Summer Reading When We Were Young: Children's Book Authors & Illustrators Share Memories of Reading |
For many children and adults, summer is synonymous with reading. We asked our authors and illustrators to share their memories of summer reading, and received responses that reflect a wide range of experiences, some humorous, some solemn, and all deeply affecting. Enjoy. QUESTION: What were some of your favorite books as a child? |
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Linda Jacobs Altman "I loved all kinds of books, from Little Women to The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright." –Linda Jacobs Altman, author: Amelia's Road, The Legend of Freedom Hill and Singing with Mama Lou | |
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George Ancona NEW! "The local library was just a block away from my house so I would spend hours poking around the shelves and discovering books that opened new horizons. I was particularly intrigued by a book about Native American life. How they hunted, cooked, built shelters and traveled in search of food. I must have been about nine or ten. Books were the means of my discovering subjects to explore." –George Ancona, author and photographer: Capoeira | |
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Nancy Andrews-Goebel "Among my favorite reading as a child was the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This was long before the television show that was based Wilder's work. My uncle began sending me a Little House book every Christmas and birthday before I could even read. My mother read them to me, and when I was old enough I re-read them for myself. I loved the way the author's words transported me to such a vividly different place and time. And I adored Garth Williams' illustrations too. The words, simple drawings, and I all worked in harmony to create such a special setting that I never watched the show when it was televised when I was a young adult. I did not want the electronic images to erode the familiar setting that the author, illustrator and I had made together. I've heard contemporary kids say the same thing about not wanting to see the Harry Potter movies, not wanting to impose film images on the book's imaginary world." –Nancy Andrews-Goebel, author: The Pot That Jan Built | |
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Jeannine Atkins "I loved Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and wanted to be as daring and smart as Jo March. I liked to read almost anyone’s biography and used lives spent in woods, prairies, and places unlike my one home as the basis for games I played with my brother, sister, and friends." –Jeannine Atkins, author: Aani and the Tree Huggers | |
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Lynne Barasch NEW! "I read all of Albert Payson Terhune many times. His books about his collies and the house in Pompton Lakes kept me happy for a long time. As a child I wrote to Terhune and enclosed an illustration I did of the collie, Lad. I received a response from his secretary. I didn't realize that he was no longer living! Years later I went to see the place and was stunned to discover that the house had been torn down. The Wisteria vines that covered the house had destroyed the walls. But Lad's grave and the lake were there just as he had described." –Lynne Barasch, author and illustrator: Knockin' on Wood and Hiromi's Hands | |
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Linda Boyden "Any fairy tale books, like the Red Book of Fairy Tales, the Green Book of Fairy Tales—there was a series of them. My favorite was The Princess and the Pea and The Little Red Hen. And all of the Golden Books, The Tawny Scrawny Lion, Saggy Baggy Elephant. Margaret Wise Brown. Some Hans Christian Anderson, with my favorite being The Ugly Duckling. All the Bobbsey Twins." –Linda Boyden, author: The Blue Roses | |
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Andrea Cheng "My favorite books included The Secret Garden, Little House on the Prairie, and The Yearling." –Andrea Cheng, author: Goldfish and Chrysanthemums, Grandfather Counts and Shanghai Messenger | |
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Karen Chinn "I don't have any favorite books from childhood, and I didn't like to read. Things might have been different if my parents were English literate and introduced books to me as a child. We really didn't have any books in our house until we went to school."–Karen Chinn, author: Sam and the Lucky Money | |
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R. Gregory Christie "Disney comics. superhero books, Batman, Superman, Snowy day by Keats, Where the Wild Things Are, Sendack." –R. Gregory Christie, illustrator: Deshawn Days, Love to Langston, The Palm of My Heart, Richard Wright and the Library Card and Brothers in Hope | |
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Amy Cordova "The Wind in the Willows, BobbseyTwins, Flicka, Ricka and Dicka, Books of Poems and Rhymes for Children, Bambi and anything Nancy Drew!" –Amy Cordova, illustrator: The Blue Roses | |
