Weekly Geeks #3 -- Children's Books

Okay, so this post is a week late, my bad. This week's theme was to write about our memories of childhood books.

I've always loved books and can remember reading the same ones over and over as a child. I was also into lists even back then. I remember having a binder of loose-leaf paper with my list of books that I had read. It was several pages long. I wish I still had that list -- it would be interesting to see what was on it. I know there would have been a lot of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. I had inherited my mother's Trixie Belden books from when she was a child and I loved them. I also owned an extensive collection of Nancy Drew, probably 60 or 70 books. I don't think I ever got around to reading the higher-numbered books in the series, there were too many choices at the library (one of my all-time favorite places, even then) and eventually I outgrew Nancy Drew. Maybe one day I'll go back and read a few again, although I'm leery of doing that -- what if I don't like them anymore?

There's a couple of books that I fondly remember before I was old enough for Nancy Drew, et al. One was Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. I don't know why I liked this book, exactly. I don't have specific memories of reading it, but I saw it in a bookstore a few years ago when I was shopping for my little nephew and I remembered it from my childhood. All I can say is that it gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling when I looked at it.

Petunia at Educating Petunia reminded me of a book that I loved (at least I think the book she wrote about in her blog is the book I remember). It was called The Fourteen Bears in Summer and Winter by Evelyn Scott. I googled it after reading her post and it brought back such good memories that I'm going to buy myself another copy. The pictures in this book are great, so colorful and of course the bears are adorable. What little girl wouldn't love it?

I know there's several more, I just wish I could remember them. We didn't have much money growing up, but I always had books, and I can recall how happy I felt sitting and looking at them for hours at a time. I'd love to own some of them now, so that I can sit and look and feel like a little girl again.