“I enjoy to read good literature.” That’s an inside joke among my family, but it is a true statement. I love reading books, especially when I was a child. These are some of my favorite books/series I remember reading as a kid.
One of the first books I can remember was this little picture book. It was a birthday present from some friends of my parents when we lived in Caldwell, Idaho. I lost this book a long time ago, but thanks to Google Images I was able to find this picture. Thanks Google!
When my family moved to Orem my siblings and I would often visit the library and load up on books. I remember that I was a big fan of these books, featuring the character Miss Mallard. I was too young to recognize that she was a variation of Agatha Christie’s famous character Miss Marple; but when I started reading Christie’s books (especially the ones about Miss Marple) I got the reference!
In the 4th grade I was introduced to the fascinating, exciting Prydain Series by Lloyd Alexander. There were a total of five books in the series and the main character was a young boy named Taran. The books follow his journey from being an assistant pig-keeper to the High King of Prydain. The books were full of adventure, magic, danger, good vs. evil and contained so many different, memorable characters! I loved these books!
In the 5th and 6th grade I became a huge fan of these mystery books. The main character, Hawkeye Collins, was my idol because he was a lot like me: he had blond hair, wore glasses, was the same age as me and was artistic. In fact, Hawkeye would solve mysteries based on the sketches he drew, along with the help of his best friend Amy. What was particularly cool about these books was that each chapter focused on a specific mystery and would include Hawkeye’s sketch (usually of a crime scene). The solution for the mystery would be found at the back of the book, but you had to hold the page up to a mirror to be able to read the solution! Very cool indeed!
One of my favorite authors was Beverly Cleary and she wrote a series of books about a little girl named Ramona Quimby. Ramona was very bright, imaginative, artistic, but also very mischievous, often getting into major (but usually funny) predicaments. Cleary also wrote books about a young boy (who was friends with Ramona’s sister Beezus) named Henry Huggins, and these were very entertaining books. Cleary also wrote a book that became one of my absolute favorites called Dear Mr. Henshaw. This book was about a young boy named Leigh, who wants to become a famous writer like his favorite author Mr. Henshaw; the book is a collection of letters Leigh writes to Mr. Henshaw and also journal entries. In fact, this book inspired me to keep a journal.
There were many other great books I read as a kid, too many to reference. I developed a strong passion and interest in books during my elementary school years because we would often have “book orders.” All of the students were given a little catalog with an order form and we were able to place book orders. I remember how anxious I would feel, waiting for the day when the book orders would arrive at school. One time I came in from recess and saw that our book orders had been placed on our desks! It felt like Christmas!
Yes, I definitely enjoy to read good literature!
I totally remember most of those books! I loved the "Fixed by Camel" book! And I remember borrowing your Hawkeye Collins books (I may have traded you some "Nate the Great" books for some of those ... but just to read and return of course!)
ReplyDeleteAwesome post brother! Now I need to dig through my old books! :)
I used to love ordering books at school. It was totally like Christmas when they finally came in.
ReplyDeleteI only read the first Lloyd Alexander book and only because I thought the cover was cool.