What was the first book you received?

      As an adolescent, I did not have much access to books for my age. The first book I received for Christmas from my parents was Trixie Belden and the Gatehouse Mystery. I must have read that book dozens of times. I loved the mystery, and the detectives were near my age. I was enthralled. I wondered if I could ever write a book. Eventually, I was old enough to walk from our house in the country to the downtown Carnegie library. What a boost in self-esteem! I don’t remember that we had an actual school library in our small town back in the 1940s. 

     My sister Sandi received a copy of Sandra of the Girl Orchestra which I also read. That was when I learned about the Stradivarius violins. Kids learn so much when they read fiction. Provide your children and grandchildren with good age-appropriate books. Those books can be a treasure of knowledge.

P.S. Have you read my three children’s picture books? The fourth one will be coming soon.