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Sally Derby "Summer reading, what a nostalgic term. Those long school vacations where I could ride my bike to the library to wander happily around the children's section, picking up books by Kate Seredy (The Good Master, The Open Gate) or one of Albert Payson Terhune's exciting books about dogs or Noel Streatfield's "Shoes" books. Mary Poppins was new when I was a child, not yet a movie, and my friend Gretchen and I would read it aloud to each other. When Gretchen wasn't handy I would climb the maple tree by our sidewalk and read sitting on one of its branches." –Sally Derby , author: My Steps | |
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David Diaz "Racy pulp thrillers. I had asked an adult friend how I could learn to read faster, her response was 'Read something exciting and you'll read faster.' It worked." –David Diaz, illustrator: The Pot that Juan Built | |
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Cathryn Falwell "Early childhood favorites: Being a child of the 50s, I had a lot of Golden Books. My favorites were I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Mary Blair, and The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen. (I should note that I was oblivious of the names when I was a child—I had to look up the authors and illustrators after I grew up!) I also had The Golden Egg Book by Golden MacDonald (aka: Margaret Wise Brown) which I loved, and a cherished volume of Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses with enchanting illustrations by Gyo Fujikawa. Later I became a loyal Trixie Belden fan. I spent my allowance and chore money on this series as fast as possible!" –Cathryn Falwell, author: Butterflies for Kiri and David's Drawings | |
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Matthew Gollub "I remember the excitement of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Once I grew a little older, I enjoyed Mark Twain, including his more acerbic works such as Letters from the Earth. I felt that reading gave me 'private' time with authors from other ages. I felt as though I could invite Mark Twain into my home and savor his witty narratives alone, even as my older sister played music in the living room and my other sister practiced her trombone!" –Matthew Golllub, author: Cool Melons, Turn to Frogs! The Life and Poems of Issa and Ten Oni Drummers | |
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Patricia Hubbell "Some of my favorite childhood books were Pinocchio, Bambi, Black Beauty, Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Sister of the Angels by Elizabeth Goudge, "horse" books by Primrose Cumming (I remember especially The Silver Eagle Riding School; all sorts of other horse books, nature books and series books about children in other countries (one I recall was Little Jeanne of France..) When I was growing up in the 1930s there were far fewer books for children than there are now, but I always had lots of books, and every Christmas there was a new pile under the tree!" –Patricia Hubbell, author: Black All Around! | |
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Hector Viveros Lee "An animal alphabet book (I forget the exact title). I enjoyed the animals and recall it was the first book I read in English." –Hector Viveros Lee, author/illustrator: I Had a Hippopotamus, illustrator: Preparadas...Listas...Ya!, (contributing artist) America | |
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Cedric Lucas "The Cat in the Hat, Curious George,Where the Wild Things Are.... Each was fun to read. Rhythm and rhyming were interesting and playful means of expression and communication." –Cedric Lucas, illustrator: Frederick Douglass: The Last Day of Slavery, Night Golf and (contributing artist) America | |
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Trish Marx NEW! "I loved stories about animals—especially animals in the real world. I found them to have amazing personalities and abilities to problem solve. I suppose I was somehow thinking of them as people—attributing to them human emotion—but I was really quite sappy about their endearing stories. A series I loved was written by an author from Nebraska—Bess Streeter Aldrich. I am not sure her books are in print any longer, but they should be, and libraries should have them. She wrote about a family/families settling the prairie in Nebraska long before 'Little House' days. Her characters were rich and believeable, the setting harsh yet full of hope, the life she portrayed difficult but joyful, and the end of the books always satisfying. These are some of the titles: A Lantern in Her Hand; A White Bird Flying; A Song of Years." –Trish Marx, author: Everglades Forever | |
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Ken Mochizuki "My favorite book, during any season, was the set of World Book encyclopedias at home. I had to wait for my favorite TV shows to come on, but I could reach for the encyclopedias anytime." –Ken Mochizuki, author: Baseball Saved Us, Heroes, Passage to Freedom and Be Water, My Friend | |
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Pat Mora "My favorite childhood books? That's like asking my favorite candies in a huge candy store, ummmmm!" –Pat Mora, author: Confetti, editor and poet: Love to Mama | |
