Our Books, Our Wings: Books Nebraskans Read and Treasure. INSTITUTION Nebraska Library Commission, Lincoln
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 319 055 CS 212 345 AUTHOR Hardy, Chlorene M., Ed.; Fagan, Roberta E., Ed. TITLE Our Books, Our Wings: Books Nebraskans Read and Treasure. INSTITUTION Nebraska Library Commission, Lincoln. REPORT NO ISBN-0-9624668-0-8 PUB DATE 89 NOTE 337p. AVAILABLE FROMNebraska Library Commission, 1420 P Street, Lincoln, NE 68508 ($8.95 plus $1.00 postage and handling; Nebraska residents add 5.5% sales tax; discount on larger quantities). PUB TYPE Books (010) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC14 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Books; Childhood Interests; Literature; *Literature Appreciation; Personal Narratives; Reader Text Relationship; Reading Attitudes; *Reading Interests; Reading Materials; *Recreational Reading IDENTIFIERS Childhood Recollection; *Nebraska ABSTRACT This book is a collection of commentaries by Nebraskans about books that have been memorable for them from childhood trrough adulthood. The book is a record of life -long learning dedicated to Nebraska's youngest readers in the Year of the Young Reader, 1989--a common ground for intergenerational dialogue made possible by the world of books. The main text of the book lists the contributor's name and occupation along with three book titles; one each for the following categories: childhood, youth, and adulthood. The book also lists the titles and authors which were cited by the contributors and lists the titles most frequently named in the last section. (MG) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS u S. DEPARTMENT OF EtOuCATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Office of Educator. Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) ThrSdfltufnent Ma been repnXkteed ee eceivecl trOei the person or orgtenzetson onsenetmg 0 Minor changes nn m been mule to aTtpfthe reproductionWahl y TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Pbette of view a bbintons Voted to ewe Omer mere do noi necessortly represent Otto*, INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." OERI crosnlon poscy ur ings Read and Treasure Dedicated to Nebraska's youngest readers 3 Our Books Our Wings Books Nebraskans Read and Treasure edited by Chlorene M. Hardy and Roberta E. Fagan Nebraska Library Commission 1989 ©1989 Nebraska Library Commission 1420 P Street Lincoln, Nebraska 68508-1683 Pages prepared for printing by WORDWORKS Desktop Publishing ISBN 0-9624668-0-8 Charley Sears had usually been most careful not togo against the teachings of our parents, but as soonas I could read a little he ignored one of Father's pet notions. Fiction to Old Juleswas for the hired man and hired girl, if you had them, butnever for a Sandoz.Gradually Charley let me discover that he had something worth all the world to me then: a tall bookcase full of books, varying from Hawthorne, Nicholas Nickleby, and Bill Nye to Mary J. Holmes and From Ballroom to Hell. He also had a lot of old magazines, including at least tenyears of a woman's periodical that left its sentimental mat*on the attitudes and face and figure of a generation of village and country womanhood --the Comfort. Charley started to sneak these down for me, and because the attic where I slept with whoever was the baby had outside stairs, I could slip the books up to my bed and hide them in the straw tick But even so therewas never enough reading matter and I started to write stories for myself, very bad ones. Still, the first one was printed in the junior page of the Omaha Daily News and broughtme a whipping and a short time in our cellar. As soon as Father's anger cooled he took me out quail hunting. From SANDHILL SUNDAYS AND OTHER itEcou.wnuris by Mari Sandoz. Copyright1970 by the Mari Sandoz Corporation. By permission of McIntosh and Otis, Inc. CONTENTS Acknowledgments i Preface ii Main Text 1 Titles Cited 227 Authors of Titles Cited 251 Authors Named Without S Lic Works Cited 313 Most Frequently Named Titles 319 Her grandmother Bank, who had come to live with them, took charge of her preschool education, read to her from the Bibleand The Pilgrim's Progress, as wellas from Peter Parley. The Bible she absorbed so thoroughly that her writing throughouther life is loaded with biblical quotations and allusions. JohnBunyan's allegory of the Christian life madea deep impression. It was a book, she wrote nearly halfa century later, with "scenes of the most satisfying kind; where little is said but much is felt and communicated.... She certainly was drawing on herown memories of childhood reading when she wrotea book column in Pittsburgh in 1897. Then she recommended "that dear old book" TheCount of Monte Cristo and another favorite, Dinah Mulock'sJohn Halifax, Gentleman.She also included, with Pilgrim's Progress, a second hook 'essential toa child's it/miry,' The Swiss Family Robinson. "Any child who has not read these has missed a part of his or her childhood." And she addedto the list the works of Howard Pyle, especially Otto of theSilver Hand, from which a child could geta "very fair idea fon what that phrase 'the Middle Ages' meant. Reprinted from wILLA CATHERI A LITERARY LIFE, By James Woodress, by permission of University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1987 by the University of Nebraska Press. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THE COMMITTEE FORTHE Year of the Young Reader at the Nebraska Library Commission (Rod Wagner, Nancy Busch, Mary Jackson, Jim Minges, Sally Snyder, Doreen Kuhlmann, Beverly Wittig, Doris Carlow, Nancy Evans, Mary Jo Ryan, including editors Roberta Fagan and Chlorene Hardy) wish to acknowledge especially the authors of this book from across Nebraska and beyond who answered our request for favorite and valued books. We regret that two formswere received without names and must remain unacknowledged. We also wish to thank the staff at the Nebraska Library Commission who participated in its production, especially Vern Buis, Mary Geibel, Pat Gildersiseve, and Alma Melson, as well as Sandra Masek. Thanks are also extended to Kay Graber of the University of Nebraska Press and to the University of Nebraska Press and McIntosh and Otis, Inc., of New York City for permission to excerpt material from their publications. Without the support, encouragement, and continuous help of Nebraska Library Commission Director, Rod Waper,we could not have begun or finished the book. Thankyou. .0 PREFACE THEFOLLOWING REQUEST was mailed to some 900 Nebraska readers: The Library of Congress, Center for the Book, has designated 1989 as The Year of the Young Reader. The Committee for the Year of the Young Readerat the Nebraska Library Commission,as part of the year-long activities devoted to the promotionof reading among Nebraska's children, is compilinga book of favorite books of Nebraska citizens. Example being the inspiration for learning,we feel that your heritage of reading foryoung Nebraskans is a valuable treasure. We would be pleased to haveyou submit to the committee three book titles whichyou have valued from (1) childhood (2) youth (3) adulthood,listing one title from each category. Give an author for each, if you can, and a brief description ofits value for you. Over 300 responses to our requestwere received and comprise the text of Our Books, Our Wings. Nebraska's publiclibrarians were asked to submit names from among their patrons and the rest were gathered from variousoccupations, geographic areas, and professions, with perhaps a slight emphasison those whose task it is to know, interpret, andwrite books. The majority of respondents probablyare in an age range of 40 through 90 years, with a few in the late teens, 20s and 30s age group. Except for small necessary editorial changes, the entries have been printed as received, widely ranging between brevity and length. More thana few readers expressed the difficulty of the charge, the personal nature, of naminga favorite or valued book from three of life'sages, but the challenge was well met and evidently brought certain personal satisfaction and enjoyment in the recalling of early memories and the significance of later reading. It must be observed that Nebraska readers are often passionate in their loyalty to their choicesas wellas passionate in their disdain, in the case of one or two titles. These phrasesare used by readers who have been 'calledni by the authors of their books: I was absolutely spellbound by the magic of this story. What more could any reader ask for? I loved that book! necessary for complete living . I have read and re-read it many times. the finest historical work ever written. a source of information and pleasure for many years.... I will never forget it. Simply the greatest adventure ever written. one of the very few great books written in the last 50 years. What a wonderful book! ...every reader's response to a writer's call can have its own startling, suggestive power." The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Motel Imagination. Robert Coles (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1989), xix. 11 iii the best writer on the scene today in this style. the title to this day chills my spine. It left a lasting [impression] onme. some of the most enjoyable moments in my adult life... No doubt about this bookthe finestever written! Istill think about this book. loved that story.... this book still has the power tomove me. the greatest novel that hasever or ever will be written. Diversity and individuality characterize the majority of choices readers made, ranging from the Hardy Boys seriesto the Philosophical Investiptions of Wittgenstein and includingpoetry anthologies, dictionaries, the Constitution of the UnitedStates, the National Geographic Mapzine, the Kansas CityStar, Caper's Weekly, Supertoy comics, the Talmud, the Torah, the "bible We leave it to the browser of Our Books, Our Wingsto compile his or her own list of curious statistics, notableomissions, or incomprehensible inclusions.