Reading Is Fundamental

Books have been a part of our family since my first memories. My parents spent a lot of their lives quietly reading. I love the smell of new books. Just the slightly musty scent of most libraries somehow brings a sense of peace to me. A good bookstore will keep me occupied for hours, but the library is even better - anything of interest can be yours for at least two weeks.

My parents had 100's of books - fiction, non-fiction and reference. They belonged to several book clubs, as well as subscribing to a series of "All About" books on science subjects and historical reference for the kids. New books were always arriving at our house. When looking for a suitable home in our many moves, room for the books was almost as big a consideration as room for all the kids.   

Our new house in Deerfield had six large bedrooms. One of the biggest on the first floor was designed as the master bedroom. Not for us - it became our first home library. My parents invested in even more floor-to-ceiling bookcases. Our library housed my parents books, at least most of them. We also had bookshelves on one side of the main staircase where all the art books were displayed. On some subjects, our home library had a bigger selection than the local library. 

Books were shared and passed down from child to child in our house. We loved reading stories like "A Fly Went By" and "The Big Ball Of String." There was never a limit of how many books we could keep in our bedrooms. As our appetites for reading developed, the local library filled the void for books covering each of our ages and interests. 

Soon after we moved to Deerfield, my parents decided to invest in a full set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. As a bonus when you bought the adult version, you also received a set of Britannica Junior. It was like Christmas the July afternoon they arrived. Up to then, we had a Children's Golden Book Encyclopedia, but it was light on subject matter and somewhat dated. This was real reference we could really use! I guess we were weird kids - we would grab a volume to read just for fun (or was that just me?)

One rainy afternoon shortly after the new encyclopedias came, we were playing school, as we sometimes did when we were bored. Barbie was our Teacher. We got into our heads that we should write reports using our special new books. We gathered around the table to decide what each of us would write about (it wouldn't be good if your subject was in the same volume that somebody else was using). Cherie said she would write about cats, my report would be on flowers, Tommy said he's write about trains, and Rick's report would be on racing cars. Margie was just learning to write, but insisted on a report of her own too. So we asked her what she wanted to write on. She  looked a bit confused, but quietly said, "I'm going to write on paper." 

Although we had the best of intentions, the reports were soon forgotten when the sun came out and we were all free to play outside again. 

I started reading ravenously before we left Talbot Drive. Carolyn Haywood's series about the antics of Betsy and her little sister, Star, were my favorites. I soon graduated to The Bobbsey Twins, The Tuckers, and The Five Little Peppers And How They Grew. In Deerfield, I "met" Nancy Drew, and a friend of Barbie's loaned me the entire series - original, hard-cover editions from before they were edited and mass marketed with uniform covers. It was a sad day for me when they finally had to be returned. 

So the point of my rambling? Two words - Window Seats. The house on Robinwood Lane in Deerfield had the most perfect spot for curling up and reading. Someday I hope to have a house with a window seat flanked by bookshelves. But to this day, I remember that feeling of comfort whenever I enter a library. Oh, the possibilities.