This shelf seems to be morphing into a childhood memories collection. I love vintage books, but as with most everything I collect, they have to be connected to something I loved, something that evokes a response in me.
Heidi. Because of my mom, who had her own edition of Heidi that was passed on to her daughters. That, along with some other favorites, is now in the hands of my middle sister, so I’ve tried to collect my own versions of my mom’s favorite books from childhood.
All of those books were on a shelf in the built-in bookcase in our upstairs bedroom. I assume my grandmother bought them for Mom. She had every version of the Anne of Green Gables stories (my grandmother was nothing if not a good Canadian), all of the Louisa May Alcott books, and many others. I used to stare at that shelf as a young girl, pulling out the books to see my mom’s name written inside the covers.
Anne of the Island. Purchased by me because I remember Mom’s edition of the book.
Nancy Drew(s). From my childhood, though not in these editions. I either found my Drews at the library or, because of the generosity of friends, borrowed them to read. I think I had a few that were given to me, as well. All of them were either the yellow spine versions or the blue tweed hardbacks, sans dust cover.
Anne of Green Gables. This one was my mother’s. It was a part of my childhood. A few years back I wrote a post similar to this one and when my sister, Meredith, read that I lamented the loss of my mom’s books, she surprised me and sent me a package to be opened on April 24th, the first anniversary of my mom’s death. It turns out she had a few of my mom’s books and she sent these on to me. Whereupon, I promptly cried.
I distinctly remember that Anne of Green Gables. Inside, on the fly leaf, an inscription: To Shirley from Mother and Father, Christmas 1941. It’s a beautiful version of the book.
Same with Daddy Long Legs. That green cover. That story, which I found enchanting.
The red book, Dave Darrin on Mediterranean Service, was my dad’s. Go figure! I never knew of it until Mere sent it to me. I love having his book next to Mom’s.
Back to the missing books. Years ago, I was visiting my middle sister (who is, as you know, estranged from us) and saw, on a shelf in her basement, almost all of my mom’s books, along with all of the Nancy Drews that the three of us girls had accumulated.
I remember feeling mildly resentful at the time because some of those books were mine. My version of Daddy Long Legs. My Girl of the Limberlost. I didn’t attribute it to anything nefarious on her part. More than likely, L simply said she’d like them, and Mom, who was ruthless about getting rid of things, was probably thrilled to get them out of the house. In those days, L had a day care business that she ran out of her home and she had children of her own, so it probably made a sort of sense.
I should have politely asked for the books that were mine, but even then, we tiptoed around L’s mood swings and I didn’t want to set her off. So I didn’t say anything.
So I’m trying to find them on my own, and when I do, they are added to this shelf. They bring comfort. Reading has always been a comfort to me, a young girl who wasn’t into athletics, who felt awkward, who worried way too much, who needed to retreat into solitude. My dad’s battle with alcoholism made life difficult for all of us and the escape that reading brought to me was a lifesaver.
That’s why this shelf exists. And why it will continue to grow.
Happy Monday.
Claudia, your connection to books is lovely. I too find that they bring memories and comfort. I’ve always loved books and they have been my best friends at many times in my life. I’m glad you have been able to replace those lost. You shelf of love grows as it should. Hugs.
Truly don’t know what I would have done without books!
I spent many happy hours reading Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden Mysteries, Cherry Ames, Hardy Boys, and anything else I could find. To this day I read voraciously. I wish that I had my childhood books. Alas, they are scattered to the four winds!
Maybe you can re-gather them, like I am doing!
What a wonderful collection. I read the entire Anne of Green Gables series in hardcover from a public library in Montreal when I was 10 years old. I read Nancy Drew which was captivating and lovely. I pine for those books and days.
I know. There’s something so comforting about those days, Anne.
I am now collecting Nancy Drew books too, because they were a favorite of mine as a child. I think I may have my mom’s copy of Heidi and need to pull out a box to look for it. Such wonderful memories. xo Laura
I hope you find that copy of Heidi, Laura!
glad you have some originals … hope you get your others back and that relationship gets healed. am also glad you have some replacement books.
i’ve done that, too … bought old copies of some favorite childhood books (that as a less-sentimental young adult i let go) and cherish the originals. and since first experiencing regret over having sold some family things at a garage sale (i was maybe 25 and not then very forward-thinking), i think long and hard about what i donate and now it is just the stuff i’ve bought. i keep all the family things i am fortunate to have and have an easy-to-find list of them (with notes, dates, stories, etc.) so that when that time comes for me, my family will know what’s part of our history and what i hope will be treasured by them all.
hope you are feeling much better now and have a great week ahead!
kathy in iowa
I think we go through a period as a young adult where we feel we don’t need those things. Then, as we grow even older, we realize that we did and do need them. The cockiness of being a young adult.
