Childhood Favorite Books

By Shari Randall

I stumbled upon an article about celebrities and their favorite books from childhood and of course I gobbled it up. (Former children’s librarian here.) This question – What was your favorite book when you were a child? – had just popped up at a book club I attended last week, and it kicked off a terrific discussion.

 

There’s a meme floating around the internet that says if you see someone holding a book you love, it’s the book recommending the person. If you share a passion for the same children’s book, there’s an extra level of magic and joy in that recommendation.

 

There’s something about this question that opens a door into a person that is so revealing. It’s an introduction to the heart of the child they once were. If someone has the same favorite book, it forms an immediate bond. When one of the book club members said that her favorite book growing up was "any Nancy Drew," so many of us broke out into smiles and cries of “me, too!” The British readers at the meeting bonded immediately when they learned that they both loved the books of Enid Blyton. (I’m adding Enid’s books to my reading list.)

 

Whenever I visit a Facebook party, I ask this question and it always gets enthusiastic responses. Readers love to talk about books, and especially love to talk about the books that sparked their enthusiasm for reading and made them a lifelong reader.

 

At the same book club meeting one reader announced that she had kept a list of the books that changed her life over the years and that The Wizard of Oz was on that list. Everyone was immediately envious – why hadn’t we thought of keeping such a list over the years? My list would certainly have my favorites: Nancy Drew (of course), Charlotte’s Web, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Westing Game, Jane Eyre.

 

What was your favorite children’s book or author?

Here are some celebrity picks:

Kelly Clarkson: Matilda

Jackie Collins: Enid Blyton

Elizabeth Gilbert: The Wizard of Oz

Stephenie Meyer: Little Women

Roxanne Guy: Little House on the Prairie

Ethan Hawke: The Hobbit

Barack Obama: Where the Wild Things Are

Rob Lowe: The Mouse and the Motorcycle

JK Rowling: The Little White Horse

Shari Randall is the author of the Agatha Award-winning Lobster Shack Mystery series. Her latest book, FATAL FUDGE SWIRL, was written as Meri Allen. You can pick up a copy here.

 

 

 

 

Returning to Books We Love

It has finally happened.

I have a child old enough for a Harry Potter read along.

I seriously cannot believe this. Also: I cannot believe I’m so excited about this.

I came to Harry Potter late. By the time I read the books, the sixth one was just about to come out. I read the first five in a giant whirlwind of a month and could NOT get enough.

Then, I read the sixth.

Then, I waited for the seventh with bated breath, just like everyone else in world (seemingly). And once we finally got it, my husband ended up reading it first because he’s a much faster reader and came to the series YEARS before me (smart man that he is). And, so, I waited some more. And then read like my life depended on it.

That was years ago, but ever since we began reading nightly to our oldest, we’ve discussed when we could introduce our favorite books to him. Obviously, we could read Goodnight Moon, Millions of Cats, Corduroy and Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel very early. But what we really couldn’t wait to read was Harry Potter.

Last summer, we finally were able to read chapter books to our son. James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We’d show him Harry Potter and tell him it was about a wizard, but when he saw it had exactly ZERO pictures, he’d shake his head.

But that all changed this week. We pulled it out and started reading it to him on Monday and he lost his little mind. Asked for another chapter. And another. FYI: J.K. Rowling writes LONG chapters, even in the very first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

We’ve been up late every night this week.

But it has been completely worth the exhaustion to see his little face light up with joy as Hagrid accidentally spells a pig’s tail onto Harry’s cousin’s round rear end. Or the surprise when he’s told, “You’re a wizard, Harry.” Or when he giggles at people’s reactions to “the boy who lived” on the street in Diagon Alley.

And it’s funny because even though I will always love these books, I’m falling in love with them all over again through my son’s experience.

What books do you like to share with the younger generation? What books do you think you will always love and come back to?

And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street

I love Dr. Seuss! He is one of my favorite authors. True, I don’t read his work often anymore, although I still have some of his books on the bottom shelf with other children’s books that I can’t let go.

I read Dr. Seuss books to my children when they were young so many years ago; The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Oh, The Places You’ll Go, Fox in Socks, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and many other books of his. And then I read them to my grandchildren and recently to a great-granddaughter.

 

Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to the world as Dr. Seuss, was born in 1904 in Springfield, Mass.His father and grandfather were brewmasters. His mother used to chant rhymes she remembered from her youth (I’m thinking maybe nursery rhymes) to her children when she put them to bed. Ted credited his mother with his ability and desire to create the rhymes for his books.

Ted left Springfield as a teenager to attend Dartmouth College. He became editor-in-chief of the Jack-O-Lantern, Dartmouth’s humor magazine, but when he and his friends were caught having a drinking party, which was against prohibition laws and school policy, he was ousted as editor-in-chief. However, he continued to contribute to the magazine using the pseudonym of “Seuss” which was his mother’s maiden name and his middle name, too.

His father wanted him to be a college professor, so he went to Oxford University in England, but he found academic studies boring and decided to tour Europe instead. However, Oxford was where he met Helen Palmer, who was a children’s author and book editor. She would become his first wife. When he returned to the United States, Ted began to pursue a career as a cartoonist. Although some magazines published his early pieces, most of his early career was devoted to creating advertising for Standard Oil. Later he focused on political cartoons and then made U.S. Army training movies. Viking Press offered him a contract to produce a collection of children’s sayings called Boners. The book didn’t sell well, but his illustrations got great reviews.

Our door won first prize in the door contest that year.

His first book that he both wrote and illustrated was And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. The illustrations were of streets and people in Springfield where he grew up. The book went through 27 rejections before being published by Vanguard Press.  

One year when I was still teaching, our school had a Dr. Seuss Door Contest. I chose his first book, and after reading it to my students, I asked them to write poems with the title “And to Think That I Saw It on Bancroft Street”. What I particularly liked about this book is that it encourages a child to use his/her imagination. My students came through with many imaginative poems, but the following was one of the best.

                                                          I saw a large truck

                                                          hooked to a bike

                                                          with a boy on it

                                                          that I seemed to like.

                                                          The boy was attached

                                                          to a man with a flute,

                                                          the man was hooked to

                                                          a small puny newt.

                                                          So that’s what I saw.

                                                          It was pretty neat,

                                                          And to think that that I saw

                                                          It on Bancroft Street.

-          John Franks

In 1967 Ted’s first wife died, and after that he married an old friend, Audrey Stone Geisel. She  influenced his later books, and now guards his legacy as the president of Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

From the time he wrote And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street until his death on September 24, 1991, he wrote and illustrated 44 children’s books. His books have been translated into more than 15 languages. Over 200 million copies found their way into hearts and homes throughout the world. Besides the books, there were eleven children’s TV specials, a Broadway musical and a feature-length movie with other motion pictures in the works. His honors include two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award and the Pulitzer Prize.

I think I’ll go now and dig out some of those books I’ve saved and read them again.

What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book?