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S. D. Nelson "As a child my very favorite stories were not from books, but they were tales about the olden days told by my mom and dad. I was especially enthralled by my mother's Native American 'coyote' stories and true stories about my Indian ancestors. But when it comes to books, I remember being surprised and delighted by the Dr. Seuss stories. And with all children's books I was captivated by the illustrations." –S. D. Nelson, illustrator: Crazy Horse's Vision and Jim Thorpe's Bright Path, author and illustrator: Quiet Hero | |
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W. Nikola-Lisa "I don't remember reading much at all. I came from a non-literate environment–but I did read! I read the wind and the grass and the trees and the birds and the clouds and the sky." –W. Nikola-Lisa, author: Bein' with You This Way, America, My Teacher Can Teach...Anyone! and How We Are Smart | |
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Alexis O’Neill "My first books were Grimm's Fairy Tales and Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales. I read everything by Mark Twain that I could get my hands on such as Prince and the Pauper, Tom Sawyer, Huckelberry Finn and short stories by O. Henry, Guy de Maupassant, Edgar Allan Poe and others. The first book I remember reading twice was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle." –Alexis O’Neill, author: Estela's Swap/a> | |
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L. King Perez "I began reading with cereal boxes and 'Do Not Remove This Tag' on furniture. Next came comic books, lovingly called funny books and they were!, and then mainly childhood mysteries, concentrating on Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Sugar Creek gang. Later I discovered Anne of Green Gables, Robinson Crusoe, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and books my Mom kept on her reading shelf." –L. King Perez, author: First Day in Grapes | |
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Alice Schertle NEW! "I loved the classics: The Last of the Mohicans, Treasure Island, Little Women, The Jungle Book, The Yearling—but I gave equal time to Nancy Drew. I had 32 of those and loved to accompany Nancy on her sleuthing adventures. Mary Poppins was one of my earliest favorites; those books are identified in my memory as much for the perfect Mary Shepard illustrations as for the unique and funny P.L. Travers text. For a couple years I read all the animal stories I could find—and cried through most of them: Lassie Come Home; Black Beauty; Bob, Son of Battle; Lad of Sunnybank; King of the Wind; The Black Stallion." –Alice Schertle, author: We | |
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Don Tate "Actually, I would spend hours flipping through our Better Homes and Garden's Medical Encyclopedia. The one with the illustrated stomach ulcers and skin lesions. It's a wonder I didn't become a medical illustrator." –Don Tate, illustrator: Black All Around and Summer Sun Risin' | |
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Marcia Vaughan "As a child my favorite books were Curious George, the Little House on the Prairie series, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Castaways in Lilliput, and The Secret Garden. " –Marcia Vaughan, author: The Secret to Freedom | |
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Carole Boston Weatherford ""Harriet the Spy, Dream Keepers and Other Poems by Langston Hughes, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chanticleer (a Caldecott Award winner), Bright April." –Carole Boston Weatherford, author: Jazz Baby |
QUESTION: Did you enjoy reading as a child? If so, what about reading gave you pleasure? |
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Linda Jacobs Altman "Reading took me away from unpleasant circumstances to a world where things somehow mattered."–Linda Jacobs Altman, author: Amelia's Road, The Legend of Freedom Hill and Singing with Momma Lou | |
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George Ancona NEW! "Very early I was inspired to travel to unknown places. I was particularly fond of reading sea adventures. The Captain Horatio Hornblower books introduced me to sea faring life. I was sure I would be joining the Navy or Merchant Marine to travel and discover foreign lands and people. We lived then in Coney Island so I was always conscious of the sea around us. I used to hang out with the crew of a Coast Guard cutter that would tie up to the dock that was across the street." –George Ancona, author and photographer: Capoeira | |
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Jeannine Atkins "I loved to pile books and stuffed animals on my bed, along with any real cats who were in the mood. Reading was like trying on costumes....reading let me try on different lives." –Jeannine Atkins, author: Aani and the Tree Huggers | |
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Lynne Barasch NEW! "As far back as I can remember, I always loved reading. Other books I loved were Grimm's Fairy Tales and Anderson's Fairy Tales. We had beautifully illustrated volumes of these stories which I read again and again." –Lynne Barasch, author and illustrator: Knockin' on Wood: Starring Peg Leg Bates and Hiromi's Hands | |
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Linda Boyden "LOVED IT! It was my best friend, because I had no sister until I was almost 10 and the girls in my neighborhood were all much younger, so reading became my best companion. It was, and is, the only form of magic I can perform perfectly each time." –Linda Boyden, author: The Blue Roses | |
