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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
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OP
old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
Capital Kiwi's post about growing up on different books (in the Green Eggs and Spam thread) suddenly makes me want to ask:
What books DID y'all y'all grow up on? favourite childhood reading experiences....
For me, I have fond memories of my father reading Rudyard Kipling to me (particularly The Just-So Stories and The Jungle Book)....I read Cat in the Hat and other Seuss books too, but also books by Molly Brett (British), and the Mousekin books (one where he winds up sort of hibernating in a pumpkin, I seem to recall)....and of C.S. Lewis's Narnia books....and Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books....and Thornton W. Burgess (Green Forest series, etc), and Lucy M. Boston (The House at Green Knowe books), Monica Dickens (The House at World's End books), John D. Fitzgerald (The Great Brain series), Walter Farley (The Black Stallion and all the other books in the series), Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby series, the Albert Payson Terhune "Lad" books, Jim Kjelgaard's "Red" books, and OF COURSE....L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series (couldn't call myself Canadian, eh, without them!).....And when I got older I devoured EVERYTHING by James Herriot and Gerald Durrell. If I were growing up now (maybe I sort of am! :o) I'd be reading all those, AND J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books.
Actually I'm now volunteering at a local school once a week, as a Reading Buddy, helping a little girl who's having trouble learning to read. It's frustrating because I remember learning to read - and there were some very simple books back then (don't I sound like I'm 90! "when I was a girl...."), with big type and big pictures and simple sentences - not just the Dick and Jane variety, because I remember most vividly one about an airplane. The frustration lies in the fact that I can't seem to find any such very simple books anymore. All the books I'm supposed to help her with have WAY too much type - it's discouraging for us both.....
But it does bring back fond memories, for me, of learning to read and discovering that freedom - and then years and years of reading under the covers by flashlight after my parents thought I was asleep, and reading in lessons I found boring, and reading at recess, reading reading reading....What wonderful worlds!
Would love to hear about other people's fave childhood books and memories of early reading experiences....
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
Before I could read, my mother used to read me Alice in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass and all of the A.A.Milne poems (but not the Pooh Bear stories - strangely!) When I learned to read for my self, which I did reasonably early, the books that I can remember reading and re-reading were the Mary Plain series, about a bear cub in the bear pits at Berne.
Later on, the William books, by Richmael Crompton were my absolute top favourites. I had a complete set of them which I read time and time again. Also Wind in the Willows
I also discovered R.M.Ballantyne's stirring adventure stories, such as Coral Island and all of R.L.Stevenson's books. I was also quite an afficionado of the W.E.Johns Biggles books.
But throughout my life, reading has been something of a vice - I am totally addicted to it, and will read the telephone directory if there is nothing else to hand (it's surprising what interesting things are to be found in the TD!!)
Like you, MG, I read under the covers, at mealtimes (if Mum wasn't there!) during boring lessons, early in the morning and late at night. And I loved to savour the words - I didn't learn to "speed read" until a few years ago and still think it is a terrible thing to have to do! (But how else can you mark three essays an hour?)
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
Thanks for the link to that "companion thread" consuelo - that was a treat! and thanks RhubarbCommando for reminding me of other childhood favourites - I loved Wind in the Willows too (still do!)....and even have a couple of Biggles books (my brothers read more of those than I did, I think - but I can still remember my favourite scene from "Biggles Flies North" I think it was: he crippled the baddies's plane by dropping a crate of spam or some such out the hatch of his plane onto their wing from above! priceless!)....I still love reading children's books and revisiting old faves from my childhood and youth.
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