Sunday Morning Book Thread 10-11-2026 [Sabrina Chase]

Welcome to the Book Thread, Guest Poster edition! I will be your host as we explore all sorts of book-related topics. All usual Book Thread rules are incorporated by reference (pets, beverage, clothing covering the lower limbs, etc.) with the special Sabrina Chase exemption for those stylish persons preferring kilts. Now let us proceed to today's topic, which is ...

What books stuck in your head and made you the Reading Moron you are today? Even the ones that puzzle you still, or you know are the literary equivalent of a gas station hotdog. We do not judge here at the Book Thread! Not about reading, anyway. Fun books! Books that started you on the great adventure known as "the pictures are in your HEAD!" Books you read under the blankets with a flashlight and thought your parents didn't know about!

I was fortunate to grow up in a very literate home, surrounded by books. Many of which puzzled me greatly in my youth! But these are the ones I remember still with great fondness, and I often gift them to younger generations when I have the opportunity.

- Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book I was fascinated by the devices and it probably led me into the twisty passages of experimental physics in the end. Also profoundly silly, a life philosophy that has guided me well.

- Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag "Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats!" But he can only pick one ...

- The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet I'm not saying I encourage children to get into spaceships powered by odd neighbors without parental supervision, but it is a great book and has a chicken doing noble deeds. And the importance of sulfur.

- Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare Boy was it a shock when I got to the unexpurgated versions, let me tell you. Some of them are barely recognizable in the cleaned-up version. A Winter's Tale is almost reduced to a paragraph.

- Danny Dunn series More science!

- Space Cat Meets Mars Everyone wants a way to communicate with cats.

- Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfeld. my first introduction to the concept that people really did think differently in ancient times, but it was believable and fun. Scary in some parts, like the concept that you could actually get killed for sacrilegious graffiti.

- The Girl from Johnnycake Hill by Virginia Frances Voight. American history and early colonial culture. And the unwisdom of pet bears.

- Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson. more fun American history, from the point of view of Paul Revere's horse.

- Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. Illustrations by Robert Lawson. Responsible for me thinking for many, many years that wine corks grew on trees like bunches of grapes. I knew corks came from trees, see! And Lawson's illustrations made it very convincing.

- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. More profound silliness with words, numbers, and a bored little boy. SO MANY PUNS.

- The Cricket in Times Square by George Delden My introduction to the concept of crickets as pets, a street-smart mouse, and a genial cat.

- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Secret hideouts the grownups don't know about are the very best hideouts.

- The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs

- The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill. A great faux documentary with fun characters.

posted by Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

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