy Drew and then Phyllis Whitney and Mary Stewart before adult mysteries and thrillers. With my own kids, I was a fan of "read what you want to read" and stocked the house with books and audible books and magazines. We lived with the Polk Street school and Wayside School for years, until they were ready for Harry Potter.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome!! Reading is so important at an early age.
DeleteMy favorite children's book is Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan. I had a great deal of difficulty learning to read. My aunt took one summer and sat me down almost daily to work on it. When school started, one of our first assignments was to do a book report on a historic novel. I reluctantly brought Snow Treasure home, sure I was going to fail this assignment. When I opened it, to my amazement, I could actually read! The book has had a special place in my heart ever since.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great story! I think early reading is important for everything we do in life.
DeleteMy love of reading was first encouraged by my parents reading to me nightly. Library trips to even pick out picture books came next. Once I could really read, the library was a weekly stop supplemented by purchases from Scholastic Books, the local bookstore, and subscriptions to Weekly Reader, Highlights, etc. From the Bobbsey Twins, Trixi Belden, and books by Phyllis Whitney, I became intrigued by mysteries.
ReplyDeleteThat’s great memories, Debra! I remember the Scholastic books and Highlights.
DeleteI read most of the books that you've mentioned. I wrote stories in elementary school, and still have the notebook I wrote them in.
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool Marilyn that you still have the stories you wrote! I wish I still had mine.
DeleteI don’t remember a time when I didn’t read. It wasn’t what I read that influenced me, it was who.
ReplyDeleteMy mother started taking my brother and me to the library before we were actually reading.
My brother was three years older and often suggested books he thought I should read. This included everything from the classics to The Diary of Anne Frank to the Arthur Ransome books.
In the school library there was a series of biographies with orange covers. I read books about scientists, athletes, historical figures. If it
had that orange cover I read it.
I started reading mysteries when I was in high school and was babysitting for my aunt.
She had a subscription to a mystery book of the month club. Many of the books were anthologies of short stories featuring detectives who appeared in full length books.
When I found a continuing character that I liked, I went to the library and looked for other books about them.
This was how I discovered golden age authors such as Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Mary Roberts Rinehart and many others
I love Golden Age authors too! They are such great memories of books you have plus the detective short stories. Very cool!
DeleteI love this. I had forgotten all about Babar until this you mentioned it. Wonderful books. My influencers—Nancy Drew, of course. I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to drive so I could ferret out mysteries. There was a group of books that my mother had saved from her childhood. They had belonged to her mother. The Motor Girls by Margaret Penrose. They were published in the 1910s and revolved around a group of friends who traveled across the country by car and had adventures. My mother was a very 1950s woman, and she loved it. These books gave me a peek into a world of independent possibilities for young women. Something uncommon in the 1910s and not the message my mom usually sent. Now that I am older—ahem—I wonder at her motives.
ReplyDeleteThe Motor Girls sounds like a great inspiration and fun to read!
ReplyDelete