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[CCBC-Net] Life-changing books
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From: Leah Langby <langby>
Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 10:10:49 -0500
I've been loving this discussion, and have been really enjoying thinking about the books that had the most profound effect on me as a child.
Alice and Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass and the Pooh stories were a part of my family culture--references and quotes and touchpoints for life (when I was two, my mother pointed out to me that my pants were on backwards and I said, "I see now. I have been foolish and deluded.")
When I was ten, feeling miserable and out of place in a rural school, my aunt took me to a nearby library to see Tomie de Paola reading his new book, Oliver Button is a Sissy. Even though I was reading much more sophisticated books, this simple picture book had a HUGE effect on me, easing my feelings of isolation and giving me hope that being true to myself in a hostile environment would eventually be worth the pain.
Bridge to Terabithia was a very powerful book for me--also about being different, the pain that causes, but the importance of staying true to it. Plus, I read it every time I needed a good cry.
Finally, my dad was the most literate person I've ever met. He was passionate about literature and had a broad-ranging interest and enthusiasm that sometimes caused him to recommend books a little too early (my sister is still scarred from reading The Penal Colony by Kafka at age 9 or 10). But sometimes he was RIGHT ON, like when he recommended To Kill A Mockingbird when I was 10. This was a book I read at least once or twice a year for the next ten years--and every time I read it I decided to become a lawyer. It was all powerful to me, and I enjoyed it on different levels each time I read it. Scout, innocently stopping a mob in its tracks, the importance of doing what is right and just even if it doesn't always end up the way it should, all of this had a tremendous effect on me.
Okay, okay, I could go on and on and on, but that's probably enough...
******************************************** Leah Langby Library Development and Youth Services Coordinator Indianhead Federated Library System email: langby at ifls.lib.wi.us
********************************************
Received on Wed 24 May 2006 10:10:49 AM CDT
Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 10:10:49 -0500
I've been loving this discussion, and have been really enjoying thinking about the books that had the most profound effect on me as a child.
Alice and Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass and the Pooh stories were a part of my family culture--references and quotes and touchpoints for life (when I was two, my mother pointed out to me that my pants were on backwards and I said, "I see now. I have been foolish and deluded.")
When I was ten, feeling miserable and out of place in a rural school, my aunt took me to a nearby library to see Tomie de Paola reading his new book, Oliver Button is a Sissy. Even though I was reading much more sophisticated books, this simple picture book had a HUGE effect on me, easing my feelings of isolation and giving me hope that being true to myself in a hostile environment would eventually be worth the pain.
Bridge to Terabithia was a very powerful book for me--also about being different, the pain that causes, but the importance of staying true to it. Plus, I read it every time I needed a good cry.
Finally, my dad was the most literate person I've ever met. He was passionate about literature and had a broad-ranging interest and enthusiasm that sometimes caused him to recommend books a little too early (my sister is still scarred from reading The Penal Colony by Kafka at age 9 or 10). But sometimes he was RIGHT ON, like when he recommended To Kill A Mockingbird when I was 10. This was a book I read at least once or twice a year for the next ten years--and every time I read it I decided to become a lawyer. It was all powerful to me, and I enjoyed it on different levels each time I read it. Scout, innocently stopping a mob in its tracks, the importance of doing what is right and just even if it doesn't always end up the way it should, all of this had a tremendous effect on me.
Okay, okay, I could go on and on and on, but that's probably enough...
******************************************** Leah Langby Library Development and Youth Services Coordinator Indianhead Federated Library System email: langby at ifls.lib.wi.us
********************************************
Received on Wed 24 May 2006 10:10:49 AM CDT
