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[CCBC-Net] Beloved books
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From: Caroline Parr <CParr>
Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 16:42:28 -0400
Thank you to everyone who's mentioned so many books and authors I loved, too
- Eager, Enright, Lang, Heinlein, Narnia, Harriet, and on and on. I also read THE LITTLE RABBIT WHO WANTED RED WINGS (thanks, Julie!), and Crockett Johnson's BARNABY book (or books? was there more than one?) and loved it, along with his wife Ruth Krauss's book HOW TO MAKE AN EARTHQUAKE, which had all kinds of simple but imaginative activities you could do around the house with just a blanket or a ball or a cork.
I clearly remember reading FOLLOW MY LEADER by Garfield, about a boy who's blinded in an accident and has to re-learn how to live. I have no idea how this would hold up all these years later but it was memorable to me at the time I read it (probably around nine or ten) because of the boy's struggle. I also read Horatio Alger's books, just because they were among the numerous books in our family's eclectic library, and I loved rooting for the poor boys in the story who succeeded by virtue of hard work and clean living! (I shudder to think what I would make of them today.)
Another memory is of a fat anthology of short stories for adults collected by Clifton Fadiman - maybe it was READING I'VE LIKED - that included an eerie story about a man who found his own tombstone, with his name and birthdate, but - oh, the horror - a death date, too...and the date is today! I vividly remember the description of the narrator, writing these final words in a hot, hot attic room on a summer night, waiting for his own death.
These memories remind me how differently children read from the way adults do. A book that I might find contrived or melodramatic today could be the very book that speaks to a child reader. Not a reason to ignore our critical evaluation skills, just a thought to keep in mind as we match books with young readers.
Caroline
Caroline S. Parr Youth Services Coordinator Central Rappahannock Regional Library 1201 Caroline St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401 voice: 540-372-1160 / fax: 540-373-9411 www.LibraryPoint.org
Received on Wed 24 May 2006 03:42:28 PM CDT
Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 16:42:28 -0400
Thank you to everyone who's mentioned so many books and authors I loved, too
- Eager, Enright, Lang, Heinlein, Narnia, Harriet, and on and on. I also read THE LITTLE RABBIT WHO WANTED RED WINGS (thanks, Julie!), and Crockett Johnson's BARNABY book (or books? was there more than one?) and loved it, along with his wife Ruth Krauss's book HOW TO MAKE AN EARTHQUAKE, which had all kinds of simple but imaginative activities you could do around the house with just a blanket or a ball or a cork.
I clearly remember reading FOLLOW MY LEADER by Garfield, about a boy who's blinded in an accident and has to re-learn how to live. I have no idea how this would hold up all these years later but it was memorable to me at the time I read it (probably around nine or ten) because of the boy's struggle. I also read Horatio Alger's books, just because they were among the numerous books in our family's eclectic library, and I loved rooting for the poor boys in the story who succeeded by virtue of hard work and clean living! (I shudder to think what I would make of them today.)
Another memory is of a fat anthology of short stories for adults collected by Clifton Fadiman - maybe it was READING I'VE LIKED - that included an eerie story about a man who found his own tombstone, with his name and birthdate, but - oh, the horror - a death date, too...and the date is today! I vividly remember the description of the narrator, writing these final words in a hot, hot attic room on a summer night, waiting for his own death.
These memories remind me how differently children read from the way adults do. A book that I might find contrived or melodramatic today could be the very book that speaks to a child reader. Not a reason to ignore our critical evaluation skills, just a thought to keep in mind as we match books with young readers.
Caroline
Caroline S. Parr Youth Services Coordinator Central Rappahannock Regional Library 1201 Caroline St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401 voice: 540-372-1160 / fax: 540-373-9411 www.LibraryPoint.org
Received on Wed 24 May 2006 03:42:28 PM CDT
