When I was small my parents subscribed to the Dr Seuss series of books so we got one a month, I think, and also got Highlights children's magazine. We also had a set of Encyclopaedia Britannica in the living room.

I learned to read by the time I was about 4 as I started grade 1 at 5 and was already reading well. A lot of my reading was done upside down as I read the paper at the table opposite my mother. I can still read and write upside down or in mirror writing as I guess that early learning taught me how to reorient the letters in my head :-)

I remember getting "Black Beauty" and "The Prince and the Pauper" as gifts when I was about 6 and my grandma fixing "Black Beauty" because I read it so much it fell apart :-) I also remember borrowing my older cousins' Nancy Drew mysteries, could never understand why Nancy needed Ned as an "escort" :-D I can't have been more than 8 because we left and moved to Australia then.

I don't recall my Dad reading at all or my mother reading anything but the paper until I was a teenager. I guess she must have read books when I was younger, I just don't remember seeing her reading them.

When we got to Perth we joined the library which was next to the shopping centre where we did our weekly grocery shopping so we'd go to the library while Mom shopped. I'd have my first book almost finished by dinner that night with Mom yelling "We're not going back to the library till next week you know!"

I read hundreds of books from the school libraries as well. Still frequent the library and buy books too. At school we had to write down the books we had read on a file card the teacher kept in a box on her desk. I only wrote down the ones I thought she would approve of (not the trashy ones :-) ) and still would cover 4-5 file cards in a term. I read fast.

When I married DH (who I met through a book club) and we joined our book collections we had lots of duplicates. Our tastes are still fairly similar and we share books a lot.

About 12 years ago we thought we'd move so I started culling our books and getting rid of anything we wouldn't read again. We had about 3,000 all through the house. Got rid of hundreds, didn't move after all and now we're back up to the original number and past that now. We don't drink or smoke so that's where our discretionary income goes. :-)

We brought up DD with books and she could read at 4. Interestingly her tastes are somewhat different from DH's and mine, not sure how that happened but we're glad she reads, as does her fiance.

We had a set of faux leather Hans Christian Anderson fairytales and another set of "classics", Tale of Two Cities, etc. Not sure where they came from. I know my mom couldn't have afforded them, raising three children on her own. Those books were my refuge, and I lived to lose myself in those books.
When I was in first grade, I filled out a little tiny order form for a set of Brittanica encyclopedias and sent it in. A salesman showed up at the front door. LOL
Mom, bless her heart, signed up to buy that whole set (very expensive, for us, in those days) ONE book at a time, until we had a whole set. Pretty sure I read the whole set, from A to Z, over and over again, until I left home. I could get lost in those pages, and pictures.
Oddly, I haven't picked up a book in years. I lose my train of thought very quickly and have to go back and re-read. Maybe because I write, and proofread, and re-write legal documents all day.

Yes lots of books. My oldest sister was constantly reading. We all enjoyed reading. We lived out in the country so we had the book mobile from the library that would make the rounds to us. We had a limited selection. We could submit a request to the book mobile lady for a specific book but you may have to wait months to get it if ever. It was a great treat to actually go to the library. We also had a library in the church so we had access to it every week. I am pretty sure my sister read every book in there.
We were often reading to each other. It was one of our main forms of entertainment. When my aunt and uncle came to visit she would bring us piles of her magazines and books. We loved it when they showed up, it was like Christmas.
I loved Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys series.
I still really enjoy reading a good book. One of the reasons I love my tablets.
My husband is a voracious reader. His parents were teachers and he would read all of the text books before he was old enough to be in school. He is still an extremely fast reader.

My mom wasn't a book reader -- our daily and weekly newspapers, yes. My dad was more a newspaper and magazine reader, paperbacks every once in a while. There were a few shelves of books in the house I grew up in, but those came from my older sisters -- lots of Scholastic-type books (from school book fairs, if I recall correctly), the Nancy Drew series, and I think there were some Hardy Boys books.

Those eventually were passed down to my nephews and nieces.

But my father and I were big-time library users. The main library was about a 20-minute walk away, and I recall so clearly the times we walked there together (as opposed to stopping there after driving around doing errands).

I don't recall my parents reading to me, but I generally have very few memories of my early years. Evidently, my mind's Tivo had a recording delay of, oh, 10 years!

