Books from Childhood

Looking through the bookshelves at my grandparent’s house, I’ve found so many treasures from my childhood. There were many I expected – a door in the side of a cliff that my family used to call Winnie the Pooh’s vacation home, swivel chairs that my sister and I would spin around in, and many familiar hide and go seek spots.

What has been unexpected, but was equally delightful to discover, is so many books that I haven’t seen since I was a kid. Some are books that I completely forgot they existed, like the set of 1960s “Wonderful Worlds of Walt Disney” books that were my mothers when she was a little girl. The last time I saw those I couldn’t read, but really enjoyed looking at the pictures.

I’ve also found some Bernstein Bears, The Poky Little Puppy, Beatrix Potter, and many Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robins books (hardly surprising considering that we were obsessed enough with the stuffed bear to pretend that he lived next door).

I don’t know why things from my childhood are so interesting to me, except that they seem to bring back the excitement and engrossment I felt. The familiarity of interacting with objects that I experienced over and over again, in a way that is now impossible, might also be a contributing factor. I probably read/looked at The Pokey Little Puppy more times as a kid than every new book I’ve read in the last few years. And I read a lot.

Do you also get excited when you find something that was special to you when you were younger? What children’s books would you be excited to get your hands on?

I don’t know what exciting discoveries are to come, but I will keep you posted.