How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103 (NIV)
I still remember my excitement the day I got my first library card. Our library system had a big van stocked floor to ceiling with books. Each month, the books were changed out so there was always a variety. As soon as I could write my own name, my mom walked me to the neighborhood grocery store on a day that the Bookmobile was there. What freedom to be able to pick and chose among the books and carry home a stack. They never lasted me the whole month. I always had a book in my hand or at my side. I still have my second grade report card where I got a bad grade in math and my teacher commented, “She rushes through math to get to the reading that she loves.” Yes, I was a reader alright. I read all of the Bobbsey Twins, Boxcar Children, Happy Hollister, Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew books. All of them. I still have copies of my favorite Florida books like The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink and The Horse that Swam Away by Walter Farley. But, I never got my own copy of The Lion’s Paw by Robb White. I loved that story of three children who sail a boat through the Okeechobee canals to Sanibel Island. After a terrible storm, they find a shell called the Lion’s Paw and Ben’s dad returns from Vietnam. When my boys were little, I searched for the book, but as a collectible item, its price was out of my reach. Today, I stopped by Haslem’s Bookstore in St. Petersburg. When I was a girl, Haslem’s, once the largest bookstore in Florida, was as close to heaven as I could imagine. When I won a poster contest and my prize was a gift certificate to Haslem’s, I was ecstatic. I don’t go to Haslem’s much any more as the big box stores and Amazon are more convenient and cheaper. But, I was looking for a particular book and thought I might find it there. Instead, I found a copy of The Lion’s Paw, newly reprinted. I felt like I was ten years old again, holding that previous volume in my hands. I know some folks who have Kindles and love them. Several have tried to convince me to buy one. But, I can’t believe that a Kindle would give me a thrill like I felt when I saw that book again. Tonight, I will be sailing through a hurricane with Ben, Nick and Penny. Even though I know how it ends, I will probably read all night just like I did when I was a girl. There’s another book that’s just as precious, the Bible. Thankfully, I didn’t have to go thirty years without my own copy. But, sometimes, I am guilty of treating it with complacency. Until I open its pages and reread those familiar stories and remember they have as much value today as when they were written thousands of years ago.
I had my favorite childhood book – "Mandy" by Julie Edwards. Later I discovered that Julie Edwards was the pen name for Julie Andrews!
I've been resisting the Kindle. People keep telling me I need one – my dad is number one in that having gotten one for Christmas. I still resist. I just like the feel of a book with pages in my hand. Always have.
I owned my own publishing house and let me just say that the Kindle and the like will be the death of print books. It may not happen in my lifetime, but it's coming.
Soooo sad.
Favorite books: (child) Little House on the Prairie, (tweenager) To Kill a Mockingbird, (adult) Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss.
I love Little House on the Prairie. Actually, I Love ALLLLL books… I'm kind of addicted 😉
So nice to "meet" you today!
Melanie 🙂
I love that you made this stop on your way home and were rewarded for it! Your description of this book reminds me of my childhood favorite, Three Children and It by I think, , Nesbitt? Also long out of print. You know I love my reader, especially for travel and nighttime reading and I would guess that I am back to reading a book a week which was more like my pattern as a youngster. I also like it because as our lives have involved some moves on the road to our last home we had to unburden oourselves of over a thousand pounds of books. Nevertheless, I will always love my favorite field guides and childhood classics on the shelf-we never get below two giant floor to ceiling bookcases full, no matter how hard we try.