We had the daily newspaper and a couple of magazines. One being Better Home and Gardens. We did have a book case and for the life of me I can not remember one book that was in that book case. I did enjoy going to the library in my elementary school and the public library as I got older. One of my favorite books was black beauty. The Nancy Drew series also. I did read to my children and we had tons of books. They are boys and not readers. Me I have tons of books. I love to read. I have lots of magazines that I subscribe too. I do enjoy getting lost in my books.
Mary

Not many books, just a very few. I remember magazines mostly. I don't remember ever not being able to read though. It just seems as if reading was very natural to me...math, not so much...HAHA!

Yes, books were in abundance in my childhood home. Mom and Dad were both readers. There was 2 large bookcases filled and boxes and boxes of books in the attic. Mom belonged to a book of the month club and enrolled me in one when I was about 8. The bookcases held many books from the early 1900's. And there were many of the series books like The Bobsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Maida's Little etc. When Mom died in 2002, those books were still there. I don't know what happened to them when the man who lived in the house died and it was all sold at auction.

Reading is still a big part of my everyday, but I rarely read fiction. between my husband and I, 7 monthly magazine subscriptions come into the house and we very often buy from a bargin books catalog that come in the mail. Mostly we read them and pass them on as this house has no room to keep them all.

I grew up in the country, there was no library ever. We only had some coloring books. At some point after I started to school a classmate gave me a book and I still have it. I would read and read while at school in grade school. I don't think we were allowed to take those books home. Later starting in seventh grade we had a library in the school and those books we could take home and I took all I could read home. I love reading and have a lot of books now of my own. I am still friends with the girl that gave me the book, we rode the same bus, and went to school together for 12 years and graduated together. We have the same birthday.

Sue

Oh yes! Dr Seuss, Bobbsey Twins, Hardy Boys and of course Nancy Drew. I used to take a new Nancy Drew book and read it for hours under the lilac tree on a sunny summer day. It is a wonderful childhood memory of mine and to this day the smell of lilacs is a favorite and fills me with inner peace.

I love books, and always have as a kid. The very first library that I remember was a mobile library......a bus that was loaded with books.

I was always curled up in a corner reading a book, or just playing with paper. I would organize a binder and doodle for hours.

I loved the library, and loved having my own books. The whole Hardy Boys series, not many Nancy Drew.
I love mysteries, still.

Yes! and my daughters did too.

I read all the readers digest condensed books and of course, the readers digest before I purchased my own books. I read a lot to my kids. We lived 5 miles from the library (we were outside of town) and I got the kids their own library cards early, cause that way we could take more books home. :) Both my girls are ferocious readers.

The heaviest boxes during my moves over time; were book boxes. :)

We all have library cards, including now my grand kids. My grand kids are 3 and 4, and their favorite line is: read a book!
Which means, as soon as a grand parent comes to visit... or when daddy comes home from work we sit and read to them. ;)

Moni

This post was edited by OklaMoni on Fri, Feb 7, 14 at 9:14

Mounds and mounds. From Little Golden books (loved, loved, loved Tawny Scrawny Lion) to reference and loads of other books. My dad, brother, and son will read entire novels in one sitting. That, I can't do. I have to limit myself to just one chapter per night so I don't ignore the world around me, but even if i didn't, I couldnt' read cover to cover all at once. My brother's current day house is so covered in books, he practially has nowhere to sit and so, I introduced him to e-readers to reclaim it. I always have liked to read dictionaries and encyclopedias. I thought I was weird, but I have found so many people that also read those, it's not all that weird. We also went to our local and school libraries. I read to my son every night from the time he was born until he could read them to me. And even after that some days. He's 14 and still loves when I read to him, reminding him of his childhood books. He was reading Asimov at 10 years old. I thought it would be above him, but turns out, he loves sci-fi.

My mothers first child wasn't leaning to talk. The pediatrician told her to talk to him, she said "and say what?"....he said, "read him books." OH! That was ALL she ever did with us. My brother read our encyclopedia, so mom purchased a second set(door to door salesman sold it to her), thinking when we grew up we would each want a set.

At the grocery store check out end cap, they had little golden books for .25 cents she would buy.

I was a 3rd child. She subscribed to buy a book a month clubs. We had Dr. Seus and classics like "The Jungle Book".

My mother on the other hand, never read for fun, for herself.

I have early memories of my mother reading to me. There were always books in our home. Some we owned, some were library-loaned. I still like books.