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Andrea Cheng "I read a lot as a child. I loved escaping into another world. I also remember reading books with a friend. We read Oliver Twist in 6th grade at the same time. We were both fast readers and took turns turning pages." –Andrea Cheng, author: Goldfish and Chrysanthemums, Grandfather Counts and Shanghai Messenger | |
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Melrose Cooper "As a child, reading when I had to was scary. As I read more on my own, a book became an experience for living, not merely material for reading."–Melrose Cooper, author: Gettin' Through Thursday | |
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Amy Cordova "I loved to read as a child. Reading took me to places I had never thought of before. I felt like I had a personal relationship with several of the characters in my story books. I understood their feelings and was sad when the stories ended." –Amy Cordova, author: The Blue Roses | |
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Sally Derby "I was alone a lot as a child, but as long as I had a book to read, I was never lonely." –Sally Derby, author: My Steps | |
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David Diaz "The pleasure in reading came from being transported away from my ordinary in comparison life. The magic of creating these private worlds in my head." –David Diaz, author: The Pot That Juan Built | |
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Susan Middleton Elya "Reading was hard for me. But my neighbor Cindy read constantly. We went to the library and checked out stacks of books. She read much harder books than I did, but at least I was reading."–Susan Middleton Elya, author: Home at Last, Say Hola to Spanish, Say Hola to Spanish Otra Vez (again) and Say Hola to Spanish at the Circus | |
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Cathryn Falwell "Of course, I was a huge fan of illustrations. I apparently announced in second grade that I wanted to write and illustrate picture books when I grew up. I was a voracious reader. My mother sent me to Girl Scout Camp when I was ten, and I remember sneaking a peak at the application. Under 'Why do you want your daughter to go to camp?' she had written something like, 'Cathy is an avid reader, which is wonderful. I just think it would be good to get her nose out of a book for a couple of weeks this summer.' I loved to 'get lost' in books. I liked to find cozy places to read, too: In or under a tree, or under a blanket draped over a couple of chairs." –Cathryn Falwell, author: Butterflies for Kiri and David's Drawings | |
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Matthew Gollub "Yes, I enjoyed reading as a child, especially when it wasn't required in school." –Matthew Gollub, author: Cool Melons, Turn to Frogs: The Life and Poems of Issa and Ten Oni Drummers | |
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Patricia Hubbell "I LOVED to read when I was little...and, of course, I still love to read! I loved the adventures I could have via books and the things I could learn. I especially liked to read about girls doing exciting things...like running their own riding school! I was also a big reader of nonfiction, especially nature books. One of my main 'reading' memories is of my grandmother and my mother reading poetry to me. It's what got me started being a poet. I don't recall reading much poetry by myself when I was little (lots when I got to high school, though.) But I loved to listen to them read poems to me. The rhythms, the word-pictures, the magic and 'feeling' of poetry got in my head and stayed there. It's with me still!" –Patricia Hubbell, author: Black All Around! | |
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Trish Marx NEW! "I loved to read as a child—it was one of my favorite things to do. I grew up in a small town in Minnesota so there wasn't a whole lot to do that was organized. I spent a lot of time out-of-doors, often with a book in a favorite sunny spot. Then I could be anywhere, brought back to reality only when I got hungry or the sun started setting." –Trish Marx, author: Everglades Forever | |
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Alexis O’Neill "Are you kidding? I lived, breathed and slept books! Mysteries were my favorites. I would check out as many as I could from the library, pile them into my bike basket, pedal home and read, read, read." –Alexis O’Neill, author, Estela's Swap | |
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L. King Perez "I adored reading and was both an avid and rabid in my pursuit of books, sometimes to the point of invoking concern in my family. Concern I did not notice since my nose was always in a book. It gave me such pleasure because it had the power to transport me to other lives, other places. Even then, I knew that a book lets one do anything! The adventure..." –Lucy King Perez, author, First Day in Grapes | |
