Have you ever been antique shopping or thrifting and come across a book you remember fondly as a child? Maybe I’m showing my age a bit here, but, I when I happened upon The Gateway to Storyland, by Watty Piper, I didn’t think twice about purchasing it, even though it wasn’t in the best condition. Once home I pored through the pages as sweet, sweet memories of the stories filled my heart. I remember, as a child, spending what seemed like hours just looking at the illustrated endpapers with of all of the characters in the book.Although, there are a couple of stories in there that I would not consider appropriate today or any day, there are still many darling stories and some a bit more profound such as The Little Red Hen, one I still mention to my children when they care more about receiving the end product than helping with the process.My fondest book memory is that of Little Popcorn. It was easy to find on Ebay for little to nothing. I just had to have it. After all, when I was very little, my nickname was Popcorn.I mean, seriously, how sweet is this little plump canine who only wanted to be a fire dog and in the end saved the day.My all time favorite childhood book was The Case of the Cat’s Meow. I’m not sure why, but I must have read it more than any other book ever. I also purchased it online very inexpensively.The main character in the book was loud, bossy and annoying and I adored him. It’s a sweet story of a boy’s love for his cat and the friends who came to the rescue when she went missing.
Back when I originally had this book as a child, my sister taught me how to alter it with fabric, creating a touch-and-feel book . I wrote about that and other ideas for making touch-and-feel children’s books over on SC Johnson’s Family Economics HERE. Please check it out.
What is your most favorite childhood book? If you mention it in a comment here or over on SCJ, leave me a link to it online so I can check it out!