My parents and grandparents were avid readers, as I and my siblings are.
There always was a stack of new books under the Christmas tree for each of the four of us.
We lived just a couple of blocks from the library, and I can remember being upset that I had to be in second grade to get a card. But, when I got that card, I became a more voracious reader, and still am.
I hung out there, and helped the librarians., and worked there in HS - sitting st the desk checking books in and out.
I learned the Dewey decimal system putting returned books back on shelves in the adult section of the library.

I still love to read.

We always had books in our house and regular visits to the public library. My mother and grandfather passed on their love of reading to me. I used to read several books per week, but these days, I'm lucky if I finish one per week. I don't know if I read less because of my worsening eyesight, eye fatigue from using an e-reader, competition from other forms of entertainment or some other reason.

I have a huge library of novels that I'm ready to dispose of. I used to re-visit favorite parts of books, but other than the books from a few favorite authors, I haven't done that in a long time. I guess I'll just throw the books away. The library doesn't want them and the volume is too great for me to be able to sell them efficiently. So sad.

Oh Fun2, I hate the thought of throwing books away. What about a retirement home, or a VA hospital, or even donating some to the jail - got to be someplace for them.
Too bad your library doesn't have a resale shop for them.

I was born in 1936, and we never had books in our house, so it was only when I started school that I learned about the public library, which was within walking distance of my school, so that's where I went every day.

My (much) older brother was a reader, and he finally found out I was reading his books (mostly non-fiction adventures) when I complained that he took them back to the library too soon and I couldn't finish what I was reading. The library wouldn't allow children in the adult section, so I had to read his. After reading the kiddie-lit, I was ready for more advanced stuff.

My two sons, both in their 40's both avid readers, and the younger, even though he does techie work, says that he much prefers a 'real' book, the heft, the smell, things that you can't get from an ebook.

I have as many books as my small house can handle and I love sitting by my computer and glancing over at my 'children' (my books) in my bookcase and remembering the joy that a particular book brought me.

when ever I had any cash it was for a book...had complete set of anne of green gables, little women's...bobbsy twins, ect..they weren't so expensive back then...right now all my grands have tons of books between them (9 of them) shared, exchanged ect...my one dgs (8) is the champ! has already read the entire harry potter series and for Christmas gave him a jack London book!

sad to say dh never reads...he's in sales and reads so much at work he never wants to read more at home...

Maxmom, I would love to donate the books, but I can't physically pack and move them and I've yet to find anyone who is willing to come and get them.

I credit books for saving me from skin cancer. My mother was forever saying, "Sue, get your nose out of that book, and go play in the sunshine!" (I didn't.)

I think of that when I accompany my also fair skinned DH to the dermatologist. That's DH the swimmer and tennis player from age six through college. He got LOTS of sunshine.

"Read me!" That was our DS at three. He's still a reader.

Yes, I was read to by my mother and others. Although my aunt lived to 102, she had a 'frail constitution' and was frequently 'sick in bed' at our house. I would toil up the stairs with books under my arm, one-step, one-step, and she would put down *her* book and read to me. Her DH was a great reader of mystery novels; I remember watching him reading them beside me as both of us were supposed to be napping. (He had a heart condition.)

I clearly remember feeling *emancipated* when I learned to sound out words. I could have a story *whenever I wanted one*, not have to wait for an adult to have time to read to me!

One of the first books I read was my mother's childhood copy of "Black Beauty", in easy-reader format, with the longer words broken into syllables. I also remember my father taking me to see a play of "The Prince and the Pauper" and having the story in a large-format with illustrations on heavy paper. I think my 'cause lady' self dates back to these morality tales.

We subscribed to a daily newspaper and several anxiously awaited weekly magazines. Although my father was absent, my mother had many friends -- some were boarders to help with expenses and stayed for months at a time. They were all well educated and *readers*. I only realized recently what a wealth of knowledge and vocabulary I simply *took in* like the air I breathed. (*Better* than the air -- everybody smoked!)

I remember getting a library card in the early beginnings of our town's library, in the English basement of an old building that also housed my pediatrician's office. We also had a library at my grammar school.

When our DIL started teaching in the inner city she and my DH rounded up as many free or cheap books as they could so she could establish a library in her 8th Grade classroom. She had to give it up because nobody brought a book back. She wasn't sure they were even read, but they were proud possessions, so it wasn't a failure.