I’m like you. I have a few of my childhood books but most of them I’ve sort of “re-collected” as an adult. I love those used book sites like Harvest Book Search, ABE etc. Have found many things there, even old cookbooks of my Mom’s that I loved poring over as a kid. They really are a comfort. I guess it’s like that Nora Ephron line from “You’ve Got Mail” [paraphasing} – that books you read in childhood became a part of you like no other books ever do. Hope you’re feeling much better & socking away some solid hours too. Peace.
#Resist
I have a feeling I’ll be looking for more books over the next few weeks!
I have been trying to cull my books, as I’m running out of space, and I’m also trying to downsize the possessions. I find that I’m totally ignoring my childhood books and they will remain with me but the more current books are not as meaningful and thus easier to take off the shelf permanently.
My current de-cluttering “trick” is to put one or two items into the donation box every day….and if I get more than two, I can credit the next few days. I also continue to target small areas (the scrapbooking area is next) but I find the two-a-day is a natural. As I walk around the house doing my normal daily activities, I no longer have to make a mental note to include this or that in the donation box. I just pick it up and put it in. When it becomes difficult to find the two for the day, I know I’m done, for the time being.
That’s a nifty system, Wendy. All my plans to declutter once I got back from Hartford were waylaid by rehearsals and, now, this virus. I think about doing it, but that’s all I can do for the moment!
My shelf includes two of my favorites, Hitty her first 100 years and The Book Of Live Dolls. As a child in my innocence, I never noticed the racism in both of them, I just adored my dolls and these dolls and the adventures they had in these books. I always made sure the dolls I took to bed with me were not too far under the covers so that they were able to breathe and in both of these books the dolls are truly alive as I always suspected mine were.
All the rest of my childhood books, complete collections were disposed of by my parents in one of their many moves after I left for college. I too had the complete Nancy Drew set and Hardy Boys, Boxcar children etc. These two were spared as I took them with me perhaps as a security blanket?
My kids childhood books are stored in 6 boxes waiting for them to have room in their homes.
I did the same thing with my dolls – and my stuffed animals. Still do!
Dear Claudia, your post really touched me as I too had a father that drank and books have always been my solace. I was drawn to books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Betsy/Tacy series. I think because they had stable family lives. I too have sisters that you can’t relax or be yourself around. It’s amazing how many of life’s stories we share with people we have never met. I too have copies of my favorite childhood books that I acquired as an adult. I love your blog and read each day. :-)
There’s a comfort in knowing that others understand and have been through the same thing. In my case – only one sister. The other is, quite possibly, the best sister in the world!
I can so relate to this post! I have a rather large bookcase that is becoming full, but each book is precious to me. I bought my 11 year old granddaughter a copy of Anne of Green Gables which we read together. When we finished this book, she brought it to me so I could inscribe it so she could keep it always. I thought that was so sweet . I love your shelf with all your lovely books!
What lovely thing to do with your granddaughter. She’ll always remember reading it with you, Dottie.
Oh my, Claudia! We are sisters across time and space—kindred spirits, as Anne would say! My shelf has all of my “Anne” books (which I owned originally in paperback and then purchased in hard back much later in life), my “Freckles” and “Girl of the Limberlost”, and Alcotts and Kate Greenway and Tasha Tudors, my original “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights”, and all of my forever friends from childhood. As a young girl, reading was my world, and a huge world it was! My “castles in the air” were vast and lovely, and I owe much of who I am today to those nurturing stories of my childhood. I have given away whole households of things over the last few years, but my books will be the very last to go.
My grandfather gave me all of his books, among them very early editions of all of the Jane Austen books as well as libraries of Shakespeare, Dickens, and uncounted volumes of poetry. They were stolen from me by a cousin who visited our home while I was in college, and had to be told to return them once I discovered the theft. She returned ‘most’ of them, keeping the most precious. To this day, I scour book shops for the exact edition of “Pride and Prejudice” she took from me, but to no avail. So, I feel the pain of your story of your sister.
Hope you are feeling better and better.
All peace,
Leslie P.
Book are too precious to let go of – by that I mean the books that we treasure and that hold life memories for us.
It amazes me that someone close to you would steal anything, let alone beloved books! Goodness. I hope you find that copy of Pride and Prejudice. I know you will.
Does anyone remember the set of books that have 12 green books called “My Book House”? The very first book has nursery rhymes in them. I grew up with them. I think the set that I grew up with burned down with the house that my father sold to his wife’s cousin who had the house burned down to have another house built in its place. Well anyway I found a set of the books several years ago and they are on my shelf. I would like to find a hard copy of 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. I had a paperback of it and I would read it over and over again. The book fell apart because I read it so much. The other books I read were the Boxcar Children series. I have three books that belonged to my grandparents: Vic The Autobiography of a Fox Terrier; Thaddeus of Warsaw; and Beautiful Joe The Autobiography of a Dog by Marshall Saunders.
