Childhood Books - Claire Hobson

       Books have always influenced my life, especially when I was little. I have so many memories where my mom would be reading books to me and my Dad telling me stories about his own life. There are a few books that I remember very prominently from my childhood. These include Goodnight Moon by Margret Wise Brown, different Dr. Seuss books like There's a Wocket in My Pocket, If I Ran the Circus, and Wacky Wednesday. There are also Eric Carle books like Have You Seen My Cat, Pinkalicious books written by Victoria Khan, The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, and Oliva by Ian Falconer.

        These kinds of books can be a substantial influence on people’s lives, as they were on mine. So, I asked a few people this question: What books did you read or had read to you when you were a child, and what do those books mean to you now?

Larissa:

        Larissa said that two books she read as a child were Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? and The Bernstein Bears. She mentioned these books were especially comfortable to think about and reminisce upon, referring to them as her “comfort books.” She also said that this fact about having books she had read many times as a child has transferred into how she is with a couple of shows that she has watched countless times. An example of this is the TV show Gilmore Girls.

Meher:

        Meher’s gave an example of one story; she said the main book she remembered being read to her was a collection of Disney short stories, mainly a story about The Lion King. She said this collection of fantastical stories relates to her life now because this is where her love for fantasy novels started, as she reads those the most out of any other genre.

Amelie:

        Amelie said that the first series she remembered from her childhood was Fox and His Friends by James Marshall. Aside from this being a book she has good memories about, it also served as a transition into her reading books on her own. She then said at the first book she read on her own was the Ivy + Bean series by Annie Barrows which helped her reading skills as it was the first full series, she read by herself.

 

       Therefore, books can affect our preferences and knowledge, making us more connected to different things in life. Like these three people, because of the books I was read and my connection to them, I have searched for things in my life I know I can rely on like I did these books. Dr. Suess helped me find my creativity and gain knowledge on rhyme poetry, books like Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? and Rainbow Fish taught me about animals and how their lives connect to mine. Thus, children’s books and being read to as a child can affect our lives now, as teenagers, positivly.