Dumb Ox Academy

Mommy Brain has this wonderful meme.  Books form or are related to so many wonderful childhood memories for me so this meme is great fun.

1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you?

I learned to read when I was 4.  My older sister, Paula, who is 4.5 years older than me, and I used to play school all the time.  I was soooo anxious to go to school!  I still remember that feeling.  Anyway, we had many old used readers that we used to play school with, so my sister actually taught me phonics.  In our playroom we had a big chalkboard up on the wall.  She was an early and avid reader so she knew all the rules and taught them to me as I sat in a little chair as the pupil.  I remember going to my dad and reading something to him and he called out to my mom in a such a happily proud voice that I knew how to read already!

2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, what’s the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the first titles that you borrowed from the library?

Both my parents were great readers.  Our house was chock full of books.  Hundreds of them.  Since I had so many older sisters there were lots of children’s books to read handed down from them.  I am trying to remember specific books.  I definitely remember a book on The Gingerbread Man.  Lots of Little Golden Books.  We also lived about 6 blocks from our library.  We went almost every week or every other week.  We kids could walk there by ourselves.  At home we also had lots of Bible story kids’ books.  For some reason I especially remember one telling about how Jesus healed the paralytic who was lowered through the roof.  Another book I remember being very fond of was called The Bumper Book.  It is a collection of children’s stories and poems.  I had completely forgotten about until about 10 years ago I chanced upon a republished version of it (all the same except for the cover).  I gave a cry of joy and bought it.  I have been reading stories from that book to my children since.  The first chapter book I remember reading is The Wizard of Oz.  I read it in one day, I was so enthralled by it.  I remember when I finished the book, I was in such a trance that it took me a while to come back to reality.  It completely captivated me.

3. What’s the first book that you bought with your own money? 

I don’t remember the first book I bought with my own money, but I remember some books I was given as gifts.  My aunt gave me a book that I still have.  It is a beautiful hardback compilation of many Victorian children’s stories, poems and drawings.  It is entitled Little Miss Wide-Awake.  I loved it!  I would leaf through that book over and over again.  I still love it! 

Another book I remember being given but don’t remember the title to, was one that my grandmother Anne gave me.  I had had a terrible flu and was just beginning to recover.  My grandmother would come and stay with our family every weekend.  She arrived and surprised me with a book.  It was about an African-American girl who was very smart and got a scholarship to a private, affluent school (it might even have been a boarding school).  She was the only Black girl and it was all about her struggle to fit in.  The title was the girl’s name and I seem to recall it began with ‘T”.  Anyway, that was the first book I read that really made me aware of race relations in this country. 

As I said, I come from a big family and while we were never poor at all, we did live within a tight budget.  I don’t remember ever going to a bookstore until I was old enough to go to the mall by myself (I’d take the bus).  I must have been in high school then.  I remember Walden books was the first bookstore I ever went to.  But every year my parochial school (which was right across the street from my house) had a Bazaar where they had lots of games and bingo, cake walks, white elephants sales, etc.  They always had a huge used book sale too.  I remember that being my very favorite part of the Bazaar and I do remember saving up money so I could buy books there.

4. Were you a re-reader as a child? If so, which book did you re-read most often?

Books that I re-read many, many times:  Charlotte’s Web, The Little House series, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Mrs. Mike,  and the My Friend Flicka series.

5. What’s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it?

This one is easy!  Gone With the Wind.  I was in 8th grade.  Again, I had been out of school with a bad cold or some kind of illness.  I remember I wasn’t even sleeping in my regular bed.  I shared a room with my sister, Sharon.  But I must have been disturbing her, because I temporarily was sleeping in our guest room which was also where my grandmother Anne would sleep on the weekends.  Anyway, I found a copy of Gone With the Wind and started reading it.  I read it in a couple of days because I was sick and had nothing else to do.  At one point though my father came in to check on me and saw me reading it, decided it was too adult for me and took it away.  I had to go to my mother to get it back.  My mother never censored anything we read, but my father was more likely to.  So I got the book back from mom and finished it up as quickly as I could.  Also, in the bookcase in my grandmother’s room were lots of Reader’s Digest Condensed books.  I have a vivid memory of reading Call of the Wild in one of those.  I remember especially loving the illustrations.

6. Are there children’s books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones?

For some reason, I never read Anne of Green Gables as a child.  I didn’t read it until someone gave my oldest dd a copy when she was about ten or so.  I took it on vacation with us one time and read it then.  Wonderful book!  How could I have missed it!  Also I never read Swallows and Amazons.  I remember very clearly that the set was in our library and several times I almost took them out but for some odd reason never actually did.  My husband discovered those books and read them aloud to the boys.  So I know about them somewhat, but I have never actually read them myself.

 Well, this is probably much too long and detailed, so it was probably rather boring for you, my dear reader!  However, I had a lovely time going down memory lane with my books.  I would like to tag the following people:  Kathryn at the Bookworm; Cindy at It’s About the Journey , Willa at Everywakinghour, Jennifer at As Cozy as Spring, and Leonie at Living Without School.