11. My Book House — Volume 2: Story Time
Volume 2 of My Book House by Olive Beaupré Miller contains stories and poems from all over the world written by some of the world’s best authors and poets. For instance there are works by Sir Walter Scott, Edward Lear, Eugine Field, William Blake and Hans Christian Anderson.
One of the stories I remember most from this volume is How the Finch got Her Colors which, according to the table of contents, is a Flemish legend. I always think of the painted bunting when I think of this story — but I guess finches are colorful too.
Another story I vividly remember was The Village of Cream Puffs by(!) Carl Sandburg, which I think, now, after reading it again, was very weird.
This book also contains a version of Little Black Sambo which I remember my mother reading to me. I heard they changed the title or maybe removed the story completely from the set in later versions of My Book House. The story — which is about a boy in India who outwits a tiger, itself, is innocuous – it is the title that is offensive.
One thing I forgot to mention in the first post about My Book House is the end papers. As I told my mom on the phone the other day, anyone seeing these end papers would want to become a reader. I remember sitting and staring at the endpapers, wishing I could transport myself into the scene. Except I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the clown. He looks evil.
Left end paper for My Book House
Right end paper for My Book House
10. My Book House — Volume 1: In the Nursery
What I remember most about this volume was the very first entry — a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson that I memorized and recited it as a prayer in leiu of God-is-good-God-is-great-let-us-thank-him-for-our-food. My parents believed me that it was a prayer for years. I think someone ratted on me and told my parents it was not a prayer, but a poem instead.
I suppose the fact that God is not mentioned in the poem at all should have alerted my parents that it was not a real prayer. They were not exactly church-going people, so what did they know?
The World is so full
Of a number of things,
I’m sure we should all
Be as happy as kings.
I also remember a story that is in this book called First Adventures — I actually remember my mom reading it to me and I remember reading it to myself after I learned how to read. It is about a little girl named Janie whose mother takes her for a walk in a stroller. It uses nonsense phrases like, “walkety walkety walk” for the sound of the stroller, and “snip snip” for the sound of scissors at the barber. When my kids were babies and I’d take them for a walk, I always thought, “walkety walkety walk”.
In addition to the poems, rhymes and stories in this book, and all the books, for that matter, are the lovely illustrations. The illustration of Hey Diddle Diddle has a lot going on, including an annoyed moon. I always thought the dog looked a little mad as well, even though he is supposed to be laughing.
And the illustration of Mother Goose is what I’ve always thought Mother Goose to look like (probably because this was my first introduction to Mother Goose — duh).
One last thing that is in each of the books — something I didn’t realize as a kid — many of the pages have footnotes that tell something extra about the writing. For instance the footnote for Hickory Dickory Dock says:
So old are many English nursery rhymes that some, like Hickory Dickory Dock, keep the memory of the Celtic language spoken long before English in England. Old shepherds still count their sheep hovera, covera, dik, instead of eight, nine, ten.
These books keep on giving. I think, if I’m ever stranded on a desert island, these books would keep me busy for a long, long time — even at my advanced age.
9. My Book House
My mother had the foresight to surround me with a lot of books and for that I am grateful. She signed me up for the Weekly Reader Book Club and once a month I received a book in the mail — many of which I remember to this day. She also bought me an inexpensive set of encyclopedias (I think they were from the grocery store or something) and made sure I had and used a library card.
The very best books she bought me was actually a set of books. It was an anthology of literature in 12 volumes called My Book House compiled by Olive Beaupré Miller. The books are arranged in ascending order from easy to difficult. From nursery rhymes and simple children’s poetry and stories in the first volume through longer stories and poetry up through some classics in the final volume (which also holds an extensive index). The stories and poems come from all over the world.
I’m going to write about all 12 volumes (is that cheating?) in this blog (different posts of course) — and pick out a story or poem that I mostly remember from each one, but for the record, here are the titles of each volume:
Volume 1 — In the Nursery
Volume 2 — Story Time
Volume 3 — Up One Pair of Stairs
Volume 4 — Through the Gate
Volume 5 — Over The Hills
Volume 6 — Through Fairy Halls
Volume 7 — In the Garden
Volume 8 — Flying Sails
Volume 9 — The Treasure Chest
Volume 10 — Through the Tower Window
Volume 11 — In Shining Armor
Volume 13 — Halls of Fame
There were times in school where we were learning about this or that and I remembered having read about it in one of the volumes of My Book House. Now I know how important that was — to have a base of knowledge on which to build more knowledge. I’m not sure my mom knows how important this set of books was to me.
8. Piper, Pipe that Song Again
I’ve never really been into poetry. I guess I was always too impatient lazy and wanted to be able to understand the meaning without having to work too hard. One exception was a book of poems that I received in the mail through the Weekly Reader Book Club called Piper, Pipe that Song Again: Poems for Boys and Girls selected by Nancy Larrick. This book was packed full of poems that I understood. And liked!
