Read much? - Stories for my grandchildren

At the Learning Ally studios the other day, I was reading a college text that dealt with media; there were chapters about radio, chapters about TV, chapters about newspapers and magazines, etc. The section I was working with covered books, and how the publishing industry came about, progressing through early papyrus scrolls, the invention of moveable type, the printing press, and mass market printing and global distribution.

Among the early books of note was the series of The Eclectic Readers by George Mcuffey, widely used as textbooks in American schools from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century (and still used today in some private schools and in homeschooling). May I point out that the McGuffey Readers were not in use when I went to school, but I do remember the readers written by William S. Gray and Zerna Sharp, featuring Dick, Jane, Sally and Spot. Published from the 1930s through to the 1970s, this series was widely used to teach children to read in the United States.

I think, however, that I learned to read from the comics in the daily newspaper. I remember clearly my mother reading the comics to me, and at some point I began working out the meaning myself. Strips like Hatlo's Inferno and Ripley's Believe it or Not! are part of my earliest reading memories.

At some point, I switched to encyclopedias. In later elementary grades and at least through Junior high there were encyclopedias in the class room, and I read them, from Aardvark to Zuzim. We even had a set at home. The small end table now by my recliner originally held a set of encyclopedias in the lower, V shaped shelf. I'm guessing that the table came with the books - a successful sale by some door-to-door salesman who convinced my parents that the proper education of their children depended on readily-available reference books. It worked for me. I read them all.

I became a good customer of the public library at an early age. At that time, the library was in the YMCA building, sharing space with the indoor pool and the gymnasium (later better known to me and my peers as the Teen Canteen location). The librarian, Pansy Pace, patiently guided me through all of the Bobbsey Twins, Hardy Boys, biographies and suitable fiction for years. Mrs. Pace, a life-long resident of Breckenridge, served as the librarian for 48 years!

I'm still reading. Barb and I both are voracious readers; I just took inventory, and there are 15 library books stacked up, waiting to be read or waiting to go back to the library, including 2 on the Kindle. I got an App to help me keep up with titles that I have read and it says that I have added 552 books since installing the App in January, 2011. That works out to an astonishing 25 books a month! Barb keeps her "Read List" in journals; she's currently on her 5th volume. And did I mention magazines?

I would write more, but there's a new John Sandford book Barb just brought home from the library, and if I act now I can get started on it before she does.