My Mom and Dad both loved to read and at one time in their young married life my Dad was an encyclopedia salesman. We had a set of encyclopedias and a set just for kids---they were the best things ever. The family joke then and now is that I could read and play poker before I went to pre school. My Mom read to us all the time and I had 2 older brothers and they needed a 3rd to make the poker games more fun, so I was recruited.

There wasn't a library of books as I recall. I was enrolled in the library at an early age. My father read a lot from there as well as newspapers. I had the most books in the house...all Nancy Drews, Bobbsey twins, Uncle Wiggily. Don't recall if I was read to. I read to my kids all the time. Neither read much today. Husband I go to the library every single Wednesday and alway are reading the latest best seller.

We were surrounded by books, magazines, and newspapers in our home and I am so grateful for it. Though we were very far from well off, we all had book club memberships, subscriptions, and lots of other reading opportunities. Heck....even comic books and Mad Magazine qualified.....and the Sunday funny papers!

My three brothers and I are all avid readers.

Fun2, I agree that it's important to 're-home ' your books. If I were in your situation, I'd call local nursing homes, high schools, Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. I would think that you'd find some grateful folks who would be happy to come to your home, with boxes, to take books off your hands. I'd even be glad to give them to a second hand bookstore, rather than throw them away.

Good luck....how I wish I lived near you to help you with this.

My parents bought lots of books for me and my mom read to me . My mom always had a library book going. My dad read the newspapers and his Sporting News. I remember going to the library and getting a summer reading list each year and reading all the books on the list. My parents bought a set of World Book Encyclopidias and the 3 of us would read them. I have always enjoyed reading.

It's so much fun reading all these responses about many who had books in their lives as children. My DS wasn't very fond of reading, but his two daughters are avid readers, especially one of them who reads books of a substantial size. DS has always read to them and they are always listening to audiobooks. I have hundreds of books but I try not to purchase too many these days because of running out of storage space. I am very fortunate to have a wonderful public library which is about 5 minutes away. I'm a real fan of children having a love for reading - it's surely a fun and cheap way to become entertained and gain knowledge in the process!

It is interesting that those of us "at a certain age" share the same kind of experience. My folks never read much other than a weekly newspaper... not for the sake of reading, but for the news. I didn't discover books until well into my school years. Books that would take me away to new places and ideas or that would explain things. Then.... no book or cereal box could keep me from reading.... everything. Who knew those ingredients would became so important in the future (lol). My children... now 50+ became voracious readers too.... and my grands as well. One has dyslexia, and I tape recorded every book I read to them (100's) and when they went to Japan for a tour of duty.... had their third child... she put the tapes and books together(or Mom or brothers did) and taught herself to read by the time she was three. Amazed me.

I hated reading. I mean, I really hated being *told* to read. The first book I read cover to cover was "The Outsiders" because my grade 9 teacher gave me a choice between 2 books. The other was an auto biography. I've since read The Outsiders a dozen times. :) BUT, my parents had the World Book Encyclopaedia along with the year book from each year. I pretty much read them all. In my time. When i was interested in something. We did have library cards. I never used mine.

This is such an interesting thread.

We had a few books which I think were purchased by my dear grandmother. I remember The Golden Egg Book (remember, the bunny finds an egg?) and Color Kittens (Golden Book).

As a young reader I went to the library but did have a copy of The Black Stallion which I loved loved loved. Another big favorite which went out of print for a while but I think it's in print again is The Lion's Paw by Rob White.

I read a lot to both my kids, but neither one is a reader. Maybe later in life they will take it up. I have lots of books for my grandkids. One likes to be read to, but the 2-year old can barely sit still long enough.

When I was young, I remember my dad read over and over books and he loved to read to us.

When went to school, I loved to read and when we were older we went to library weekly and one small library I out read all the books they had there. the school library was tough as only allowed to take out one book only nd I went to take them all out.

I read when in the car, and bus, and loved books.

I only got one book and that was it. My Uncle though got me into the oz books and the ones I had read them a zillion times over.

I just enjoyed books.

My brother doesn't read lots, but his kids loved to read and they were taken regularly to library and read to them when little.
My oldest nephew didnt have time to read with university and work but youngest nephew still loves to read, they are allowed to buy any books.

We had a series of books that were read to us whe little, they were like the fairy tales,etc. and then another series for older but we didn't care for those ones.

not really. Butr I frequented the school and public library and had loan outs all the time. I remember bringig home the Little house books and mom would read them aloud to me at night. I was given a subscription to the junior Literary Guild one year and would get a book every month. I remember one callwed The Sea is Blue.