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Alice Schertle NEW! "I loved reading. Still do. It’s wonderfully satisfying to immerse yourself totally in the world between the covers of a book and be spirited away on an adventure you could never take in real life. Children, I think, are much better at that than adults, who tend to be distracted by things like rent coming due and aphids on the roses. When I was a child I could spend hours, sometimes entire days at a time, living in the world created by a book. Perhaps the best example, for me, is provided by The Yearling. That Everglades world was so completely real to me that I wandered the Florida woods and wetlands with Jody and Flag as if I’d been transported by a time machine; I was there. I sometimes re-read the book, or passages from it, now, just to savor the wonderful words and to slip for a while back into that world." –Alice Schertle, author: We | |
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Marcia Vaughan "I loved reading as a child, especially at bedtime. To this day I always hop in bed a little early so I can read till my eyeballs slam shut." –Marcia Vaughan, author, The Secret to Freedom | |
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Carole Boston Weatherford "From the day I met Dick and Jane, I loved reading. As an only child for 10 years, I found companionship and adventure in books." –Carole Boston Weatherford, author, Jazz Baby |
QUESTION: Who or what inspired your love of reading as a child? |
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George Ancona NEW! "My teachers in P.S. 80 and my father who always had books about and read stories and letters from my family in Mexico. My grandmother who I called Chichi, the Mayan word for Grandmother, would write me beautiful letters in Spanish for my birthdays. Her handwriting was very beautiful with many scrolls which I always looked forward to receiving. She would address them: Nino Jorge Efrain Ancona Diaz, and then write: Mi idolatrado hijito. I still have them. I finally got to meet her when I graduated high school and took a bus from New York City to Mexico." –George Ancona, author and photographer: Capoeira | |
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Jeannine Atkins "My Dad used to read to the three of us kids at bedtime. It was fun to hear him change his voice to be Eeyore, Kanga, and Pooh. Later I joined the library's summer reading club. I still treasure the book of poems I won in fourth grade." –Jeannine Atkins, author: Aani and the Tree Huggers | |
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Linda Boyden "Myself, probably. The rest of my family didn't read for pleasure. It was something I excelled at and that gave me comfort." –Linda Boyden, author The Blue Roses | |
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Karen Chinn "My third and fourth grade teacher introduced me to African American history and literature, which I, as a 'minority' too, really identified with. (At that time, there were no Asian American books in our school library or generally, in a bookstore.)" –Karen Chinn, author: Sam and the Lucky Money | |
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R. Gregory Christie "I became a reader after my institutional schooling.. I didn't feel the focus was fair in regards to historical achievements of all the cultures in this world. I also felt as though the brutality of historical events were softened up or made amenable to any student that would listen. The inspiration came from hearing about Malcolm X , Richard Wright, and Marcus Garvey, Thomas Jefferson these men as well as the countless other women that overcame tough times through education. I always wanted to know a little bit about everything, but to not fall in to the trap of 'jack of all trades, master of none.' My education is geared to be well rounded but focused." –R. Gregory Christie, illustrator: Deshawn Days, Love to Langston, The Palm of My Heart, Richard Wright and the Library Card and Brothers in Hope | |
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Amy Cordova "I had a wonderful elderly Uncle Charlie, who was a storyteller and specialized in what he termed, 'Hot Stories' and another kindly bachelor Uncle Bill who taught me poems, songs, and rhymes and read to me for hours on end when I was very small." –Amy Cordova, illustrator: The Blue Roses | |
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Sally Derby "My mother read to me–my teachers read to me, and I could hardly wait till I could read for myself." –Sally Derby, author: My Steps | |
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Cathryn Falwell "My parents read to us a lot—especially my mother. She was a constant reader herself. I was intrigued by the brown boxes that arrived from the Book-of-the-Month Club, or Literary Guild. She took us to the book mobile regularly, and we received books as Birthday and Christmas presents. I also had many teachers who nurtured a love of reading." –Cathryn Falwell, author: Butterflies for Kiri and David's Drawings | |
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Patricia Hubbell "I came from a 'reading' family. My mom and dad, my grandparents, were all enthusiastic readers, and there were always lots of books and magazines in the house. My aunt was head librarian at Adelphi College, and she gave each of us children books for Christmas. So books were just a natural thing for me. I was particularly inspired I think because when I was really little I was read to a great deal—especially by my mother and grandmother." –Patricia Hubbell, author: Black All Around! | |
