Here are five books that I would go back to over and over and over again as a child. I knew them back and forth. I visited them like old family members, and they are part of the fabric of how I remember learning to love reading, getting lost in the other worlds and situations far far from my own.
What a contrast to a Protestant girl growing up in the high desert of New Mexico- All of a Kind Family by Sidney Tayor, and the five Jewish sisters growing up in pre World War I New York City. I searched for pennies with the girls as they would dust. I commisserated with naughty girl who would stubbornly not eat her dinner. I held my breath as they had their ears pierced with a needle and a wax string. I savored their religious traditions as they worshiped together as a family.
In My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, young runaway Sam writes, "I am on my mountain in a tree home that people have passed not ever knowing that I am here." My dream! No hemlock trees, 6 feet in diameter, in my neighborhood, but I did entertain dreams of moving into the craigs of some of the boulders at the base of my nearby mountain. Logical, brave, and independent, that Sam. My kind of guy.
Confession- to this day, I make quick comparisons to life in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House. Road trips? Mary and Laura didn't own a portable DVD player... Laundry piled up? At least I don't have to boil the water first. Long winter? Humph! Never as long as THE Long Winter! Pa, the most beloved of all children's lit fathers. Nellie Olson, the most despicable of all childhood nemeses. I could never be as good or as kind as sweet Mary. I am much more close to Laura, always climbing, always saying one too many things.
"Mercy Maud!" Is there a more funny book than Cheaper by the Dozen, the true story of the Gilbreth family? "Doncha know that (insert any ethnic group here) come cheaper by the dozen?" father Frank would tell onlookers? He was continually trying his time motion efficiency studies on the children, and I too tried to wash starting with the soap up the left side and then down the right. Few families enjoyed themselves as heartily as the Gilbreths, and that was an inspiration to me.
John D. Fitzgerald, J.D, tells the story of his scheming older brother, Tom, T.D., in The Great Brain . Tom could solved problems town leaders were stumped by. His parents were fair in discipline and generous in love. The boys' worst punishment to one another was the silent treatment. It was fun to imagine the adventures in the rapidly growing Old West town of Alden, Utah. And it was fun to see what scheme Tom would come up with next.Confession- it's awfully hard to limit this to the Friday FIVE. I'd love to hear what childhood books stand out for Wanderer readers!
1 comment:
I also loved "Cheaper by the Dozen" and the sequel, "Belles on their Toes". Read both over and over again, and still re-read them occassionally. I have several other of Gilbreth's books along with the biography of Lillian Moller Gilbreth by Jane Lancaster.
The Little House books were all great favorites with me too, as was the Anne of Green Gables books.
When I got older, mainly in my teens, I read "Gone With the Wind" many, many times. I think it's time to read it again soon.
I know these above mentioned were my childhood favorites because I still have them all.
My Little House books each have a price of 95 cents on the covers!
Thanks for bringing back memories!
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