Lately I've been wondering and regretting not having kept my childhood books. My sister and I had quite a few and I loved them so much... we had books with stories, with pictures (with and without text) and activities. At one time or another we donated them in batches to libraries or schools, and there were only
a few that apparently were worth the shelf real estate value.
The ones that survived are good to revisit in a rainy afternoon but I doubt my daughter will enjoy them as much as I did, because they're just... very old. Children's books these days are really different, and while I don't underestimate (beforehand!) my child's ability to appreciate old fashioned ones, I don't think her sensibility will lean towards vintage.
This thought gives me some peace of mind. Had I kept them all they'd be a bunch of yellowish, musty smelling old fashioned books that my child may or may not appreciate, rendering the whole preservation endeavor a little pointless.
And contrived as it may sound, not having a good starting library at home might be the excuse I was waiting for to jump on children's libraries and bookstores around town. Because, seriously, is there a better place to spend your time and money?
2 comments:
Hi Julia, I love bookshops and my fiance certainly does - we can't move for books. I also think it is nice to keep a few from childhood - just the really special ones.
Amy
How come I hadn't seen this comment?
Being a librarian, I have a not-very-smooth relationship with books. I don't hate them, but I don't love them just for being. There are beautiful physical books (their binding, coloring, photographs, typefont), and practical books (cookbooks or large sized art books) but mostly I like reading fiction, and that can be stored in a portable reader (mine is Nook, by Barnes and Noble).
I purge my books often. I want to believe I make other people happy by doing it, but truth is, I seldom regret having let go of a book. So it's mostly selfish.
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