Day 18 - I love to READ

July 18: Favorite childhood book

This is like asking who my favorite parent is!! No way I can answer!! I love to read SO much, and I always have. So here are a few I remember:

Sneetches and Other Stories - We owned this Dr. Seuss book and we read it and/or had it read to us so many times we could all quote the stories. Truth be told, I still can! :)










Little House on the Prairie - My mom used to read this series to my sister and I all the time. I mean maybe it was only one time through the whole thing, I don't know. Given the state of the books, though (which I now own) I would say they were read and re-read often!

Nancy Drew - these were my first "big books" that I read on my own. I devoured them! My local library had a bookshelf full of them and I read every one!! I still own a few old copies and they are among my most treasured possessions.






Shadow Castle - I think one of my cousins gave this book to my sister and I and that they got it from a yard sale. It was pretty worthless and almost no one has ever heard of it. I LOVE IT!!! It is such a fun book! (and yes, I own a copy of this as well....AND I added it to our library collection though I don't think anyone has ever checked it out).

 That cover is a "new" cover but this illustration inside is exactly like the one I remember. Love :)




A Wrinkle In Time - not only my favorite childhood book, just my favorite book. I love it. I love everything about it. As an adult I think it means even more to me! I own 3 or 4 copies of this book....

Day 15: First chapter book you remember reading as a child

So I have been talking to my mom about this and we cannot actually remember what my first chapter book that I read alone was. There are two series I remember specifically and have always sorted of counted as my firsts so I am just going to give them both to you (I know, I know, I cheat all the time...there are just tooo many good books out there to choose from!) The first, and my original thought for this answer is

Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene

I remember my friend Sarah Kinney was reading these books and she lent me one. I was hooked!! I made my mom take me to the library as soon as I was done with that first one to see if I could possibly find more. Imagine my delight when my library had a whole bookshelf of just Nancy Drew (well that and the Hardy Boys but I didn't care about that). I read them...I devoured them! I still own a handful of them that I found at a yard sale somewhere. Nancy Drew introduced me not only to chapter books but to mystery stories as well, and I love her for it!

The other books that stand out to me are thanks to one of my teachers. She tested our class' reading levels and found that two of us (me and a boy named Jason that I had a HUGE crush on) tested quite a bit beyond the other students. To deal with this, she had a special rack of books just for us. It was one of those round spinning racks and it was full of little treasures! I remember reading Black Beauty and many others. She would allow us to choose a book and during the other group reading times we could read (though I took mine home and read there too of course) and then when we finished a book we had to do some kind of project (of our own choosing) to show we had completed it. We did book reports, and posters and drawings, all kinds of stuff. It was the best class I ever had. I loved that teacher and that year! My first book with her though was always my favorite

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

This book was, is, and will always remain one of my favorites! It introduced me to Narnia and soon I had read all of the books and longed to find the magical land that was connected to ours. I still long to find it! As an adult these books have even more meaning and I find I love them more and more each time I read them.

My mom, ever the practical one, pointed out that these were probably NOT my first chapter books. I am sure I read things like Frog and Toad are Friends (yay!) and other short chapter books, but honestly these are the ones that stick in my mind. They are the ones that led to my great love of reading.

When I saw Karissa's Pick for today I doubted my choices yet again as I totally remember those books as well! Who knows, I am way too old to accuratly answer today's challenge! :)