Summer ReadingWhen 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. 
(from left to right: Lee Bennett Hopkins, Ching Yeung Russell, JaeMe Bereal, Craig Orback, Doug Chayka, Laura E. Williams, Chris Soentpiet, Ann Malaspina, and Alan Schroeder.) What were some of your favorite books as a child? Lee Bennett Hopkins: Coming from a very poor background, I did not read much as a child. My reading diet consisted of comic books and MAD magazine, which I devoured. When I did come to reading, it was Louisa May Alcott's Little Women that I was engrossed in. Later it was Broadway plays in book form. I found them so easy to read and went through dozens. JaeMe Bereal: I have to say that I really was a sci-fi freak in school. Any thing that was fantasy, sci-fi, or like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Anything by Theodore Sturgeon in Science Fiction. I even read a whole children's section of my local public library. Some of my favorites were anything by Andre Norton or Ray Bradbury. I still like these authors and re-read their stuff when I can. Craig Orback: My memory as a small child is a little fuzzy but one later book I remember vividly was a compilation of popular stories called The Golden Treasury of Children's Literature. It had classic stories like "Hansel and Gretel" and "The Wizard of Oz" and was filled with stunning illustrations by different great illustrators from the past. It was so engrossing and inspiring to someone who liked to doodle as a kid. Also an aunt who was a librarian gave me the Little House on the Prairie series and I really enjoyed those and the illustrations by Garth Williams. To this day those pencil drawings are burned in my brain from studying them so much as a kid. Two other books I remember well and still have are Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe, both illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, who soon became my favorite illustrator. Honestly, with those two books, until I was older I was mostly enjoying the illustrations only! Thanks to my grandma for giving me those books. Doug Chayka: Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends stands out in my memory as a book that I always read and looked at over and over. I also loved Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Where the Wild Things Are. Later on, I discovered N.C. Wyeth's pictures and read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and Jekyll and Hyde. Wyeth's illustrated books remain some of my favorite of all; you could take away all the words and still read the stories and feel the characters in his dramatic, powerful paintings. Laura E. Williams: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton was my favorite book when I was a kid. I loved the rebel Ponyboy who also had a poetic soul. I even memorized the Robert Frost poem that is in the book, and I know it to this day! "Nature's first green is gold . . . ." Chris Soentpiet: When I was a kid I loved The Little Engine That Could. The motto in the book, "I think I can, I think I can" reminds me that I should never give up on my dreams. Most books I enjoy dispense life lessons and a sprinkle of inspiration. Ann Malaspina: When I was growing up, I loved to read, but not lots of different books. I read the same books over and over again. I still have some of those worn-out books in my bookcase--Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, Shoo-Fly Girl by Lois Lenski, The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry, and at least eight novels by Madeleine L’Engle. One of my favorite picture books was the beautifully illustrated Happy Times in Czechoslovakia by Libushka Bartusek and the artist Yarka Bures, with a foreword by Eleanor Roosevelt. The story is about a year in the life of Marushka, a village girl. I remember how much I wanted to live in such a pretty village, sleep under colorful quilts, ride on a white horse, and wear a red flowered scarf like Marushka's. Alan Schroeder: I enjoyed reading Dr. Seuss, especially Green Eggs and Ham, but even more I enjoyed the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Even though Andersen's style was conversational, the stories felt very grown-up to me. They were filled with moments of drama, of sadness, of melancholy, that I didn't often find in other children's books. I guess you could say they broadened my emotional world. My grandfather was Danish, and the pride that he felt when reading Andersen's stories to me was very evident. To this day, Andersen's imagination continues to astonish me. Did you enjoy reading as a child? If so, what about reading gave you pleasure? Ching Yeung Russell: Since, in our small town, we didn't have a public library and school was closed during the summer, the only way we got access to books was if someone was rich enough to rent one, with illustrations