We had loads of books. Our living room had built-in bookcases surrounding the fireplace . Mom belonged to The Book of The Month Club so they were filled. She took me to the public library when I was in second grade and I got my own card. We also had Life and Saturday Evening Post delivered. I had lots of Golden Books and other kids' books and I had a small bookcase in my bedroom. I remember "organizing" my books by size and color.

I hadn't thought about the fact that we would go to the library all the time, it was very close to our house. It was about the size of a small frame house...HAHA! I loved it! We also had an old set of World Book Encyclopedias.

I've told this story before but can't remember if it was here.

My two boys, although being read to a lot, at a certain age weren't especially big readers. I would give them dinner, and while they ate I would read to them. I remember once I was reading them The Vagrant Viking, by Peter Freuken. It was autobiographical, about his adventures in the Artic. At a critical point in the story I stopped reading, put down the book and started to clean up the dishes. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched to see which of the boys would be so interested that he would pick up the book to find out what happened. They both managed to finish the book on their own. I think they were about 9 and 11 at the time, but read well beyond their years. I think this instance was the impetus to both reading and collecting books.

My mom was not much of a reader, but she did buy magazines, Good Housekeeping, things like that. I only ever saw my dad read the newspaper or his bible. As soon as I discovered books I was a voracious reader. In the summer when school was out, I had serious withdrawals. Haha. The only public library was 10 miles away and she was always too busy to take me. I did buy Nancy Drew books when I got birthday money. I made sure my own children had plenty of books appropriate for their age around.

I had two older brothers, both of whom were voracious readers so, of course, I taught myself to read when I was about 4 or so. We always had books, many were children's books, and I fell in love with story books as a very young child, still love reading although my eyes only allow me to read on an ereader. I dread take day when I no longer can do that.

I still have a couple of my mother's Nancy Drew books, published in the late 1920's or early 30's. Also her Anne of Green Gables books, and a couple of my grandfather's Charles Dickens books, published in the early 1900's.

As I posted earlier in this thread, books and reading were a very big part of my childhood. However, libraries were not.

The nearest library was about 30 miles away. Late in my teen years, that library introduced a 'bookmobile'. It was a van that visited each of the small area mining towns twice a month. It was filled with books that you could borrow or Gladys, who drove the van, would take requests for the next trip.

I remember so well the excitement of many of the town residents on Bookmobile Day. And I remember how much I admired Gladys and wanted to be just like her.

My parents did not read much, other than the daily newspapers. I remember my neighbor across the street introduced me to the books her children read when they were kids and I was in heaven. Books like the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew. I don't remember when I got my first library card but since that time have been a big reader.

Lots of books and reading in our house. We had early bedtimes but our parents said we could stay up later, in our rooms, if we were reading. I hated when they said lights out! All 3 of the kids turned out to be avid readers. Even today, I MUST read before falling asleep. I have the best light attached to my headboard, love that thing!

As a young teen, I had friends over and we could hear my mother outside on the patio just laughing and laughing. We peeked out to see who was laughing with and she had her nose in a book while she was sunbathing. That's actually one of my favorite Mum-memories. :) I wish I knew what book it was.

Loved reading as a child and going to the library. My parents enjoyed both books and magazines. Mom subscribed to McCall's (how I loved Betsy, the paper doll inside each issue), Ladies Home Journal, and Good Housekeeping. Dad read Life, Collier's magazine, and U.S. News and World Report. I grew up with Golden Books, The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew mysteries, and as a teen, I LOVED every young adult book written by Rosamund duJardin - Senior Prom, Double Date, Practically Seventeen, Boy Trouble, Wait for Marcy, etc. Fifty years later I still get a thrill seeing a stack of books just waiting to be read - in addition to those hiding inside my iPad!

Books and libraries were a huge part of my childhood. I was an intellectually-minded, socially awkward bookworm! I went on to get a Ph.D. in literature, teach English in a university, and have had a marvelous career. I am less socially awkward now :) and still a voracious reader.

One memory I have is in about 6th-8th grade we had some kind of paperback book purchasing service in school. I remember filling out forms to check off the books you wanted to buy, and then the thrill of the teacher opening the package in the classroom and distributing them. They were everything (as I recall) from teenage romances to joke books.

