My Childhood Bookshelf

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."  Walt Disney

Who doesn't love the books of their youth? 

I've always been a ferocious reader.  I was an early reader and in fact my reading skills kept me from being held back in 1st grade, or so I was told numerous times by my mother over the years. 

Some of my fondest memories of my childhood is me curled up somewhere, inside or outside with a book and usually a crisp apple.  Books are by far my favorite gift to receive and my favorite gift to give if I know the recipient is a reader.

Over the years I've collected my favorite books from my childhood and re-read them when the mood strikes me.

From Dr. Seuss and Laura Ingalls Wilder and Carolyn Keene to Beverly Cleary, Catherine Wooley, Betty Cavana and Rosemary DuJardin. The characters in all of these books were some of my best friends growing up and it's been a blast locating them and re-reading them over the years.

Yes, that is a picture of me as a four year old girl sitting on top of that stack of books.  

I would be hard pressed to name a favorite among them, but if someone gave me a million dollars to answer, then I would have to go with - 

I was 10 years old the year this book was published and I read it as soon as I could get my hands on it from the  library and begged my parents to let me buy a copy through Scholastic books (they were usually pretty good about my book habit).  Unfortunately, I lost my original copy long ago but happy that it's still popular enough to get a copy.

As a child growing up in small city Midwestern America, we used to have one of these come into our neighborhood every week, a bookmobile that was hosted by our public library system.  I can still remember the smell of those buses, the good and musty library book smell and how the driver would stamp the date due on the card and slip it back inside the pocket inside the book jacket.  I wanted one of those date stamps!  😁  Little did I know that decades later I'd have several of those to use in my scrapbooking.  

I also remember how excited I would be for that bundle of books that I would sometimes request that I knew would be waiting for me the next visit. 

I couldn't argue with anyone that says that books have held a very special place in my life.  I can't imagine life without a book or reading material of some sort at my side.  💓

Do you have a library of your favorite books?  and what is your favorite?