As an author, I am eager to promote reading. Sharing a book with a child is one of the best ways to do that. Start when they are very young.
I was reminded of children’s books this week because March 2 is the birth date of Theodor Seuss Geisel, Dr. Seuss. His books have entertained my daughters and my granddaughters. The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, which is written in prose rather than verse, was a book that I read as a child, but most of the Dr. Seuss books I know are ones that I read to my children.
I took this photo of two books that I’ve had since I was a kid and were a big part of my childhood reading. The blue book is Old Bones the Wonder Horse by Mildred Mastin Pace. This book was the first book I remember my mother reading to me and my brothers at bedtime. We got to hear a chapter every night. The light orange book is No Children No Pets by Marion Holland. This book is the first book I remember reading myself as a second grader. Although I didn’t know all the words, I was able to figure them out by the context. These books helped form my love of reading and later my urge to write my own stories.
I am sad to learn that reading has declined in the United States. You can read some statistics in this article. I hope we can work to reverse this trend.
I have several of my older Love Inspired books to give away to those who leave a comment. You can see the list of my books here.
What is your favorite childhood book? What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book?
Merrillee Whren is an award-winning author who writes inspirational romance. She is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award for best inspirational romance manuscript presented by Romance Writers of America. She has also been the recipient of the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award and the Maggie Award for Excellence. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of thirty plus years, and has two grown daughters. She has lived in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Florida but now makes her home in the Arizona desert. When she’s not writing, she spends her free time playing tennis or walking while she does the plotting for her novels.
I was home educated growing up and one curriculum my mom used was Five in a Row. I really enjoyed reading all the different stories and learning about the different writing and illustration styles used in the books. My mom also used to read me a lot of Tomie dePaola’s books when I was young and I really liked them also. I didn’t gain an appreciation for Dr. Seuss books until I started reading them to others once I grew up.
Hi Merrillee, My favorite series growing up was The Black Stallion series by Walter Farley. My dad use to read the Mother West Wind stories to us when my siblings and I were little. They were kind of boring but interesting because the stories were told by and about the animals of the wild. Jenny
Hi Merillee! One of my favorite children’s books to read growing up was The Swiss Family Robinson. I loved the adventurous tale and creativeness if the Eobinson family. My favorite Dr. Seuss books were Put Me in the Zoo and Oh Say Can You Say?
The books I read as a child are still such beloved memories! My husband found a copy of The Mummy Market for me for Christmas last year (it’s been out of print for ages) and it was so delightful to spend time in its pages again. We read a lot of Dr. Seuss to the kids now, and while I loved Bartholomew myself (and my older boy does, now that he’s older) I think the current favorite is The Sleep Book. :)
What a fun post, Merillee!
Hello Merrillee! Thanks for the fun post. My parents were avid readers. I am grateful that they imparted the love of reading. :) I remember reading my Dad’s Louis L’Amour books.
I have loved to read for as long as I can remember! It’s something I do every day and hate to hear that is has declined in the US. I always enjoyed the Little House books and my children love them now as well. One of our favorite Dr. Seuss books is I Can Read with My Eyes Shut.
texaggs2000 at gmail dot com
Jessica, thanks for stopping by the blog. I haven’t heard of the Tomie dePaola’s books. I’ll have to check them out for my granddaughters. They love books.
Jennifer, I also read the Black Stallion. I loved that book. They made a movie of it back in the early 80’s. It was the first movie I took my older daughter to see.
Sarah, thanks for sharing your favorite books. I also enjoyed Swiss Family Robinson.
Thanks, Elizabeth. I haven’t heard of the Mummy Market. I looked it up on Amazon, and the hardcover is selling on the secondary market for over $200. Wow! I was so happy to keep those books from my childhood through a lot of moves where I got rid of hundreds of books. So glad the book brought back wonderful memories for you.
Caryl, I haven’t read any Louis L’Amour books. I should give them a try. It’s nice to have parents who read. I know my mother was a big influence on my reading.