Have you managed to get copies of the Boxcar Children and the dog books, Trina?
I have The Boxcar Children but not the whole series.
Claudia,
I have two copies of 101 Dalmatians. A paperback that is like the one I used to have with the illustrations that I remember from my old book and I have a hardback book which does not have the illustrations that I remember. One of my favorite illustrations is Lucky (one of the pups; he liked to watch television) in front of a nativity scene thinking that it is a television.
Here are two other books that made an impression on me–Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman (set in Canada). The other is Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher ( I need to find a hardback of this one).
I remember Mrs. Mike! I read that, too. xo
As a lifelong reader, I totally understand the comfort you draw from having this collection. Unfortunately my parents passed my childhood books on to younger cousins. I’ve managed to locate and buy beautiful editions of my favorites (Black Beauty, Little Women, etc.). Also, I’ve kept every book from my own children’s childhoods (saving for the future grandchildren), and am amazed at how many I can still recite from memory. Love my Kindle, but there’s nothing like a real book in your hands!
You’re right! It’s not the same, is it?
How sweet of your sister to send you some of your mom’s books! I don’t remember my mom having any books from her childhood…and my childhood books were given away by my parents decades ago. I do, however have all of their books from the 50’s and beyond. They are packed away until I can figure out what to do with them. I think I’d need a bigger house! ;)
Same here. Mostly for books, pottery and paintings!
Books we read as we grow up are like time capsules. I can remember generally what was going on around me when I read The Boxcar Children, even though I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. Then the Bobbsey Twins, and Donna Parker. I also had The Story of Clara Barton that I got at a school book fair. And then my beloved Little Women. Going to the library every 2 weeks was heaven. I do, seriously, remember where I was in my life as I read those favorite books because of the impressions they made upon me. My Dad had the same issue with drinking, and I loved knowing I could go into my room and close my door into that little corner of my world. With the amount of books I am reading now, I think it continues to be my escape into my safe place while the rest of the world seems to be imploding.
I read The Story of Clara Barton – several times! Funny, isn’t it, that escape hatch is just as needed today as when we were little girls.
Wonderful post and not surprised to find many of us have an early genuine love for books as well as similar book experiences. Books, and school as well as the library, were an absolute life line for me. Life would have been unbearable with out them. My uncle and aunt would send me books for my birthday and Christmas from the time I was a toddler. It was a real struggle to be able to keep them; books were clutter and if I read it, the “powers that be” were irritated and adamant I didn’t need to keep it It may seem almost impossible to believe , but books were considered worthless and I was always a source of constant ridicule because I, Dianne, was “dumb enough” to think I could learn things from books. The snide ugly remarks continued to the last time I saw my father before he died in 1982. I dearly loved A Child’s Garden of Verses (gift), and was allowed to keep until I was about 3 or 4. Of course then it went.
The love for books is not a matter of being isolated from life, but rather it is reaching out and connecting with other human beings and life experiences as well as times and places. That love is a gift to be cherished and I know I am grateful to have it. Your bookshelves look wonderfully personal and so very just right! So much happiness on those shelves, Dianne
Oh, how hard it must have been to live in a house where learning things from books wasn’t respected! I’m so sorry, Dianne! There are those who are fearful of the power of books and words and it sounds like your father was one of those people.
Absolutely right – a love for books is an expansion, an enlarging.
Thank you for sharing this post. It sounds like you and books are true friends. My sisters and I have many books from our childhood. Older sister was an avid reader and has lots of books she has kept. Thanks to her, my twin and I have read many of them. . My twin sister and I read as children but not as much as we do now. Sorry that you did not get to keep your childhood books. You have a nice collection now. I look forward to reading more of your next purchases. Hope you are feeling better.
Marilyn
Thank you, Marilyn. I’m slowly feeling better. Thank you for checking in!
You know I love Nancy Drew and The HArdy Boys, Little Women, The Little House on the Prairie books, all of which I had at one time. I am sure L has them all, and probably could care less knowing her. I am glad Mom and Dad’s books are bringing you comfort. They are in the right place. Love you!
All the Little House on the Prairie books – gosh I loved them!
(Of course, she doesn’t care.)
Much love to you sister.
What a great post, Claudia. Brought back so many good memories. My parents were never really into reading, as wonderful as they were in all other ways. I still have my dad, but lost my precious mom a few years ago. I introduced books to my kids at a very young age, and read to them every night. They both love books, and my daughter got her degree in English lit. She’s an excellent writer…..unlike her mother. ;)
The books I did have were LOTS of Little Golden Books! Oh how I wish I still had them.
Anyway, my love of reading and books came later. Nancy Drew, Little House series, Boxcar Children, Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden…….so many! I can’t imagine a home without books.
I’m so glad they bring you such comfort.
I can’t imagine a home without books either. My dad wasn’t a reader – magazines, articles, the newspaper – yes. But not novels. I come by my love for reading from my mom.