Plot Monkeys

Ah, summer…a time for relaxing by the pool with a good book, right? Even for 9 year olds, as my daughter has received her first ever summer reading list of 12–count ‘em 12–books.

Before our trip to Tennessee last weekend for my niece’s graduation, we went and picked up two of the books on her list. She read one voraciously on the flight and in the car as we drove from Chattanooga to Nashville. No getting car sick. No complaining about the long drive. Nary a word, she was so into the book, which was her favorite type–light comedy. The book was titled SAY WHAT? and it’s the story of a 6 year old girl named Sukie and her two older brothers who are perplexed when their parents try and experiment on them to get them to listen better.

I read the book after she did and it was great…and it got me thinking about the books I remember from my childhood. Not the young adult stuff like Judy Blume or VC Andrews, but the stories from when I was younger…my first forays into independent reading. Now those of you who are regular plotmonkey readers know about my horrible memory, so it shouldn’t surprise you that I couldn’t come up with a very long list. But I had a few: Misty of Chincoteague. Rikki Tikki Tavi. The Hardy Boys…the entire set. No Nancy Drew for me. She relied on Ned waaaaay too much for my tastes…let’s hope the new movie starring Emma Roberts isn’t like that (doesn’t look like it from the previews.)

But I digress…

I’ve already read Misty to my daughter…over a year ago. I hadn’t thought about Rikki for years and just ordered the book and DVD (remember the Chuck Jones animated film?) from Amazon. I know she’ll love it. I remember reading Dr. Seuss…and the two other children’s books about the spotted bear-like animal that wants to live in the zoo and my favorite, Are You My Mother? Which was a favorite before I became a mother, btw. I remember a story I read as a child at my grandmothers…one of the few books left over in the house that had belonged to my father. It was about a little boy being chased by a tiger who runs around a tree until the tiger turns into pancakes. I couldn’t remember it for the longest time…but then Google came into my life. Unfortunately, the book hasn’t been reprinted in years because of racial stuff (the hero was African, I believe)…but it’s a shame because that story has always stuck with me and if there was racial stuff in it, I certainly never internalized it, that’s for sure.

Sharing books with my daughter is one of the many joys of parenting. Finding new books to love with her is great too. Talking books with her is wonderful! And my nephews and nieces…got to get those future readers trained!

Think back to your own childhoods…what were your favorite books. Who shared them with you? Are you sharing any with the children in your life?