on each page, for two days from the small book stand. If you kept it over two days there would be a fine. So all my cousins and friends would drop everything and hang around the person who had a book to read it over his shoulder. Sometimes this would cause quarrels, because one kid would accuse another of taking the place he wanted around the reader. The book renter was always very nice. After he finished reading it, he would let others read it. Of course, his good buddy would usually get first choice. This also created some problems, because everybody tried to claim that he was the renter's good buddy. The Monkey King has so many stories that they were published as a series. One person couldn't rent all of them due to having limited snack money, so other kids would take turns renting the books and sharing. The whole summer was busy with reading that kind of illustrated books and ignoring assigned summer homework. Before the end of school, each teacher would assign reading, math, and calligraphy to students, so they could do it every day and not forget what they had just learned. In the States, you usually have summer holiday to just enjoy. It wasn't like that in China when I was growing up. Since we didn't need to go to school, we had a lot of spare time. (No family would go out of town for a summer vacation, like families in the States do.) That's why we couldn't play all the time, but had to do homework! Everybody ignored the schoolwork most of the summer, and read the illustrated books, until a few days before the new semester started. Then all of us would stay up late to do the homework at the last minute, because we had to turn it in on the first day of school day on September 1! Craig Orback: I did enjoy reading. When not running around in the fields near our house I tended to stay indoors a lot, reading, doing art and making crafts. Anything that stirred the imagination. Reading played a big part in that. Like most children I had an active internal life. Reading and also movies really fed my desire to experience other times and places, or fantasy worlds, and imagine someone else's life. It was an escape from everyday life and very satisfying when I finished a big book! Laura E. Williams: For me, reading was a wonderful escape from some tough childhood years. It was a much needed escape into other worlds and times, into the lives of characters who struggled but triumphed in the end. To this day I prefer "happy" endings. I also read comic books voraciously. My grandparents would send us care packages of my mom's old comics like Donald Duck and Little Lulu. I still have those comics, and some of them are worth a lot more than the original ten-cent price! Chris Soentpiet: I loved reading as a child because it took me to places I’ve never been. I didn’t have a lot of books at home, so I would go to my public library and I’d get lost in the Cat in the Hat series because it was cheerful and fun. Also, when I was young, I read the Bible every day because my family was Mormon. Ann Malaspina: I've always had the travel bug, and reading books has been a great way to travel to faraway places when I'm not able to get on a boat or plane. Even when I'm traveling, I like to read! When I was a girl, I visited my grandfather in Greece during several summers. I remember swimming in the Aegean Sea and climbing around the Acropolis, but I also remember the books my mother found at British bookstores in Athens, such as the small hardback Ant and Bee books, which I loved. For always providing me with summer reading, thanks Mom! ♦ Author and Illustrator Related Links Edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Chris Soentpiet: Amazing Faces  BookTalk on Amazing FacesWritten by Ching Yeung Russell: Tofu Quilt Written by Alan Schroeder and illustrated by JaeMe Bereal: In Her Hands: The Story of Sculptor Augusta Savage Written by Laura E. Williams and illustrated by Craig Orback: The Can Man BookTalk on The Can Man Written by Ann Malaspina and illustrated by Doug Chayka: Yasmin's Hammer More Summer Reading Memories
|
Want to know more about us or have specific questions regarding BookTalk?
Please write us!
general@leeandlow.com
 |
Tell a Friend about this page |
Homeschool — Editor's Desk — BookTalk — New Voices Award — Calendar — Event Tips — Locate an Author — Skype Visits
Activities — Desktop Backgrounds — Book Giveaway Contest — Blog
Our History — Kudos! — In the Press — Awards & Honors — Sitemap — How to Reach Us
Ordering — Request Catalog — Get E-News! — Careers at LEE & LOW — My Orders — My Account
Become a Fan 
— 
Follow Us Lee & Low Books is an independent children's book publisher that focuses on diversity. Peruse our site for books for school, school library, homeschooling, minority and Spanish children's books, free teacher reading resources for children, and more!
