{"id":5604,"date":"2006-11-16T16:07:24","date_gmt":"2006-11-16T21:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=5604"},"modified":"2024-10-27T18:54:39","modified_gmt":"2024-10-27T22:54:39","slug":"bookie-bookie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=5604","title":{"rendered":"A Book Questionnaire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Book Meme!! I got it from Heather. <\/a> I love her answers – it’s always fun to see what other people were into, if they’re big readers.<\/p>\n

1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you?<\/b><\/p>\n

My parents will have to confirm this. I was probably 3. I don’t remember being taught – but my parents read to me all the time. So I guess I just picked it up – but I believe the story goes that I had learned to read without them even realizing it. The story is: I was in my car seat in the back seat of the car. They were driving to the Cape. Anyone who knows the Cape – knows about the big rotary that you have to go through to get onto the Cape. There is a huge A-frame liquor store on that rotary – where everybody stops to get booze before going out onto the Cape (I mean, I know that NOW – I didn’t know it then.) The liquor store has a huge sign above the A-frame: LIQUOR. But anyway – my parents were circling the rotary, I was 3 years old in the back – maybe even younger – and I suddenly announced:<\/p>\n

“LICK-WAR.”<\/p>\n

It took my parents some time to decipher this. What did she say? What is “lick-war”? Is she trying to tell us something? They finally realized that I had actually been READING. I read the sign on top of the A-frame.<\/p>\n

2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, what\u0092s the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the first titles that you borrowed from the library?<\/b><\/p>\n

We were very big on going to the library (naturally) – but I do remember that we owned some books. My sister Jean will probably remember better than I can. In terms of borrowing books – here were the favorites (and I’m sticking with books for much younger kids – once I get to about 7, 8 – we’re into Anne of Green Gables land, and Narnia, and Beezus and Ramona … but before that??)<\/p>\n

I loved When the Sky is Like Lace<\/a>\"\"<\/i> (with which I have now been reunited <\/a>). I could not get enough of it. The illustrations were addictive<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Other favorites which I remember we took out of the library:<\/p>\n

Harold and the Purple Crayon <\/a>\"\"<\/i> Perfect book.<\/p>\n

Frog and Toad Are Friends<\/a>\"\"<\/i> (adored those)<\/p>\n

A Bargain for Frances (I Can Read Book 2)<\/a>\"\"<\/i> – oh man, I loved these!!! I especially liked Bedtime for Frances<\/a>\"\"<\/i> when she kept seeing monsteres in the corner, etc. I loved the badgers. <\/p>\n

Anything and everything by Ezra Jack Keats<\/a>. I STILL love those books – and have since bought all of them – just because I need to have them. The Snowy Day<\/a>\"\"<\/i> is sheer magic – but my favorite, my absolute favorite, was A Letter to Amy<\/a>\"\"<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The Madeline books were huge favorites – and my favorite, in particular, (big surprise) was Madeline and the Gypsies<\/a>\"\"<\/i>, where Madeline and Pepito are kidnapped by circus folk. Sounded like a great life to me.<\/p>\n

When Will It Snow?<\/a>\"\"<\/i>. I still, when occasion warrants, say the words, ” ‘Soon,’ said Mother'” – when asked WHEN something will begin. “Sheila, when does the movie start tonight?” “Soon, said Mother.” That’s from that old old book that we all loved – I can still see the illustrations in my head.<\/p>\n

Oh, and despite his creepy photo on the back of all of his books: Shel Silverstein. Anything and everything Shel. My dad used to read us The Giving Tree<\/a>\"\"<\/i>. I have that book now and I can still hear those words in my dad’s voice.<\/p>\n

Rosemary Wells is a HUGE O’Malley favorite. Max? PLEASE. Who is funnier than Max? And his big sister Ruby (only we called her “Rubby”). We loooooved Morris’ Disappearing Bag<\/a>\"\"<\/i> as well. And I can still recite long sections of <Noisy Nora<\/a>\"\"<\/i>. “Nora,” said her sister. “Why are you so dumb?” Also – at that point in my reading career – Noisy Nora<\/i> was the book that had the word with the most syllables (“monumental”) – well, that and Peter Rabbit<\/i> with the even BETTER word “soporific”) – and I remember feeling really proud when I read the word “monumental” out loud. It was a big word!!<\/p>\n

3. What\u0092s the first book that you bought with your own money?<\/b><\/p>\n

I have no idea.<\/p>\n

4. Were you a re-reader as a child? If so, which book did you re-read most often?<\/b><\/p>\n

Every single book above was totally pawed over and read a BAZILLION times.<\/p>\n

As I got older – my reading list expanded. Oh and here <\/a>too!! I read all of those books 100 times apiece.<\/p>\n

5. What\u0092s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it?<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, I was always very advanced in terms of language comprehension (uhm – lick-war?). I guess Oliver Twist<\/i> counts as an adult book and I read the entire thing when I was 10 years old. I remember carrying it around with me. That’s probably the biggest leap – in terms of how young I was and how advanced the book was.<\/p>\n

6. Are there children\u0092s books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones?<\/b><\/p>\n

Hmmm. Bridge to Terabithia<\/a>\"\"<\/i> … That’s the first one that comes to mind. For some reason – I did not read that book as a little girl – but then my friend Betsy basically made <\/i>me read it when she found out I had never read it – I was in college when I finally tackled Bridge to Terabitha<\/i>. It’s phenomenal. Movie coming out soon!! Terrific book – I have no idea why I didn’t read it originally.<\/p>\n

Oh – and also – The Witch of Blackbird Pond<\/a>\"\"<\/i> – although that is a wee bit older than the other books I’m talking about here, in terms of reading comprehension- I think most people read that one in 5th grade, 6th grade – but for whatever reason, I just didn’t read it as a kid. My dear friend Ann Marie leant me her copy – I read that book in my 20s. It’s wonderful.<\/p>\n

Bonus Question: Are there books you remember reading as a child that you either can\u0092t find now or can\u0092t remember the title?<\/b><\/p>\n

Well – the bimulous night<\/i> book was the biggest mystery – but as I mentioned earlier – I did end up finding it. I had been looking for it under the wrong title for, oh, 20 years? 25 years??? It’s called When the sky is like lace<\/i> – and I had been keeping my eye open for Bimulous Night<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I can’t think of too many more lost books.<\/p>\n

I even tracked down The summer sleigh ride,<\/a>\"\"<\/i>, for God’s sake. How much I loved that book I cannot even describe!! Good to own it again<\/a> after – oh – 30 freakin’ years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book Meme!! I got it from Heather. I love her answers – it’s always fun to see what other people were into, if they’re big readers. 1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you? … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[77,668,664],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5604"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5604"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103004,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5604\/revisions\/103004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}