Britney, I know what you mean about loving to read every day. I don’t get to read as much as I used to because I spend my time writing, but I treasure free time where I can read. I see people on airplanes just sitting there and think. why don’t you read a book? Thanks for sharing your favorite Dr. Seuss books.
On of my favorite children’s series growing up was the Trixie Beldon mysteries. I so wish I had kept them. I think my favorite Dr. Seuss book was Green Eggs and Ham. I still find myself from time to time quoting parts of it.
Angie, I’ve heard others mention the Trixie Beldon mysteries, but I haven’t read those myself. I also love Green Eggs and Ham. :)
I have loved to read for as long as I can remember! It is something I do every day and hate to hear that it is declining in the US. I always enjoyed the Little House books and my children enjoy them now as well. One of our favorite Dr. Seuss books is I Can Read With My Eyes Shut.
texaggs2000 at gmail dot com
I haven’t read much of Dr. Seuss books. Though in the last years I saw some of the movies based on his books. I especially loved The Lorax and Horton Hears a Who ;)
As for my favorite childhood read, well I’ll have to go with my father’s books. My dad wrote a series of children books and wasn’t able to get them published. But when we were kids, my sister and I each had a set that my dad had printed at home. He was the illustrator as well as the author so it was really fun. We read his books more than we read any other books as kids.
Today, my father is able to sell his books through Amazon. He is self-published and his books don’t always sell as much as he’d like, but still I am very proud of him :)
Samantha, how cool that your dad wrote books that you loved to read. Isn’t it wonderful that authors can put up their own books these day?
That’s for sure! :D I’m very happy for him. Now with the Internet he is able to reach a lot more readers and make his books known! :)
Samantha, what is your father’s name so we can look for his books on Amazon?
I loved reading as a child (still do!). I had many favorites as a child. Little Women and Island of the Blue Dolphins stand out right now. I have read Dr. Seuss many times to my kids. I like the Foot Book.
The books I remember are the Nancy Drew series. I am sure there are others I can not name but remember due to going down in the basement of my grandparents house that had a coal furnace and getting one.
Becky, I also have copies of Little Women and Island of the Blue Dolphins. Thanks for your comment.
Misty, thanks for stopping by. I have some Nancy Drew books that my daughters read and also Hardy Boy books.
My favorite book as a kid was “Charlotte’s Web”…I’m sure I wore out my copy reading it so much! I love it so much that when I took drawing class in High School, I drew Wilber in my sketchbook. It came out pretty good, wished I still had that book too!
My favorite Dr. Suess book was probably “Green Eggs & Ham”…but I like them all! I’d read “Red Fish, Blue Fish” to my kids when they were little & my son especially liked it. Now my son is a avid reader where my daughter, not so much! My son also likes the Nancy Drew & Hardy boy books & anything similar to them. Good memories! Thanks for the post today Merrillee, enjoyed reading all the comments about the different books people have read :-)
Trixi, thanks for stopping by. I loved Charlotte’s Web and Green Eggs and Ham, too. It’s fun to take a trip down memory lane, especially when it comes to reading.
That baby is so cute. My mom sat the family down when I was small and read books to us, a chapter per night. She didn’t do it for long, but we loved it. I still remember the title. it was based on a true story by a missionary. “Bread For The Hungry.” And Mom could put the right inflections, change her voice for each character. This is where my interest in reading began.
I’d love to read one of your books. Count me in. Christian Romance. I love it all, but historical is my favorite. My email is landtbeth at yahoo dot com
My favorite books as a kid were the Little House books, Baby-Sitter’s Club books, Mandie series, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Boxcar Children. I like all of Dr. Seuss’s books, but especially The Cat in the Hat.
Blessings,
Andrea
Judy Blume was one of my favorite authors when I was going. I enjoyed all her books but I loved Tiger Eyes. Charlottes Web was a favorite also.
My favorite Dr Suess book was Green Eggs and Ham.