I’m pretty sure I’ve written elsewhere on the Internet how I used to go out to the garage (which rarely had cars in it), and sing the poems from this book at the top of my lungs. I’m sure that was a sight and sound to behold.
One of the poems I remember reading aloud [loudly] in the empty garage was The Secret Song by Margaret Wise Brown. I sang it in my best approximation of baritone:
Who saw the petals
Drop from the rose?
I, said the spider,
But nobody knows.Who saw the sunset
Flash on the bird?
I, said the fish,
But nobody heard.Who saw the fog
Come over the sea?
I, said the pigeon,
Only me.Who saw the first
Green light of the sun?
I, said the night owl,
The only one.Who saw the moss
Creep over the stone?
I said the grey fox,
All alone.
To prove that my reciting poetry, alone in the garage, paid off, I’m still a little chuffed that one of my teachers complimented me on my reading of The Pasture by Robert Frost. She was impressed that I knew to stop at the punctuation, and not at the end of each line.
I’m going out to clean the pasture spring;
I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may);
I shan’t be gone long. — You come too.I’m going out to fetch the little calf
That’s standing by the mother. It’s so young
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shan’t be gone long. — You come too.
While this book didn’t make me a lover of poetry, it did help me appreciate poetry more than if I hadn’t read it. I’m not saying all, or ever most of the poems in this book are great works of art — some are downright corny – , but they certainly meant something to me.
7. The Little Stranger
When my son asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year, I was at a loss to come up with something so I turned to my Amazon wish list and sent him a couple of ideas. One suggestion, I remembered adding to my wish list: Muriel’s Wedding DVD. I love the movie and wanted to watch it whenever I felt like it. I was a little confused as to the second suggestion, The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. I had no idea how this book ended up on my wish list. I finally figured out it must have appeared on my recommendations page because I liked The Thirteenth Tale. I figured, what the heck, it will probably be an okay read.
Andrew, sweetheart that he is, got me both of my suggestions and it didn’t take me long to begin reading The Little Stranger. I loved it immediately. At first glance the book seemed like a Gothic ghost story (yum!), but as I got into the book I saw that it was also a commentary on social issues in Great Britain in the years directly after WWII.
The story is about a middle-aged, bachelor doctor in a small town after WWII. He’s called to attend to an occupant of a crumbling manor house and then becomes drawn into the lives of the people who live there. One of my favorite things about this book is the fact that the house is a major character in the story.
It’s always fun to find a book that I really enjoy, and this was one of them. I highly recommend this book which just came out in paperback.
6. Karen
I’m not sure how old I was when I read Karen by (her mother) Marie Killiea, but I think I was in my teens. I don’t know how I learned about the book, but I suspect it was either from my mother or from my English teacher.
Karen was a book about a young girl with Cerebral Palsy. Before I read this book I had no idea what Cerebral Palsy was nor had I ever encountered anyone with it — or if I had, would not have known it was Cerebral Palsy.
When I think about this book, I see myself in the home of the Killieas. I think the book was written a way that the reader found herself there, right with the family, observing what went on daily.
One of the most memorable parts of the book was when someone, perhaps Karen’s mom, wanted to paint Karen’s nails red. Karen said no because she knew that if her nails were painted red that the people who talked to her would be drawn to her nails, and she didn’t need people looking at her hands.
What I took away from the book, was probably more important than any scenes I may recall. I learned that to have Cerebral Palsy didn’t mean that the person with it was less smart than anyone else.
Now that I think about it, I might have known one person with Cerebral Palsy. The daughter of a relative of a friend of my mom had it and was even featured in the National Enquirer in a story about how she could suddenly communicate when she was provided a “Talking Board”. However I may have met her after reading Karen.
Karen might have been one reason I went into Special Education. In the end I didn’t work with kids with Cerebral Palsy, but have met a number of people who were born with it, one of whom was a vice president of Wells Fargo but now owns his own company. and another is his wife, an author. A third is Jesse, who, I’m positive, is destined for wonderful things.
I think Karen was another one of those turning-point books. You were one way one day. Then you read the book. After reading the book you were forever changed.
According to Wikipedia, Karen works not far from where my daughter is going to school, but values her privacy and doesn’t grant interviews. I would not want to interview her, just have a cup of coffee with her someday.
5. Dracula
While not the first novel I ever read, I consider Bram Stoker’s Dracula to be the first “grown-up” novel I ever read. Most, if not all, of the novels I’d read before Dracula were from the children’s or young adults sections of the library.
Dracula was from the adult section of the library. It was also a thick book with a more involved storyline than I’d encountered before.
I do remember quite a bit about the novel — things that were not in the movies. Like when Jonathan Harker shaves and cuts himself at Count Dracula’s castle. I also vividly remember the scene where the captain of the ship on which Count Dracula sails to England is found lashed to the ship’s wheel. I can picture Van Helsing and Mina and Lucy and Renfield as I imagined them.
