Weekly Geeks #3
This week’s theme comes from Samantha, who suggested that one week we all write about our fond memories of childhood books.
You could approach this several ways. I’ll probably list my favorite childhood books with maybe a paragraph about each book: why I loved it, how old I was when I read it, where I got the book, etc. You could also just pick one childhood favorite and review it as you would any other book. Or, if you’re fast, you could make up a meme other weekly geeks might like to use. It’ll be interesting to see how everyone personalizes this theme. Don’t forget to come back and leave a link to the post in your comment once you’ve written your post. No wrap-up post this week; just the one childhood books post.
When we were kids, my mother had my brothers and me enrolled in a children's bookclub. Every month we'd get 4 story books in the mail. I remember some of them: Little Cloud, The Last Puppy, The Clownarounds (who I hated. Ugh. Clowns.) and my favorite Henry the Duck. I wanted to show Henry the Duck (Henry's Awful Mistake was the best) to my girl but found it was a difficult task. The books we had as kids were long gone and they hadn't been republished. Purely by chance, I was digging through a box of grimy kids books at a library book sale and Eureka! there was Henry's Awful Mistake! What are the chances? I'm convinced that it is the actual book I had and that it found it's way back to me. No way to prove it one way or the other. I've been enjoying it with the kid ever since.
Little Women was the first 'real' book I owned. It was a Christmas present. As I got older, I loved Nancy Drew and (don't judge me) Sweet Valley High. I bought them with my sad, little allowance. Once I found the library, I was in reader heaven. Ramona Forever, The Rats of Nimh, anything Judy Bloom, anything with ghosts. I remember loving a character named Blossom Culp who had psychic powers. There was also a series with a little boy who solved mysteries. The covers (and possibly illustrations?) were creepy. They must have been drawn by the same person who did the opening of the Mystery Movies on PBS. Can anyone tell me the name of the series?
That was a fun trip down memory lane. I can remember actually holding the books in my hands, whether it was summer or winter, whether it was sunny or rainy. I even remember the music on the radio! The Bangles popped into my head quite often. It's funny how a book can bring me right back to that time.
Weekly Geeks #2 Update: I'm still going through the list on Mr Linky. This Weekly Geek was quite a bit of work but worth it.