No books, magazines, papers and no bible that I recall.
I have all the above now, love to read!

Marita - you are very lucky to have taken your love of literature so far as to have gotten a Ph.D.

Because of remote location, etc. I completed only part of my high school education. When my son was in kindergarten, I began attending university part-time on probation but thought that surely one had to be far more brilliant than I to succeed. I absolutely loved it, like a duck taking to water. After many stops and starts (what possible practical use could a university education be, was the prevalent thinking), I figured out that this is where I wanted to be. So fortunately I got to graduate with a post-graduate degree. I considered myself to be richly rewarded in attending university because I was among those with similar interests as mine and I received recognition for doing the very things that I enjoyed.

We had books. My parents did read to me, but I learned to read early and was fine reading to myself. We borrowed a lot of books from the library. My parents bought me books and I had books handed down from my older sister too. I always got several books as part of Christmas, Easter and birthdays. I was a very fast reader who just devoured books. My favorites were Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Dana Girls and Trixie Belden. We also had magazines; I remember Family Circle, Good Housekeeping and Reader's Digest.

Golly, I love all your stories!

Some of your comments remind me of my own love affair with books, & one of them, 'We lived within walking distance of a branch of the NY Public Library', sounds like pure heaven!

'I can still remember how proud I was when I got my own library card when I was 5.'

I was older, but I do remember that card! & the big steps up to the big door & the big balistrude (or some such) where I could sit & read until my mother came back to pick me up.
the ceiling fans in the cool, hushed lobby area.
the smell of the date stamps & the waxed linoleum floors...

I read the "Black Stallion" series starting, I think, when I was in 2nd grade.
read 'em all.
The very first one "The Black Stallion", was an orange hardback book with the silhouette of The Black on the front.
I loved that book.

About 3 years ago, I bought a bunch of books that a library nearly 60 miles from my hometown was discarding, including an orange hardback copy of "The Black Stallion".

When I settled down to re-read it, I found that it had been stamped in to the Ferris library in the 1990s, but it had been stamped in my hometown library in 1957.

It was 'my' book.

'Oddly, I haven't done a lot of reading in the last couple of years'

I've noticed that I too go through 'spells';
sometimes I read all the time, sometimes I sew all the time, sometimes I have to re-aquaint myself with the concept of 'books' & sometimes I have to make friends again with my sewing machine!

Life takes us down different roads sometimes, but our old loves are always there.

Sue, try audio books;
I listen to them all the time, at home & in the car.
I love 'em!

'When I was in first grade, I filled out a little tiny order form for a set of Brittanica encyclopedias and sent it in.
A salesman showed up at the front door.'

Bingo!
I filled out one of those cards in the doctor's office, for a children's set of 'encyclopedias' of Bible stories.
The sample book in the doc's office was a bright sort of turquoise marine blue with a technicolor-bright illustration of Jesus & a crowd of children.

Out of that one card, I scored the Bible encyclopedia, the Book of Knowledge, & Lands & Peoples, an encyclopedia about different countries around the globe.

The Book of Knowledge was my favorite;
besides informational articles, it had stories & poems.
"The Arab's (Something-Song? Call?) to His Steed" marked the first time I'd ever heard of Arabian horses, & they're still my favorite.

My brothers & I were very lively, & the only way my mother could get us inside to take naps was to read to us from the Book of Knowledge!

When she broke up housekeeping, my mother gave the Bible stories to her church's children's dept, & I don't know what happened to Lands & Peoples.

I still have the Book of Knowledge.

My DH and use our public library at least twice a week -- mainly for books and DVD's. When we realized how much money we save by using the library, we put "Friends of the Library" high on our Christmas Giving list. While we are only giving back the hundreds of dollars the library has saved us, the funds help the library expand its' resources for others.

Sylvia, the story of your Black Stallion book is so touching! Did you cry? I sure would have, that I promise you. :-)

Nah, I didn't *cry*.
exactly.
(I will admit to having been thunderstruck!)

I love the sentiment in this poem;
throw the money back at 'em & jump on your horse & ride off *fast*!

This post was edited by sylviatexas on Mon, Feb 10, 14 at 17:53

sylvia, just google "The Arab's Farewell to his Horse" (Caroline Norton) and you'll find your poem.

Yay!

Here we go!

Be sure to read the bit at the end that describes the life & values of the author.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Arab's Farewell to His Steed