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Hector Viveros Lee "A pivotal point in my life as a reader was when a teacher introduced me to the public library. It was a tiny room, but for a child it had more books than I could imagine. And they were free." –Hector Viveros Lee, author/illustrator: I Had a Hippopotamus, and (contributing artist) America | |
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Trish Marx NEW! "My mom read, and at ninety-three still reads, several books a week. My older sister read. We had to write book reports for school. The library was one of the old Carnegie libraries and was fun to go to, always friendly and helpful. All of these shaped my reading habits. I associated good things with reading when I was young." –Trish Marx, author: Everglades Forever | |
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Ken Mochizuki "There were always a lot of periodicals laying around at home: newspapers, magazines, all of which I read all the time. I can thank my parents for those–and for that set of encyclopedias! Maybe this is why I enjoyed nonfiction more than fiction back then." –Ken Mochizuki, author: Baseball Saved Us, Heroes, Passage to Freedom and Be Water, My Friend | |
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Pat Mora "I'm a reader because of my wonderful bilingual mother, Estela Mora. When she was a little girl in El Paso, she'd read at night with a flashlight under the covers." –Pat Mora, author: Confetti, editor/poet: Love to Mama | |
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S. D. Nelson " My parents read all of the time and set a good example for me and my brothers and sister. My older brother collected the Illustrated Classics comic books and I read every one of them too." –S. D. Nelson, illustrator: Crazy Horse's Vision, Jim Thorpe's Bright Path, author and illustrator: Quiet Hero | |
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Alexis O’Neill "My earliest memories include my dad sitting in a wing-backed chair reading a book and my mother making up stories about flower fairies." –Alexis O’Neill, author: Estela's Swap | |
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L. King Perez "Both my mother and grandmother loved reading and must have passed this trait (habit?) on to me. They also loved words; a dictionary was part of their daily lives, and to discover a new word and slip it into conversation was considered a coup. Discovering misuse of words was almost a hobby with them, and the little town we lived in was rife with opportunity for sport. For instance, the time Big Mama Strickland took her tires to be vulcanized during WWII, and she told the gas-station attendant she wanted her tires circumcised. When he corrected her, Big Mama did not flinch. She said, 'Listen here son, we both know what I mean so you just do it.' That kept my mother and grandmother entertained for days. Inherited? Must be. Here, fiftty years later, I still remember. Inherited love of reading? I think so." –L. King Perez, author: First Day in Grapes | |
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Alice Schertle NEW! "I think, for me, it began with poetry. I can remember the big blue Mother Goose book we had when I was very young. I’d look at the pictures and recite the verses that had been read so many times to me, and before long, I was connecting the words and images, beginning to read. One of my earliest memories is of my mother reciting Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem as she pushed me in a swing at the park. I gripped the chains, leaned back, and felt the soaring rhythm of the words, 'How do you like to go up in a swing, / Up in the air so blue…' I liked the one about the cow who “gives me cream with all her might,” too. At night when my mother tucked me into bed I’d ask for Rosetti’s 'Who has seen the wind/Neither you nor I…' and revel in the mysterious spookiness of the words. I knew these wonderful words came from books just waiting for me to read them." –Alice Schertle, author: We | |
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Don Tate "I was not much of a reader as a child. I was very visual. I drew things. Even as a young adult, I didn't enjoy reading. But what got me started reading at about the age of twenty-two was the book The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks. I followed that with Richard Wright's Native Son. I discovered these books in the attic of an educational publishing company that I was working for and have been a voracious reader every since." –Don Tate, illustrator: Black All Around! and Summer Sun Risin' | |
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Marcia Vaughan "My parents always read to me at bedtime. My favorite part of school was coming in from lunch recess and having the teacher read a chapter from a great book to the class. This was such a treat. Now I know the teachers must have enjoyed it, too!" –Marcia Vaughan, author: The Secret to Freedom | |
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Carole Boston Weatherford "My parents, both educators, inspired my love of reading. They read to me as a child. My parents and my favorite aunt and godmother, Aunt Helen, often gave me books as gifts. I also had two other aunts who were school librarians." –Carole Boston Weatherford, author: Jazz Baby |
