Bronwyn Green

The Corner of Quirky & Kinky

NNBooks

Boooooooooooooooooooooookkkkkksssssss!

There are so many books that I’m nostalgic about, and if you’ve hung around this blog for a while, I’m sure some of these will be familiar. But, if not, here are a few books that give me the book feels.

First, we have Where the Wild Things Are. I read this book so often to my siblings and to my kids and daycare kids that I have it memorized. Still. After all this time. In fact, just last year, on the way to school, my son, Corwin bet me that I couldn’t recite it – loser had to fold all the laundry. Fool. Not only can I recite this book in my sleep, I fucking loathe folding clothes. As I pulled into the school parking lot, having just finished the story, I looked at Corwin and said, “Oh, please don’t go. I’ll eat you up, I love you so.” Corwin got out of the car, looked back at me rather balefully, and responded, “And Corwin said, ‘no’.”

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These are the copies of the A.A. Milne books (Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young, and Now We Are Six) that my mom used to read to us when we were little. As you can see, they’ve been much loved and have had many cups of tea sat on top of them.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond often kept me company when I was in third and fourth grade. I ended up going to four different elementary schools, but the school I attended in third and fourth grade was my favorite. There was an apple orchard behind the school where we played during recess. And if I didn’t feel like playing, I’d sneak a book outside and climb one of the trees and read. I loved this book and read it several times a year and it remained one of my favorite memories of that school after we had to move. Years later, when we moved back into the area, I heard that my favorite elementary school was closing, but they were selling a bunch of stuff – including library books. I couldn’t believe my luck when I went to the sale and found the very same copy I used to read. Of course, I bought it immediately!

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, The Paper Bag Princess will always be my favorite book, and it’s another one I can recite from memory. Feminist children’s book? Absolutely. I used to read it to my sister’s preschool class, my kids and my daycare kids (and all their classes when I volunteered) and now I get to read it to my nieces and nephews. I’ve never once met a kid who didn’t love how Elizabeth outsmarted the dragon and rescued the prince finally realizing that he was a jerk who wasn’t worth her time, and she deserved so much better. One of these days, I’m gonna get me a Paper Bag Princess tattoo…

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I loved Little House in the Big Woods so hard – it was a gift from a favorite uncle – and I read and reread it to death. And like probably millions of other little girls, I used to pretend to be Laura Ingalls all the time. My mom even made me a matching sunbonnet and apron.

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These books make me wildly nostalgic for cuddly, drooly, giggly babies and toddlers. Sometimes, I wish there was a temporary rewind button for kids.

I could go on for days about books and nostalgia, but I’ll just post a few more that jumped off the bookshelf at me. Edward and the Pirates, The Ballad of the Pirate Queens, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, Drac and the Gremlin, Wild Robin, The Story of the Root Children, Stellaluna, The Wild Swans, and Tough Boris. These are all books that I read to my kids over and over.

Oh, and these, too!

Be sure to check out the the books on Gwen and Kellie‘s lists.

18 thoughts on “Nostalgic Notes: Books

  1. Alex Kourvo says:

    Ohhhhh, now I’ve got all the book feelings too! I’d all but forgotten about the awesome Sandra Boynton books, but I realize I can still recite “Moo Baa La La La” from memory.

    1. Bronwyn says:

      YES! And Barnyard Dance! 😀 We’ll probably be old and senile someday, sitting in our rocking chairs reciting Moo Baa La La La to ourselves…

    2. twimom227 says:

      A cow says “moo,” a sheep says “baa,” three singing pigs say “la la la!” <3

      1. Bronwyn says:

        “No, no,” you say. That isn’t right. The pigs say oink all day and night.

  2. Pansy Petal says:

    We are kindred spirits. My daughter had her first set of Laura Ingall’s book when I was all of about four months pregnant. One could be forgiven for wondering if they were gotten for the coming baby, or me? However, my daughter did have a library to rival well, mine. I read to her every night and yes, Where the Wild Things Are was a favorite. Some seven years later this amazing library was past one to her baby brother. He actually grew up to appreciate and love reading as I do too. He and I had many a discussion on Harry Potter. Okay, so now I am nostalgic. *sigh* I miss the babies.

    1. Bronwyn says:

      I miss the babies, too. Not all the time, but book times were some of the best times. *sigh*

  3. Nellie says:

    I wasn’t a big reader until 1992 (aged 14) and it started with IT by Stephen King. I still love horror but back then I went totally nuts, only reading King and Koontz.

    But I still remember my first “real” book back when I was 7 yrs old.
    Mister God, this is Anna by Fynn (obviously a pen name) and I still love it. It’s become a tradition for me to read it once a year and it still makes me cry like a baby.

    1. Bronwyn says:

      I can’t read IT. Clooooooooowwwwnnnnnnsssssss are the worst!

      The first book that made me bawl my eyes out was Bridge to Terabithia. I think I was maybe in the fifth grade. I laid on my bed sobbing my eyes out, and my mom was terrified that something was really wrong, so I told her about the book, and she was even more concerned when I immediately started reading it again. 😀

      1. Nellie says:

        IT is the reason why I stopped thinking clowns were funny.
        And Door to December (Koontz) made me believe in (and fear) telekinesis. 😝

        My mom thought it was touching when I cried over Mister God, this is Anna.

  4. Gwen Cease says:

    I loved all the Little House books!!! I read them over and over especially These Happy Golden Years with Laura and Almanzo. *sigh*Awesome list

    1. Bronwyn says:

      They’re so great! I wish I still had mine. A cousin borrowed them, and I never got them back. 🙁

  5. twimom227 says:

    Yes to so many of those. Two more for me during elementary years: The Phantom Tollbooth and A Wrinkle in Time.

    1. Bronwyn says:

      How did I forget a Wrinkle in Time?!

  6. Paige Prince says:

    Where the Wild Things Are always brings back such vivid memories of reading with my twin when we were kids. I love that book to this day, and giggled like a little girl when Monkey brought it home for me to read to her. <3

    1. Bronwyn says:

      It’s such a fantastic story. <3

  7. I hadn’t heard of The Paper Bag Princess. Now I definitely want to check it out!

    I keep almost buying a nice, big, hardback copy of Winnie the Pooh and then talking myself out of it. I feel like there are days when a soothing visit to the Hundred Acre Wood would be just the thing.

    (That reminds me, I have actually been to the Hundred Acre Wood, sort of. It’s not as good in real life but you can play Pooh sticks and the gift shop is glorious: http://www.pooh-country.co.uk/)

    1. Bronwyn says:

      OMG. You MUST read TPBP! It’s just the best, and I feel like you’d really love it, too.

      I WANT TO GO TO THE REAL HUNDRED ACRE WOOD AND PLAY POOH STICKS!!!! And I also want to go to the gift shop and buy all the things!!!! When the kids were wee, I decorated the nursery in Classic Pooh, and they had a bunch of CP (and Disney) Pooh toys, dvds, and of course, books. And our Christmas tree always has a ridiculous amount of Pooh character ornaments.

      FWIW, a big hardback copy of Pooh for days that you need it, is a worthwhile expense. Some days, a trip to the Hundred Acre Woods is like therapy.

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