Books and my misspent childhood summers

I want something good to read. I need to go to the library. The local library system is not exactly impressive, but there's just no way I can afford to satisfy my fiction cravings without a library, so there's no helping it. If only they at least had a parking lot.

One wonderful, glorious summer when I was 11 I would walk to the library almost every day. We had a branch library a few blocks from our house, in a little shopping area. I could check out as many books as I could carry, so I'd spend hours in there, reading, and then check out a big pile of books to take home with me. I'd be back as soon as I finished the books. One day I managed to read 6 books which was very exciting, because it meant I could go back the next day and get more!

Not surprisingly, that was the summer Mom and Dad started nagging at me to stop reading so much.

That branch library was pretty good. They had what I think was a complete set of the Oz books (didn't know there were dozens of them, didja? But not all by Baum.) I met the Moomins that summer, too. One of my favorite books was The Men from P.I.G. and R.O.B.O.T. by Harry Harrison. (A wonderfully funny book.) (That was the first time I ran into him. Years later, when I was a teenager, I picked up a copy of The Stainless Steel Rat, another wonderful book. I didn't realize it was the same guy, though, since I didn't notice author names too much in grade school.)

The girls love going to the library, and love being read to. I just need to find a way to help them understand the importance of being quiet. Our old library was pretty casual about children and noise, but this place is utterly uptight and straitlaced. I haven't been in a library this quiet since I was a little girl in the big downtown library with Mommy, back when libraries were still expected to be tomblike.

A couple of good books we've checked out for them lately that I can recommend:

When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really Angry... (It's a Caldecott book. Of course it's wonderful!) A good way for the preschooler to explore ways of handling anger, I think. She certainly is enjoying it, that's for sure.

Am I Beautiful? I like this because it talks about how the people who love you see you as beautiful.

We need to go find some more, though, hopefully today. I'd like something to tide us all over the long weekend. The husband is going to be working, so we won't be celebrating until later in the week.