QUESTION: Do you have any particular memories of reading during the summer? |
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Linda Jacobs Altman "I do remember summer reading, mostly because of the library reading club. They gave a certificate for reading ten books, and put a gold star on it for each additional ten. One summer, my certificate had so many gold stars that they almost covered my name. The librarian called it my 'galaxy' and explained to me what the word meant." –Linda Jacobs Altman, author: Amelia's Road, The Legend of Freedom Hill and Singing with Momma Lou | |
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George Ancona NEW! "Yes. I did have friends but spent a lot of time alone which gave me the opportunity to lose myself in the pages of a book. My favorite place was the bench in the yard downstairs from our rear house apartment." –George Ancona, author and photographer: Capoeira | |
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Nancy Andrews-Goebel "As far as summer reading goes, as a child I think I read more in the winter when I was 'trapped' indoors. Although I do remember one summer as a young teen reading Gone With the Wind while working on my tan. You can get a really great tan reading that book cover to cover, especially if you are a s-l-o-w reader like me." –Nancy Andrews-Goebel, author, The Pot That Juan Built | |
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Jeannine Atkins "I liked to be away from the TV, phones, brothers and sisters, but the noise of fans or cicadas were just fine. Sometimes I lay on the lawn. The grass got sticky and bugs crawled over my bare legs, but I felt happily far away from most everyone but the people in the book under my hands." –Jeannine Atkins, author, Aani and the Tree Huggers | |
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Linda Boyden "Summer reading was the ultimate because I could pick ALL my titles and not have to be forced to read something a teacher assigned. My favorite memory is reading on the porch after supper, sitting in a green wooden high-back rocking chair, listening to the cicadas, slapping away mosquitoes and knowing I could stay there reading until I saw the fireflies." –Linda Boyden, author, The Blue Roses | |
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Andrea Cheng "I don't think I read more during the summer than at other times. In fact, I think I was bored at school a lot and read half of the school day." –Andrea Cheng, author, Goldfish and Chrysanthemums, Grandfather Counts and Shanghai Messenger | |
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R. Gregory Christie "As a child I drew in the summertime, visited my family in Louisiana and gathered as many visual memories as possible in order to function as an artist that could capture 'the moment' in my artwork. These days I read at night and value the importance of education." –R. Gregory Christie, author, Deshawn Days, Love to Langston, The Palm of My Heart, Richard Wright and the Library Card and Brothers in Hope | |
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Melrose Cooper "My best friend and I went to the library every week and picked out a book together. Then we alternated reading it and became the characters, calling each other by their names and imitating their actions."–Melrose Cooper, author: Gettin' Throught Thursday | |
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Amy Cordova "My grandma's backyard met the backyard of my great Aunt Inie. Where the two properties met, each had planted a large row (about 16 feet in length) of raspberry bushes. There was a three foot space between the two rows of raspberry bushes. As the bushes grew toward one another, they created a leafy arch. I liked to take a blanket, my books, comics and drawing materials and crawl into that narrow leafy space, (my secret hiding place). I had to be careful so I wouldn't get scratched by the berry bush stickers. When I was in about halfway, I would lie down, read, imagine, draw, pick and eat berries... entirely undisturbed." –Amy Cordova, illustrator: The Blue Roses | |
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David Diaz "Reading Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles and imagining how it would be to illustrate it. I actually did a drawing for each chapter. It was pivotal in bringing together my love of drawing and reading." –David Diaz, illustrator, The Pot That Juan Built | |
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Susan Middleton Elya "We spent summer days walking to the libraray, checking out books, then buying a fountain drink at the drugstore on the way home. We'd spread a blanket in the yard and read in the shade. It was a free day, except for the drink (15 cents)." –Susan Middleton Elya, author: HOME AT LAST, Say Hola to Spanish, Say Hola to Spanish Otra Vez (Again!), and Say Hola to Spanish at the Circus | |
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Cathryn Falwell "I volunteered in our town's library in Minnesota one summer when I was about twelve and read a ton of books. I remember deciding I would read books that were different than ones I usually read, and discovered all sorts of wonderful volumes." –Cathryn Falwell, author, Butterflies for Kiri and David's Drawings | |
