I can’t remember a time when I didn’t read. When I was very little, my father served in the military and was stationed in Germany. Even though they barely had two nickels to rub together, my parents made sure they found books in English and started a book collection for me, some of which I still have to this day. My copy of Dr. Seuss’ ABC has British spellings so I always misspelled pajamas as pyjamas because that’s how it was spelled in my book. Through my very early childhood, I was usually found nose to a book, reading through the Encyclopedia Brown series, the Happy Hollisters and all of the Trixie Beldens. Some kids were jealous of their classmate’s bicycle or scooter. Not me. I was jealous of one classmate’s family collection of Cherry Ames novels or one cousin’s collection of Laura Ingalls Wilder books. This past week, I was on Amazon and decided for the fun of it to look up one childhood book that was a particular favorite of mine: The Wednesday Witch by Ruth Chew. Although my parents saved my Dr. Seuss books and I saved my Trixie Belden books through countless moves, I didn’t save a copy of The Wednesday Witch. I found out the book is coming out on Kindle in August. That made me stop and think for a minute. Do I want to reread the book and see what made it so special for eight-year-old me? Or do I want to retain my memories of what I considered to be a really good book intact and not ruin them by rereading the book? When I was in law school, I decided to indulge in a box of Cookie Crisp (a particularly high in sugar cereal). After all, it was one of my favorite things to eat when I was eight. I almost spit out the cereal after the first bite because it was so sweet (and this from a chocoholic with a huge sweet tooth). Same thing with a bottle of Yoohoo. As of right now, I’m undecided, but no matter what I decide, I’m glad the book will be available for e-readers and is being rereleased. Even though my oldest daughter doesn’t share my reading tastes (how can someone not like Rebecca and Jane Eyre?), I’m glad I’ll be able to share this book with my younger daughter and that The Wednesday Witch has a chance to enchant new readers all over again.
What about you? Have you reread any of your favorite books from your childhood? Let me know.