I don’t remember my parents reading to me, though they must have. Or perhaps as their third child my bedtime ritual no longer commanded their intense attention. I do remember lying in bed with my father as he told and retold stories from the Bible, especially the one about Samson and Delilah. He always made the most exciting parts the times when Samson would trick Delilah and the Philistines into thinking his strength had been sapped.
Though I can’t recall their reading to me, that’s not to say they didn’t encourage reading on my part. We had a wide collection of Thornton W. Burgess books. With illustrations by Harrison Cady, the stories made animals come to life with all the foibles and strengths of humans. Sadly, my parents did not preserve those books for their grandchildren. Like my comic book and baseball card collections, they disappeared from our home by my late teenage years.
I’m thinking about childhood books with more than a little melancholy because of a beautifully written article in Thursday NY Times by Dwight Garner. “Memories of a Bedtime Book Club” evokes the lifetime pleasure of reading to a child and, if you’re fortunate, passing on your mutual love for a particular book to the next generation (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/books/a-splendid-little-book-club-has-ended-its-run.html?_r=0).
Garner incorporated 15 recommended books into his article. I can’t say any of his suggestions were part of the Forseter home reading list when Dan and Ellie were young and snuggled next to either Gilda or me as we read, and reread, stories to them each night. We read the same books so often the kids memorized the words. Sometimes, I’d start to drift off while reading. In the stupor before sleep I’d say the wrong words. Quickly I’d be startled back to consciousness by a sharp elbow and Ellie admonishing that those weren’t the right words, that I should read the book the way the author intended.
Like Garner, we had favorites. Of course, they included Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are and other classics like Madeline. But mostly they were books that did not attain cult status, though quite a few, like Wild Things, were Caldecott Medal winners. Here’s a list of 15 Forseter favorites:
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
A Special Trade by Sally Wittman
Boy, Was I Mad by Kathryn Hitte
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Could Be Worse by James Stevenson
Even for a Mouse by Lisl Weil
Frederick by Leo Lionni
It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
The Horse Who Lived Upstairs by Phyllis McGinley
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
The Yucky Monster by Arthur Roth
There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon by Jack Kent
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Who Wants an Old Teddy Bear? By Ginnie Hofmann
Back in 2009 I wrote that our standard gift to newborns and their parents is a collection of our favorite books, some for newborns like Pat the Bunny, but most for when they are toddlers or older. And they’ll come with the following note:
Children outgrow clothing,
They tire of toys,
But the memory of reading
Books with your parents
Lasts forever.