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Christy Hale "My best friend and I went to Girl Scout camp one summer. We weren't able to go together the next summer, but we had both read My Side of the Mountain....and we decided to make our own camp in an empty lot behind her family home." –Christy Hale, illustrator: Elizabeti's Doll, Mama Elizabeti and Elizabeti's School | |
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Patricia Hubbell "I remember reading in my bedroom, with the summer breeze fluttering the curtains, and me cozy on the bed...I remember sitting on the glider on the porch and reading...and especially I remember reading nature books and magazines in the playhouse in our backyard (which I had turned into a nature museum)." –Patricia Hubbell, illustrator, Black All Around! | |
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Cedric Lucas "I used to (and still do) love to go to museums to read, concentrate, and meditate." –Cedric Lucas, illustrator: Frederick Douglass: The Last Day of Slavery, Night Golf and (contributing artist) America | |
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Trish Marx NEW! "Ummm...memories...reading at camp during rest time, and reading in the back seat of a car for hours on end, until I fell asleep, during our annual drives out west where we often vacationed. A Favorite book read in a car: A Bride Goes West, by Patti Eaton—true story of her move in the 1800s from Virginia to Montana, where she was a young bride. Hey, I sense a theme here in my reading!" –Trish Marx, author: Everglades Forever | |
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Lawrence McKay, Jr. "We used to go to Canada in the summer to a lake. I remember reading, swimming...then reading again, slouched on a chair in the sunlight. Now, when we go to that lake once in a while, I still do the same thing, and my two children are both emulating me." –Lawrence McKay, Jr., author: Journey Home | |
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S. D. Nelson "When I grew older, during the summer of my eighth grade year, I began reading non-picture books with a passion. I read Call It Courage, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, War of the Worlds, and Robinson Crusoe. I was hooked on books; and I loved it! " –S. D. Nelson, illustrator: Crazy Horse's Vision, Jim Thorpe's Bright Path, author and illustrator: Quiet Hero | |
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Alexis O’Neill "In the summer, I loved sitting in a wooden Adirondack chair in the back yard of our house in Wakefield, Massachusetts. I'd sling my legs over one arm of the chair. Behind me, was a wall of lilacs, in front of me, a fluff of pink peonies, beside me, the music of clothespins squeaking onto damp clothes as my mom hung laundry on the line. And in my hands, always a book." –Alexis O’Neill, author, Estela's Swap | |
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L. King Perez "My best reading memory involves a book, any book, read in the crotch of an oak tree during the long yellow days of East Texas summer. I always carried a whistle and a rope up the tree, and when I signaled, my little sister would run out and tie a frozen coke on the rope. It doesn't get better than that. Ever." –L. King Perez, author, First Day in Grapes | |
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Alice Schertle NEW! "I have many. There are memories, shared by almost every child reader, it seems, of reading by flashlight under the blankets when I was supposed to be sleeping. One of my favorite daytime reading spots was up in the branches of a big jacaranda tree in the back yard. I’d nailed a few boards up there and made a tree house. More of a tree floor, really, but an excellent, private place to read interrupted only by the occasional robin or blue jay. The summer I was twelve I read Little Women in that tree house. I loved the book, but couldn’t believe the foolishness of Jo’s decision when it came to accepting a marriage proposal. (That’s as specific as I’ll get to avoid spoiling it for someone who hasn’t read the book, but you who have read it know exactly what I mean.) I read Little Women twice that summer, I think in some irrational way to give Jo a chance to change her mind." –Alice Schertle, author: We | |
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Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen "On a vacation to Yellowstone the summer I turned nine, I read Where the Red Fern Grows. I remember sitting in the back seat and hiding my face in a pillow so no one could see me cry." –Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, author: Elizabeti's Doll, Mama Elizabeti and Elizabeti's School and Babu's Song | |
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Marcia Vaughan "My favorite summer-reading memory is having the big brown canvas tent set up in the yard. My sister and I would sleep in sleeping bags. We'd read by flashlight till the batteries were so run down only one word at time would be illuminated." –Marcia Vaughan, author, The Secret to Freedom | |
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Carole Boston Weatherford "I enjoyed participating in summer reading programs at the public library. I liked the recognition and incentives." –Carole Boston Weatherford, author, Jazz Baby | |
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