Earliest books
Jan. 24th, 2010 05:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serenissimaIn response to faeri's question to the general public, "When did you start reading? What were your favourite books when you were a kid?"
My mother tells me I first started reading when I was three and a half. I can't remember not being able to read. And I read so many books that it's very hard to pick favorites. During recess in elementary school, I'd bring a book out to the playground, sit in a quiet corner and read.
My parents read to me, and I can remember their selections a little more distinctly than all the books I read on my own. Our favorites include Russell and Lillian Hoban's books about Frances the badger and Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad series as well as his book Owl at Home. We also had Tibor Gergely's Great Big Book of Bedtime Stories, with the red cover with the lion shown in Amazon's first photograph — I think it's still at my parents' house.
We borrowed most books from the library, and that has been always my habit: to borrow books, not own them. But a few are so special to me that I do want to have my own copy. D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths is one. We used to have a paperback copy, which was read enough times that the pages fell out. Last year I bought myself a hardcover copy, as well as their Book of Norse Myths and Book of Trolls. I also love the Chronicles of Narnia and have a boxed set.
Other books I remember fondly, although I don't feel the need to keep them, include Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series, Eleanor Cameron's Mushroom Planet books, Half Magic and other novels by Edward Eager, the Danny Dunn series by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, and a whole lot of books by the prolific Jane Yolen. You can see I developed my taste for fantasy and science fiction pretty early.
Children's books have become more relevant to me now that I have my own little person to read to. I'd like to build a small collection for him. I hope he will love reading as much as his parents do.
My mother tells me I first started reading when I was three and a half. I can't remember not being able to read. And I read so many books that it's very hard to pick favorites. During recess in elementary school, I'd bring a book out to the playground, sit in a quiet corner and read.
My parents read to me, and I can remember their selections a little more distinctly than all the books I read on my own. Our favorites include Russell and Lillian Hoban's books about Frances the badger and Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad series as well as his book Owl at Home. We also had Tibor Gergely's Great Big Book of Bedtime Stories, with the red cover with the lion shown in Amazon's first photograph — I think it's still at my parents' house.
We borrowed most books from the library, and that has been always my habit: to borrow books, not own them. But a few are so special to me that I do want to have my own copy. D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths is one. We used to have a paperback copy, which was read enough times that the pages fell out. Last year I bought myself a hardcover copy, as well as their Book of Norse Myths and Book of Trolls. I also love the Chronicles of Narnia and have a boxed set.
Other books I remember fondly, although I don't feel the need to keep them, include Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series, Eleanor Cameron's Mushroom Planet books, Half Magic and other novels by Edward Eager, the Danny Dunn series by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, and a whole lot of books by the prolific Jane Yolen. You can see I developed my taste for fantasy and science fiction pretty early.
Children's books have become more relevant to me now that I have my own little person to read to. I'd like to build a small collection for him. I hope he will love reading as much as his parents do.
