Young Reading

When I was a child, words could get me into a heap of trouble -- usually for talking. But the written word had immense power over me as well. My parents were at wit's end. Chores went undone. My piano went unpracticed. Homework was completed at the last minute. They lectured. They grounded. I could read in my room. They took away privileges. No problem, I found a book to occupy my time. They finally -- gasp -- spanked. Didn't bother me -- over and out to play or read while perched in my favorite ancient dogwood tree.

I carried a box of books around under one arm. My grandmother worked as a bookkeeper for a publishing company, and boxes of discarded books accompanied her with every visit. As I neared the end of one book, I'd grab the box to carry so a replacement read was handily available. Finally, my parents began confiscating my "security" box until chores, homework and piano were completed. Reading came after my to-do list was finished.

Years later I have discovered my dream job. Books still arrive in cardboard boxes, sometimes 30 a day. I wade through them to find literature that resonates for readers from infants to 18. My parents take great pleasure in that I still carry boxes of books to read, that laundry comes after "the next chapter," and that now I have children who would rather read before finishing chores or homework.

So rather than dreading my 40th birthday arriving next week, I am sharing with you dear favorites, old friends these books are, that have come around again, that make me happy I was able to enjoy them when young and reread them as I become ... not so young. Enjoy them and may they keep you as chore-free as they once did me! And for a special birthday treat, e-mail me your favorite childhood book!

MAD LIBS COLLECTOR'S EDITION: The Original 5 Mad Libs. Penguin. $12.99. All ages.

I'm not the only one with a little age on me. Mad Libs turned 50 years old this year! Mad Libs, those fill-in-the-word games without knowing the text, filled up many a sleepover and rainy afternoon with friends. This set includes the original version from 1958, Son of Mad Libs (1959), Sooper Mad Libs (1962), Monster Mad Libs (1965) and Mad Libs #5 from the greatest year ever: 1968! Each year Mad Libs finds a new audience to entertain. These make great gifts to slip in suitcases for camp.

THE GIANT JAM SANDWICH. By John Vernon Lord. Houghton Mifflin. Ages 3-8. $13.95.

First published in 1972, this has been re-released as a "read-along favorite" by Houghton Mifflin with a CD accompanying the book. Immediately I was transported back to carrying this picture book everywhere, reading about how the residents of Itching Down would rid their town of 4 million pesky wasps. I loved the huge jam sandwich they created, especially the page where six helicopters (one of which looked like a flying tractor) drop the slice of bread to trap the wasps.

THE SATURDAYS. By Elizabeth Enright. Square Fish. Ages 9-12. 192 pages. $6.99.

After I first read The Saturdays, I was so enamored with the Melendy children's Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club (ISAAC) that I persuaded my sisters to form the BAM (Blair-Ashley-Monica) Club with me. About the same time, my father, who was in graduate school at Colorado State University and up to his gills in studying, carved out time each Saturday morning devoted solely to one of us. So The Saturdays (first published in 1947 and again in 1969) connected with me.

I loved reading about the adventures that Mona, Rush, Randy and Oliver could pursue by putting their allowances together. Their life in New York seemed so glamorous and foreign to me, as strange as moving to Colorado from Arkansas and then to Alabama when my father finished school. Their brownstone sounded so different from my large yard and two-story house. Good literature transports a reader while still providing a correlation. That is what The Saturdays did for me, and I was so glad to see it republished this year with a modern cover for its timeless appeal.

ANIMAL STORIES: A Classic Illustrated Edition. Chronicle. All ages. 160 pages. $19.99.

When my children were born, I pulled out my childhood creamy, pebbly covered anthology of classic tales from Aesop, Mother Goose, poets and authors. Short stories, poems and ditties entertained my daughters as much as they once did me. This edition includes an excerpt of the fabulous Wind in the Willows, along with part of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. An anthology such as this, so vibrant and beautiful, makes introducing young readers to the classics a true joy.

NARNIA CHRONOLOGY: From the Archives of the Last King. An Interactive Timeline based on the books by C.S. Lewis. HarperCollins. Ages 6 and up. $19.99.

My college-age Sunday-school teachers (a wee bit hippie -- they made their own granola), decided to do something different with my third-grade class. At the beginning of the school year, they started reading The Chronicles of Narnia to us. Each Sunday we would press to arrive on time because they gave a dramatic reading that enslaved us to the story. The Christian allegory was discussed, but honestly, that aspect escaped me until I was older. But, oh, the story! The delicious idea of disappearing into a wardrobe and emerging into another land!

Narnia is back, thanks to the film adaptations of the books. But I'm prone to declare that movies never equal the thrill of the read. Enjoy the books out loud at your house and then follow up with this oversize pop-up, lift-the-flap, interactive beauty that chronicles 50 years on Earth and 2,500 years in Narnia. A gorgeous collector's item for the true Narnia fan.

■ Monica Young can be reached at cyoung9@triad.rr.com.