One of the clearest memories I have of my childhood is being in bed while my mother read to me. My mother read about the lives of saints and martyrs, about Greek & Roman mythology. She even read poems from Federico García Lorca. Nevertheless, the story I loved the most was The Princess and the Pea, by Hans Christian Andersen (Library Collection: 1, 2, 3, 4 / OverDrive & Libby: eBook 1, eBook 2, eBook 3, eBook 4). I loved all Andersen’s stories, and reacted to them very honestly as my mother went through the entire collection. I laughed at
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Archives for Reads Revisited
Reads Revisited: Little Women
For my ninth birthday, my beloved grandparents gave me a beautiful hardcover illustrated copy of Louisa May Alcott’s, Little Women (Library Catalog / OverDrive). I was ecstatic as I was an avid reader and my grandmother told me specifically about how much she loved the book as a young girl. I will never forget that I ran through those 643 pages in only three days. My memories of it are nothing but fond. As I sat down to reread it for this column, I had a very different experience. First, I happened to be at work, so I grabbed a
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Reads Revisited
Reads Revisited is a blog series where Trove and Edge Librarians revisit some of their favorite childhood stories. In today's column, Trove Librarian Raquel Cavalcanti revisits From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (OverDrive; Library Catalog) by E. L. Konigsberg. Originally published in 1967, the story of the adventures of Claudia and Jamie was already a bit dated when I read it as a geeky art-loving child. It reads now, quite clearly as historical fiction, but I still greatly enjoyed hearing the audiobook of the story of the two young protagonists running away to hide out at the
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Reads Revisited: Charmed Life
Reads Revisited is a blog series where Trove and Edge Librarians revisit some of their favorite childhood stories. In today's column, Edge Librarian Erik Carlson revisits book one of the Chrestomanci series, Charmed Life (Catalog) by Diana Wynne Jones. Did you ever wonder where J.K. Rowling got all of her ideas from? Charmed Life has magical castles, powerful necromancers, bad witches and wizards, and an orphaned boy who has no idea that he has magical powers. I have always been a big fantasy fan. Diana Wynne Jones and Ursula K. LeGuin were two of my favorite authors growing up. When
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Reads Revisited: The Last Unicorn
Reads Revisited is a blog series where Trove and Edge Librarians revisit some of their favorite childhood stories. In today's column, Trove Librarian Caroline Reddy revisits The Last Unicorn (OverDrive; Catalog) by Peter S. Beagle. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle, is one of my favorite fantasy novels. In this timeless tale, a unicorn discovers that she is the last of her kind. She sets on a quest to find out what has happened to all of the other unicorns. In her hero’s journey, she must first free herself from the sorcerer, Mommy Fortuna, who collects magical creatures for
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Reads Revisited: The Trumpet of the Swan
Reads Revisited is a blog series where Trove and Edge Librarians revisit some of their favorite childhood stories. In today's column, Edge Librarian Kathlyn Carroll revisits The Trumpet of the Swan (Catalog) by E. B. White. I was so excited when Ashley came up with the idea for this series of blog posts re-examining a favorite childhood book. I immediately thought of Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White, which I read over and over again in early elementary school. I was a serial re-reader; on trips to the school media center, my second grade teacher began requiring me
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Reads Revisited
Reads Revisited is a blog series where Trove and Edge Librarians revisit some of their favorite childhood stories. In today's column, Manager of Youth Services Josh Carlson revisits The House with the Clock In Its Walls (Catalog / OverDrive) and The Curse of the Blue Figurine (Catalog / OverDrive) by John Bellairs. Before I started reading, I spent some time thinking about my memories of these books. In my mind, they feel like they were important in my childhood in some way. I remember them spooky, fun and filled with adventure. I couldn’t put them down. As a rule, I
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Reads Revisited
When children or their caregivers come to the Library asking for recommendations, I often find myself suggesting some of my favorite books from when I was a kid. There’s something really comforting about rereading an old favorite! I came up with this idea for a blog post series so that our Trove and Edge librarians could recommend some of their favorite childhood stories. I hope that you’ll enjoy reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed rereading! I was the kid that was always reading – in class (when I definitely shouldn’t have been!), in the lunchroom, and I even brought
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