The reason for my interest in this book, no doubt, is my love of Dark Shadows — which was probably my generation’s Twilight, even though it was a soap opera instead of a book series. That I read classic literature, willingly and without prompt at age 13 kinda amazes me today, though, no matter what the reason.
I wonder how many, if any, fans of the Twilight series have checked out the original vampire story — Dracula. It would be interesting to find out.
4. I Capture the Castle
A few years ago I was settling down to watch a movie and saw a preview of the film, I Capture the Castle. The storyline looked familiar and after I looked it up I realized I read the book when I was younger. After I saw the movie I purchased a used copy of the book, which I have not reread yet. I did, however, find mention of reading it for the first time in my journal (which I transcribed and posted online):
April 4, 1973
WednesdayI (pronoun) am (verb) in the middle (preposition) of a very good book. It is called I Capture the Castle. It is a girl writing in her journal about growing up. They are a poor family (I know this is full of bad grammar) and make what they can of their lives. They live in the ruins of an old castle and life becomes quite interesting for them.
I have a great idea for a story! But I’m not telling about it ’til I write it.
April 11, 1973
WednesdayI am writing this in the bathtub. The bathtub is one of the most relaxing places I know and when I am relaxed I can write. Well, sometimes when I am relaxed I can write. I should write a lot but I am in an awkward position and am not able to relax too much.
If you’ve read the book you know that it starts out with the narrator writing in the kitchen sink, thus my experiment with writing in the bathtub.
“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining board which I have padded with our dog’s blanket and the tea cosy. I can’t say I am really comfortable, and there is a depressing smell of carbolic soap, but this is the only part of the kitchen where there is any daylight left. And I have found that sitting in a place you have never sat before can be inspiring—”
I do know that I chose the book, I Capture the Castle because it was written by Dodie Smith — the author of 101 Dalmatians which I read before I saw the animated Disney version. Maybe I’ll reread the book sometime and come back to this post to discuss what the book was actually about — rather than my memories of reading it — but maybe I’ll just keep this the way it is. I do recommend the book though — I remember loving it.
3. Five Smooth Stones
You know how in some online profiles you can list your favorite this or that? When it gets to books, I often have trouble listing my favorites. I don’t want to sound uneducated, so I leave out anything by Stephen King (although I think he’s a damn good writer). I usually just list authors (Neil Gaiman, John Irving) and rarely list individual books. At the book fair one year, when we had the opportunity to list the book that most influenced us or something like that, Clare reminded me how much I liked In Cold Blood. She was right, I did like it, but it was not the book that influenced me most.
The serious (as opposed to fantasy) book that probably changed the way I saw the world was a book that, as far as I know, not a lot of people have ever heard of. I think my mom read it and suggested I read it (hmm, I guess she did read when I was at home). The book was Five Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn and was about an interracial couple in the 1960′s. It was the first time I’d read anything about race. The first time I read about the civil rights movement. The first time I read a book about interracial marriage.
I don’t remember a lot about the story. A white woman (whose name escapes me now) meets David, an African-American med student from New Orleans. They fall in love and marry. They are both involved, I believe, in the civil rights movement. Bad things happen. Lots of bad things — the book is very long.
One thing about the book I do remember is David’s father or grandfather. I must have pictured him or Ms Fairbairn must have described him so well, he became alive to me and whenever I think about him forget he was part of a book, and think I actually knew him.
After reading this book I spent several years being ashamed of being white. While that’s not necessarily a good way to live — being ashamed of the skin you’re wearing — it certainly changed the way I looked at race relations in the United States. It made me a lot more critical of my fellow white US citizens and made me look at my own prejudices and figure out ways to change.
So I suppose Five Smooth Stones was a sort of epiphany or at least a turning point in my life. I don’t know if I’ll ever re-read this book — I could, I have at least two copies of it — but it will stand as one of the most important books I’ve ever read.
2. Billy Brown the Babysitter
I remember the very first book I ever read. I remember the day I read it and I remember the feeling of surprise that I was reading.
The book was a “Wonder Book Easy Reader” and part of a series of “Billy Brown” books. I never read any of the other Billy Brown books, but did read Billy Brown the Babysitter over and over. It was written by Tamara Kitt and illustrated by Rosalind Welcher (who, according to Wikipedia, was one of the pioneer Studio Card artists).
My parents may have made mistakes in raising me — all parents do — but one thing they did right was encouraging reading and providing me with a lot of reading material. Neither of my parents were readers, at least as far as I could tell when I lived at home. My mom has since become an avid reader, but I do not remember her reading for pleasure when I was a child — although she did read self-help books when I was in my teens.
I don’t remember the storyline of Billy Brown the Babysitter, but it was probably about the misadventures of a couple of kids while looking after a baby — perhaps their younger sibling, if the cover is to be believed.
That book began for me a love-affair with the written word and while any easy reader book might have been the first book I read, it happened to be this one by Tamara Kitt.
Thanks Ms Kitt, where ever you are. You helped start my life-long passion for reading.
