Imgur recently did a Book Fair, where users would post their favorite or beloved books. This put me in mind of my own library as a child, many of which I have preserved or re-acquired over time for my own enjoyment (and for my grandchildren, if I can ever get them to visit me.)

Here then, a compendium of some of the books I have cherished since I was small, along with a few that have been added along the way.

In no particular order, because I love them all.

“Maylin cooks delicious meals every day in her father’s restaurant, but it’s her lazy brothers who take all the credit. One day a contest is held to honor the visiting Governor of South China and Maylin’s brothers don’t hesitate to pass off her cooking as their own. But when neither the brothers nor the Governor himself can replicate Maylin’s wonderful dish, they all learn that there’s more to the art of good cooking than just using the right ingredients.” (Description from Amazon) It’s the love that went into it that was missing.

This is an obscure volume, but it’s special to me because I’m included in the dedication. My mother was good friends with Edward Leight, who was a frequent guest in our home and who made the most insane chocolate mousse that I have ever tasted. Rivalled even things I’ve had in Paris.

Another volume by the same authors. I always loved Harriet and Mouse.

This volume is in French, which I began learning at Hunter College Elementary School under the gentle tyranny of Mme. Hopstein of blessed memory. The Babar stories in my library are in English, but the translations are lovely and capture the flavor of the originals.

A morality tale about the dangers of unbridled greed.

One of the ultimate classics. Everyone should have this on their children’s bookshelf.

Henry B. Swap and his “glas wen” – a Welsh term, literally, a “blue smile” – a smile that is insincere or mocking. But even Henry learned an important lesson in this book.

Wallace Tripp is probably one of my favorite illustrators of all time. His draftsmanship is exquisite, and his sense of humor is weird enough to tickle my funny bone in all the right places.

I remember perusing this book and its little side-illustrations for hours. I learned a lot about road construction and the structure of a town from this volume.

Representative of all Dr. Seuss books. This one has some really good lessons in it, but all of them are wonderful. Bartholomew Cubbins, If I Ran the Circus, Mulberry Street, the Lorax… too many to choose a favorite.

Is it a book by Chris Van Allsburg? Then it deserves to be on your shelves. This one is a particular favorite of mine, but Jumanji (of course), The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, and The Polar Express come to mind just as rapidly.

Haul out the tissues. Tomie de Paola has written the most touching stories of humanity (this one), History (Tony’s Bread), and Faith (see the next one, below.) Beautiful illustrations and gentle humor.

One of my long-term favorites. I could easily identify with Robert, the hero of this story, one of those tough pre-schoolers who would never be stopped by a little snow.

Something about poor Wee Gillis, torn between his relatives of the Highlands and the Lowlands, spoke to me as a child… along with bagpipes. Of course, bagpipes. Big ones.

I grew up in New York City, but I loved visiting my country cousins. This little book deserves all the awards it has ever garnered.

I think our kids read every single book by Bill Peet that we could get our hands on from the library. They were entertaining, but also carried important themes. Some weeks we would make two trips, bringing home 20 or so books at a time. Reading time was precious, and as they grew older they would devour books by themselves – either for sheer enjoyment or to win an individual pizza from Pizza Hut with the “Book it!” program.

The gentle stories and poetry of A.A. Milne will always be part of my childhood and my present.

There have been countless editions of this collection of poetry, but the one illustrated by Eulalie Minfred Banks has always been my favorite, perhaps because it’s the one I had as a child.

The Lamplighter

My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;
It’s time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street
Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,
And my papa’s a banker and as rich as he can be;
But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I’m to do,
O Leerie, I’ll go round at night and light the lamps with you
For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,
And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;
And O! before you hurry by with ladder and with light,
O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him tonight!
-Robert Louis Stevenson

This one was discovered later on one of those trips to the library. It’s a charming collection of children’s poetry, with illustrations by numerous artists including Eloise Wilkin and many others.

Something about this story always made me smile. The simple language and the charming illustrations were part of it, but perhaps it made me think of Twee, my Cat from Hell, with affectionate (but terrified) memory.

Ah, the poor little rich girl. Again, a book set in New York, which immediately spoke to me. Even as a child I thought Eloise was an insufferable brat, but the illustrations and stories were captivating enough that I kept coming back for more.

This is youth fiction, but having been fortunate enough to grow up in NYC on my mother’s dime and visiting both MOMA and the Met frequently, I could easily place myself in the shoes of these intrepid young explorers.

“If visions of Claudia and Jamie bathing—and collecting lunch money—in the Met’s Fountain of Muses bring up fond childhood memories of your own, you’re among the legions of readers who grew up loving E.L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. The classic children’s book turns 50 in 2017, and the tale of the Kincaid siblings spending their days wandering about the paintings, sculptures and antiquities, and their nights sleeping in antique beds handcrafted for royalty, is as popular as ever. The 1968 Newbery Medal winner has never been out of print.” – Patrick Sauer, History Correspondent for the Smithsonian Magazine.

No list of favorites would be complete without an entry from Richard Scarry. These books allowed younger children to be able to identify so many things in the world around them, illustrated with sympathetic characters like Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, and Bananas Gorilla. We spent hours with these editions.

On that note, this is taken from a photo of my nursery school class in 1954. Notice the Car and Truck book on the shelf, one of Richard Scarry’s earlier volumes, which I still remember with great fondness.

I had this book as a child, and kept it until it literally crumbled into dust. I was able to score another copy from the Internet, but it, too, is ancient. I have referred to it in another post.

This book is special to me, because – while sadly uncredited, the black-and-white illustrations were done by a great-aunt of mine, Mildred Rogers Dickeman. Here is a post featuring an extract from this book, “Little Orphant Annie.”

This book was written and illustrated by Gelett Burgess in 1900. People may think that the manners extolled in this wonderful book are stilted and out of date, but I maintain that we would have a much more civil society if these were univerally taught and observed.

The entire book is available online at Project Gutenberg for your enjoyment.

I’m tired. I could keep going forever, but this is a good representative sample of children’s books that I have loved, and that I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who has young people around.