I love books. I've loved them as long as I can remember. My mom says that I refused to lie down and sleep in my crib if my little stack of Golden Books was not beside me! The book shown above is my all time favorite, really. I've had it since I was five! It's volume 1 of the Childcraft, called Poems of Early Childhood.
See, its been used a lot. Look, there is tape and crayon marks. My little brother is responsible for the crayon marks, I would never have abused a book in that way! The pages of this book have been turned hundreds of times, not just by me, but also by my children.
It begins with a section on nursery rhymes. Look at the illustrations, I think that is one reason I love this book so, because I don't think I could read when I first got it. They don't make books like they used to!
I liked this page, it's the story of the gingham dog and the calico cat!
Stephanie loved this page, she could recite this whole poem before she went to kindergarten. Look at it, what kid would not love a story about a tree full of candy!
Oh, and I loved this page too!
And this was also one of my favorites, isn't that exactly what Little Bo Beep should look like!
And this page too, it's about little fairy houses in the woods. Don't you remember thinking this stuff might be real!
This is the reason I looked for this book. This summer Parker loved to get in Pa Lyle's garden and hide under the green bean vines. I made photos of him peeking out and they reminded me of this poem and illustration. I wanted to scan this page and combine them with his photos for a scrapbook page. I didn't have to look far. The entire set of Childcraft is still in a bookcase in my parent's home. I am so glad they saved it.
So, once again I'm turning the pages and remembering what used to keep me busy, long ago, before the internet when there was only 3 TV channels and instead dvds and video games we had outside, where we made our own fun sometimes by reading a book in the backyard under a tree!
