Little Women

#10Days10Books

Day 1: My favorite childhood book

I don't have a lot of memories of childhood books despite being quite the reader. Which is a story for a different time. But one book I do remember and still have is this edition of Little Women. 

I learned to read in 1st grade and whatever reading system they were teaching (I'm pretty sure it was phonics) really worked for me. I quickly became an excellent reader. 

One day when I was still 6 my dad took me to the library and picked out an enormous book for me to read. I told him that I couldn't read it, that it was far too long. He asked how I would read a smaller book. I said "one page at a time." He said that that was the same way that I would read this huge book. 

And so I read Little Women. I was so young that I'm sure much of it went right over my head (Pilgrim's Progress, anyone?) but what I understood I loved. I especially loved the romantic story of Laurie and Amy falling in love in Europe, and the beautiful illustration in the book. 

When I was done reading the book I loved it so much that I wanted my own copy. I had saved up enough money to be able to buy it, and my dad said he'd take me to the bookstore. 

But the bookstore near our house didn't have the right edition, the one with the beautiful picture of Laurie and Amy, so we went to the next bookstore. And the next, and the next. We ended up having to go to another city, probably almost an hour away, to find the right book. 

As an adult I've had some feelings about my dad handing a 6 year old a copy of Little Women and expecting her to read it. But I've always remembered that my very busy father did what it took to find the right book for me, and that means a lot.