When I was a kid, I read a lot. I mean a lot. I'd spend whole days reading, put the last book down, and look around to find it's dinner time already. I'd get completely engrossed in a book and not even realize someone was talking to me. And then I'd get that "reading haze" where it took my eyes a while to adjust to something other than up-close focusing.
It seems like there were a lot of book series, not just single books. The Babysitter's Club, The Babysitter's Little Sisters books, The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown, Goosebumps... on and on. I had almost the whole collection of all of those I just listed, with the exception of the Hardy Boys. I never got into them much. Nevertheless, I had stacks and stacks of books. We also had a lot of those Little Golden Books. I think they all got wrecked one time when there was a hurricane and it flooded the garage.
There was Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. I will still go back and re-read that book.
Does anyone remember Mrs. Piggle Wiggle? Those stories were so clever and hilarious. How about Amelia Bedelia?
There was also a book that I loved when I was much younger. It was Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. It was about how it rained food, and I liked it so much that my 2nd grade teacher gave me a copy. I think I still have it with her inscription in the front cover.
We'd spend hours going through the huge Where's Waldo book trying to find Waldo. That sneaky bastard! lol
I know we all read the Super Fudge and Ramona Quimby Books. What about Wayside Stories from Wayside School? Those books cracked me up so many times.
Did anyone read Bunnicula? It was about a vampire bunny. How to Eat Fried Worms was on everyone's bookshelf as well.
I know you remember cracking open those huge Where the Sidewalk Ends books of poems.
I know one of my personal favorites was Pippi Longstockings. I even dressed up as her for halloween. My mom braided my hair and my dad put wires in the braids to make them stand upside down.
We'd go to the library every summer and check out stacks of books. They always had a summer reading program and you got a small trophy if you read a certain number of books. Achieving that was a piece of cake.
My mom used to read to us, and I loved hearing her read the Dr. Seuss books because she could do the voices and get the rhythm of the rhymes so well. For a while they had Dr. Seuss books inside cereal boxes as the prize. (Remember when cereal had a prize in it? That's a post for another day.) Anyway, so we'd get Wacky Wednesday and Hop on Pop and Go Dog Go and all those nutty stories. I still remember the way my mom used to read the page where there was a DOG PARTY!! in the tree in Go Dog Go. When she'd get to that page and read it the way she did, my younger siblings would start laughing hysterically in that way that only toddlers can.
I used to LOVE getting that flimsy little Scholastic book club catalog in school, then taking it home and begging my mom for some book.
They'd have book fairs at my school, too. I remember walking amongst the tables piled high with brand new books with shiny covers and sturdy pages, breathing in that new-book smell. Do they still have book fairs?
Anyway, did I miss any books that you used to read?
Ah, I remember well a lot of those books. Wayside stories... I had about forgotten about those! I think Boxcar Children was the series I got into most. What about any Roald Dahl books? The Witches, The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? I loved his stuff.
ReplyDeleteI read the majority of those books. After I read most of the Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew was just about all I read for a while until Dad said that 2 or 3 a week was plenty and that I should get something else from the library too. I read a few Hardy Boys, but like you, never got into them much. I read all of the Encyclopedia Brown series. I love 5 minute mysteries to this day. These prepared me for my later love of Sherlock Holmes.
ReplyDeleteoh, the memories of Amelia Bedelia! Mom had to ban those books from the house for a while. We started twisting her words and laugh that we were "just like Amelia Bedelia!" LOL
I read Bunnicula...didn't really like it particularly.
The Schoolastic magazine and book fairs were sooo much fun! I was home schooled, but there were and are still home school book fairs. While Mom and Dad were looking for my next math book I was off checking out the vast array of fun books. Then I would wait anxiously for Mom to finally reach the tables that had the books I wanted. It was really great if Dad was there because he would buy any book under the sun as long as it looked healthy enough. Library Sales were actually the best. Still are in my opinion. Dad hardly missed/misses one. :)
I really enjoyed "A Dog Called Kitty". Ever read that one? I still get a kick out of that one.
Did you ever read any pony pal books or books like them? I ready all those horsey books. I guess those took the place of Babysitters club, as I never read those. I also read the deeper horse stories, such as Misty of Chincoteague(sp?), Brighty of Grand Canyon, etc. Oh, yes, and don't forget the Black Stallion series.
Well, I could go on and on with this subject, but I better not write an entire post of my own...wait I did. I should just post to my own blog, I guess.
If you give a mouse a cookie...thats where its at..
ReplyDeleteYes! "Sideway Stories" was awesome! Roald Dahl too...but my all time fave growing up was "Where the Red Fern Grows"...the "Ribsy" books were good too! I always liked history books too; my all time fave was "Knights of The Air" about World War One pilots, like the Red Baron...I read that one about 1000 times!
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