Books and Poetry Introduced to me as a child by my mother

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     As long as I can remember, I have loved to read.  It took no convincing for me to dive into a book and to only come up for air when I absolutely had to.  I loved mysteries and fantasies, historical fiction and adventure stories all equally well.  I also love to read and memorize poetry.  This has been a love that I shared with my mother throughout my life.  We lost her last week, just a few months past her 100th birthday.  Thinking about all that she has meant to me, my memories of shared moments with books and poetry with her are some of my very favorite.  

• She would recommend books to me by saying, "Oh Helen, this is such a great book!  You will love it!"  And so I would read it and she was always right, I did love it!
• She would be looking at a book of poetry and say, "Say, listen to this!"  And she would read me a poem or at least a stanza and comment on how much she loved it.  She often had a lesson or moral I could learn from the selection.
• She loved it when as a child I would memorize a poem for some reason.  She would always have me recite it for my family or just for her whenever she could. 
• She would take me to our town's old library.  It had wide steps up to it with wide, curved bannisters on each side.  The floors were wooden and squeaky and it smelled like musty old books.  I loved it there.  She would let me peruse the children's section all on my own.  That is where I first checked out the complete works of Winnie-The-Pooh, and Doctor Doolittle.  The only problem with going to the library was that I had to give the books back! I hated that part!
• I always received books for birthdays and Christmas and devoured them as quickly as I could.  My mom never complained about me spending so much time reading.  She seemed proud of me for loving it so much.  As I grew older, I realized that when I was assigned to read the classics that she had introduced to me, I had already read them!  My life was so much better because of my mom's wonderful encouragement and help in finding the wonder of books! 

     So, I thought that I would put together a list of poetry and books that my mom introduced to me as a child, as many as I can remember anyway.  Maybe you will find this list useful as you encourage your own children to be readers.  Also, I want my grandchildren and my great nieces and nephews to learn a little bit more about their Great-Grandma and who she really was. 

Poetry:  These will be listed in the order that I recall them from my childhood! I've included links so that you can read them online.

  
Little Orphan Annie by James Whitcomb Riley
'Jest Fore Christmas by Eugene Field
If  by Rudyard Kipling
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening  by Robert Frost
The Duel  by Eugene Field     (I wrote a post about how to use this poem as a gift!)
Charge of the Light Brigade  by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
The Children's Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Village Blacksmith  by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Swing  by Robert Louis Stevenson
My Shadow  by Robert Louis Stevenson

Books:  This will not be a complete list because I am working from memory, but I hope it will inspire you to read a few of these if you haven't done so.
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This is an edition patterned after the original Winnie-the-Pooh collection by A. A. Milne.

Any animal loving child will enjoy the fantastical stories of the famous Doctor Doolittle who could talk to animals and who also was friends with exotic fantastical animals!  I don't feel any movie can do the book justice! 
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Robert Louis Stevenson stories were a favorite when I was a child! Treasure Island is one of his best! I've loved the book and the movies over the years! And, don't miss Kidnapped!
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The Swiss Family Robinson is the original story of survival in the wilderness!  It stirs the imagination.
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The Scarlet Pimpernel was promoted to me by my mom very strongly and her opinion was correct! My mom didn't steer me away from adventure and swashbuckling stories, that's for sure! 
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Another swashbuckling book!  Robin Hood is one of my favorites, as well as the Erroll Flynn movie!
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Since the time that my mother recommended Little Women to me, I've probably read it a dozen times, always crying at the sad parts. 
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Jane Eyre is definitely a chick book, lol.  My sons who had to read it in High School hated it.  I always loved it and re-read it a few times. 
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Yes, I got my love of all things Austen from my mother.  Pride and Prejudice was the first of herbooks that I read.  

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was one of my favorites when I was in about 7th grade and appears to be in high demand again today. 
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Rabbit Hill is a great book for the animal loving and imaginative youthful reader.  I loved it as a kid and still think of scenes from this classic today. 
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Books we enjoyed together as I grew older:  I couldn't leave these books out because I have such clear memories of reading them at the same time and then discussing them with my mom.

All Creatures Great and Small and Herriot's follow-up novels about his life as a vet in rural England are simply delightful.  My mom and I loved them! 
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As an adult, my mom is the one who introduced me to my beloved Mitford Series, heart warming books about an Evangelical Priest and his giant dog.  "Philippians 4:13 for Pete's sake!"  

   Here are more posts about my awesome mom:

• Motherhood Lessons From My Mom
• A 100th Birthday Celebration
• Scrabble Day Favs and Crafts (Can't Talk about Scrabble without talking about my mother!)