I used to love to read Grace Livingston Hill books as a teen:). My favorite Dr. Seuss book to read to my little ones was One Fish Two fish…they absolutely loved it and I think they could probably say most of it by memory today still:)
Tonja, thanks for the comment. It seems that Green Eggs and Ham was a favorite with several commenters.
Becky, I remember seeing dozens of Grace Livingston Hill books at the Christian bookstore. My daughter had one of the Dr. Seuss books memorized from reading to her daughter. It was the ABC book. I don’t remember the actual title.
Becky, my reply to you wound up under someone else’s comment. I don’t know why. ????
Andrea, you have a lot of favorite books. I never knew about the Little House books until I was an adult, teaching elementary school. I always wondered why no teachers mentioned them when I was in school in South Dakota, just miles from where one of the Little House books was set. I also loved the Boxcar Children.
Laurean, the baby is my older granddaughter when she was not quite a year old. I love that picture of her with the book. She is in kindergarten now and just learning to read. I can hardly wait until she is old enough to read my collection of kids books.
My favorite books growing up was “Charlotte’s Web” and the entire “Little House” Series. My favorite Dr. Seuss book was Horton Hears a Who. However, I use a lot of Dr. Seuss books in my middle school teaching and my favorite now is “The Butter Battle Book”. I’m with you Merrillee. I do everything in my power to create a love of reading in children. My daughter struggled with reading. All these years later she shares her favorite books with her children. When she first got pregnant she sat with a book on her belly reading to her unborn child. It must have worked because my grand-daughter announced at Thanksgiving that she is a book addict like me. We reach kids one book at a time.
Hi Becky,
please go check out his books :) His name is Francois Bissonnette.
His last book Stories for Children 6 is free right now on Amazon :D
If you’d like to leave a review with your thoughts, I know he’d appreciate it!
His original series (the books I read when I was a child) is his Zirons Collection ;)
I hope you like them!
My favorite Dr. Seuss book is Green Eggs And Ham. Some of my favorite children’s series were The Bobbsey Twins and The Boxcar Children. When I was a teenager my mother passed down her Grace Livingston Hill hardbound books to me. Sad to say I no longer have the books but I sure did enjoy them. That was my introduction to inspirational romance books.
Nancy, thanks for your comment. So many folks have enjoyed Green Eggs and Ham, and Grace Livingston Hill introduced a lot of readers to inspirational romance.
skstiles, thanks for your comments and your dedication to helping children read. That is definitely a first step in increasing readers. It is so fun to see our children sharing books with their children.
For those who left a comment, if you would like one of my books, please go to my website http://www.merrilleewhren.com and use the contact button to let me know which book you would like. They are all available except The Heart’s Homecoming and A Place to Call Home. This will be on a first come first served basis. Thanks for your participation.
I sent you an email through your website contact form Merrillee, but now I see your comment disappeared :O
Never mind, my computer must be playing tricks on me!!! -_-
A lot of favorite books and favorite authors. That list is only growing the more I read. But then, I guess I wouldn’t be a book addict if it didn’t. :)
Hi Merrillee, The Cat in the Hat was my favourite Dr. Seuss book, and I loved UK author Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree book series. :)
Narelle, Cat in the Hat is one of my favorites, too.
Hi Merilee! My favorite book as a child was The Secret Garden. I still love it. I also read every Walter Farley book out there. My favorite Dr. Seuss? Wow. Ask which of my kids I like beat. I love reading Green Eggs and Ham to my granddaughter who practically has it memorized now.
Pam, The Secret Garden was a book that my students used to read. Yes, with Dr. Seuss books it is hard to pick just one.
Pam, if you’re interested in a book, please email me and let me know which one you’re interested in. You can read excerpts on my website. You can choose from all except, The Heart’s Homecoming, An Unexpected Blessing, and A Place to Call Home. I have copies of the others to give away.
Merrillee, I was curious if you got my message via “contact me” for the book I was interested in? I didn’t see a reply in my email so I’m afraid it didn’t go though. Please let me know if it did. I had sent it out the day you had put your website address on here. Thanks!