Being a Book Aunt
All Things Girl’s fall issue is out, and I loved this article about being a “book aunt” by our own Miss Meliss.
I never thought about it in quite these terms, but when I read the article, I realized that I totally am a book aunt, too. When my best friend had her daughter, I got into the habit of always buying her a book at the holidays (her birthday and Christmas are so close together, so, from me, she always gets one book and one toy). I carried on the tradition with my other friends’ twins (well, they’ve only had the one Christmas and birthday so far, but I intend to continue).
Currently, due to the young ages of the kids, we’re still into board books, but I find myself really looking forward to the days when I can buy them some of my favorites… especially the girls, as that is the type of children’s literature I was into as a kid. I would love it if I were able to give them their first copies of Little Women, A Little Princess, and all those other great books I talked about in my recent childhood reading post.
Reading can be a very subjective thing, but it can be something that’s really awesome to share, as well. My mom brought me up on reading. I never had a book aunt in the way Melissa talks about in her article, but I didn’t miss it because my mom always made reading as something special between the two of us. She read with my sister, too, but we each always got our own story every night — private time, just me and Mom. Those are memories I cherish.
Did you know that Bambi was a novel with some rather existentialist leanings before it became a cute Disney flick? Mom and I read it together. She read me Tarzan books, too. I also remember Tom Swift, Andre Norton’s Witchworld, classics like Charlotte’s Web, and more. I even remember reading Star Wars books about Han Solo and a great short story called “The Love Letter” (not that movie with Sandra Bullock, but a cool story about a man who bought an antique desk and exchanged love letters through time with a woman a century before).
There was the A Tree Growns in Brooklyn period (recommended to my mom by one of her friends) — that one was a bit of a mistake, as neither of us enjoyed it, but no matter what the book was, I loved the time we spent reading together. I was probably the oldest kid I knew still getting a “bedtime story,” but it was a tradition I wasn’t willing to let go of for a long time.
All this time spent reading was time that helped mold me into the book lover and voracious reader today. I also credit her with making me into a sci-fi/fantasy fan (how many other kids’ moms read them Andre Norton?), and I wouldn’t have it any other way. (The Y/A literature obsession, though, is totally my own thing!)
So, anyway, I’m going to take a minute now to say thank you to my mom for instilling in me such a love of reading and for spending all those nights putting up with my pleas for “just one more chapter.” Those are some of my favorite childhood memories, and I hope you know how much it meant to me.
I hope that a love of reading is something I can instill in the kids in my life, whether they be one of my honorary nieces or nephews or a blood relation. I’m proud to be a book aunt!
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Charlotte’s Web is a favorite of mine, but I also liked A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, despite some rather grim bits.
ATG’s mid-issue update comes out on Wednesday.
And you know, we’re always looking for people to submit reviews and essays….
I think the father character in aTGiB and the issues he had hit too close to some of our actual family issues for my mom and I to really enjoy that book. It also constantly ticked me off how the mother ignored her daughter when she tried so hard and praised her son when he didn’t deserve it.
We’ve got to talk via email re. ATG sometime soon. I would love to write book reviews for you guys, but I’m not sure what kind of books you want reviewed and that sort of thing. Is it anything goes, or does it have to be new stuff?
Thanks again for that great book aunt article. I really enjoyed it!
Erin, this is off topic, but I wanted to thank you for the kind words about Stand and Deliver. I am rather fond of the Pizza Dude, too.
I also must tell you that I love your writing; your fiction is are super and I am in awe of your blog. It is one of a dozen or so that I read regularly.
The look and the words — and your commitment to posting — make for a super package. Have you thought about doing it as a paying gig? I am convinced you could get advertising support and people would flock to you, if you were promoted right.
A hearty thumbs up, kiddo.
BTW, I think you should take a stab at the book reviews for ATG. You would excel.
Thanks, KC. I really appreciate that!
When you read ATGiB, did you also happen to read Roller Skates? That was one of my favorites though I don’t remember the author. As I recall, compated to today, finding books wasn’t all that easy. Once I read all the usual suspects, I was forced to branch out, thus I found books from Booth Tarkington, Loula Grace Erdman, and a slew of people I don’t remember. Then came Gothic Romance, the classics Rebecca, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and then Mary Stewart, Nora Lofts, Doris Disney, Dorothy Eden, et al. What a fabulous world I used to live in!!! Any other long lost faves out there?
No, I didn’t read Roller Skates… And I totally agree with you about the availability of books as a kid. The Y/A market has exploded with quality stuff in the past few years, but even when I was a kid, it was mostly Sweet Valley High, R.L. Stine, and Christopher Pike in the bookstores. No Meg Cabot, J.K. Rowling, or Stephanie Meyer. That’s probably why I liked so many classics. I adored books about girls in the 50s who did stuff. Nancy Drew was OK, but I really loved Cherry Ames and Vicky Barr. Zane Gray wrote some good stuff, and I liked “A Wrinkle in Time” and all those sorts of things. Ah… the memories a good book can bring.
Oh, and Narnia… I loved those, too.