When I was a little girl I was whole-heartedly in love with those orangey-red, cloth-bound Childhood of Famous Americans books. A lot of you know, as I've talked about it before. I loved to get lost in the lives of little girls who grew to be famous all throughout history.
My best friend growing up was a girl named Kim and she was a whole 14-months older than me, so you could say she was the one who was in charge of our friendship. I complained to my mother that Kim always wanted to play "people". We would usually be teachers or telephone operators. It wasn't fair. Sometimes I wanted to play Candyland or Barbies. When I tried to tell Kim that I didn't want to play people anymore, she laughed and said, "What do you want to play...animals?"
So, I thought that maybe Kim might like to hear about the little historical girls I was reading about and we could pretend to be them. But she was totally bored with Martha Washington and she really burst my bubble when I was designing Rachel Jackson's flatboat to sail down the river and trying to decide how many baskets of apples we needed to take on our journey.
I've shared before how the Lord gave me the little gifts of two of those little red biographies quite by surprise. I have Clara Barton: Girl Nurse and Betsy Ross: Girl of Old Philadelphia. They have a special place on top of my bookcase as decorations. I've decided to add to their numbers as I can and used a little bit of my birthday money to order Rachel Jackson: Kentucky Girl from Amazon.
I enjoyed reading it just as much as I did as a child. What fun to hear all the provisions they stocked their flatboat with, and that their boat actually had a log cabin built on top of it. When I was little I pictured myself helping to steer that boat in the icy swirling water with a paddle.
It's so fun and relaxing to go back and read favorite childhood books. Which books were your favorites as a child?
Caroline,
ReplyDeleteI think those sound like wonderful books and I know a little girl who would enjoy them!
Robin, the books are now published in paperback if you want to start a collection for her! I just like to collect the vintage ones b/c it reminds me of my childhood.
DeleteHmm, loved Strawberry Girl and book now out of print called Peachtree Island (which I ordered and gave to my niece). Read all the Nancy Drews, copies from my aunt that were nearly originals - Nancy's car was a Roadster. Loved, like you, biographies, and was always on a kick to check them out from the library. Remember, especially, Jane Addams' Hull House. I was a teenager when I read The Good Earth and the Narnia series and especially enjoyed (and have re-read a couple of times) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I never got introduced to the Nancy Drew books. I'm sure I would have devoured them! And you have mentioned my favorite book of ALL time---A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I first read it at 16 and have probably read it at least that many times!
DeleteWould you believe those same orange biographies were my favorites. I do think they encouraged me not to think women were less than. Ohhhhhh it is very tempting to start collecting them.
ReplyDeleteI did love me some Nancy Drew. I remember reading under the covers with a flashlight and going to the bookstore as soon as a new one was published, using my allowance to purchase it.
My mom was the same way about the Nancy Drew books, except I think she just got hers from the library. They sound really good. Maybe I should try reading them NOW.
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