Childhood Books Last Forever

 Remember the books you loved at an early age? The ones read aloud to you and the ones you checked out from the library? The ones the teacher handed out at the beginning of the new school year? The ones wrapped in sparkling paper on Christmas morning? The ones on the little shelf in your bedroom? These treasures left a lasting impression on your young mind, as they did on ours. Pen Dames could post each and every day about books we loved back then. That’s how much they mean. Here are a scant few we’d like to share with you. We would also love to hear about YOUR favorite childhood books.

KATHERINE EDDINGER SMITS:

I read Tom's Midnight Garden by Phillipa Pearce after encountering the book in the local library when I was quite young. Although I loved the book and fondly remembered it all my life, I forgot the title and author. I wanted to find a copy for myself, but thought it would be impossible because I had no way to identify it. When I read a reference to the book in a blog, I thought it might be the one I was seeking, and when I looked it up on Amazon, I was thrilled to find it was! I now have my own print copy of Tom's Midnight Garden to keep forever!

LORETTA C. ROGERS:

Horses have always been an important part of my life.  When I was four years old, my daddy would get me up early and sit me on the mule. Daddy was a farmer and plowed with a horse and a mule. When the horse kicked daddy and laid him up for many weeks, daddy sold the horse. The problem was that the mule refused to plow without the horse. So, daddy would sit me on that stubborn animal to get him to move. At night, daddy would read "Black Beauty" to us. I think that's when my love of horses and reading grew. Later, when the rolling library came to my school, I fell in love with "Misty of Chincoteague," by Marguerite Henry, then of course, there was Walter Farley and all of his Black Stallion books.

FLOSSIE BENTON ROGERS:

When I was three, my grandparents gave me a set of ten classic books called Young Folks Library. My grandmother read me stories, and later I read the books on my own. I learned of sisters who outfoxed a devious dwarf, a secret underground world filled with music and dancing, a blustery north wind who puffed out his powerful cheeks to start winter, an old wise woman who wrote secret messages on a fish, and many more tales. These books sparked in me a lifelong love of the mystical and magical. 

What books made a big impression on YOU at an early age? Thank you for traveling with the Pen Dames on our adventurous journey to books from our childhood.