I spent some time yesterday with a friend, helping her with classroom set-up by sorting and categorizing books. It was a very pleasant time, both for the time spent with my friend and her co-teacher and for the time spent with the other friends in the classroom ... some of my old favorite books!
You see, when I retired, Fran "inherited" a good part of my classroom collection, less the ones I just
couldn't part with and have been enjoying sharing with my grandchildren. :)
So when I was sorting, it was quite a nostalgic time. I can't begin to tell you how often I said or thought the word "favorite"! That made me smile, too, because I was reminded of how often I used to say to my students, "I'm so excited to read this to you today! It's one of my favorites!!" I honestly think that reading aloud to my kiddos is on of the parts of teaching I miss most of all!
Combined, Fran and I have taught over 50 years, so you can imagine that there's quite a blend of old and new books in her class library. Which is why when I came across this one that had come from my collection, I had to peek inside.
I knew that my students had loved it (what first grader doesn't love big numbers, right?). I knew that it was old, because it's price was $1.25. But what really touched the nostalgia zone in my heart was when I opened the cover and saw my daughter's name inscribed. Andrea is 35 years old. Wow. Copyright 1979. Just think how many children have read that book, and it's still gold!
I thought that I had probably found the oldest one when I came across a little book about a firefighter, with a price sticker of 29 cents and a copyright date of 1950!! Fran snatched it up to take home. It had been her son's when he was little .. and it was definitely an old book even then.
Books have an amazing way of reigniting memories, don't they?
I have a terrible time throwing away any books. Thank goodness our library accepts donations for Friends of the Library book sales, or we'd be buried in books at our house!
What's the oldest book in your classroom library? Does it hold any special memories for you? Are your students still reading it, or maybe enchanted by it when you read it aloud? I'd love it if you'd leave a comment!
Happy Teaching!
It's funny you should ask because I spent the entire summer revamping my classroom library. Without specifically going back through and looking at dates, I know there was one book that my father read as a teenager. It had his name written on the inside, and I know I read it tons of times when I was in middle/high school. It's so cool to look through and see a wonderful memory of my father in the classroom! :) Thanks for bringing that memory to the surface again!
ReplyDelete~HoJo~
Hi, Hojo! With all of the grade levels you've taught, you must have a crazy huge book collection! Now you've got me thinking back about books I loved in late elementary school and beyond ... I remember Misty, Wild Horse of Abaco (which I think of to this day whenever we drive down the Delmarva Peninsula and see the signs for Chincoteague) and Island of the Blue Dolphins.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you enjoyed this post and I loved reading your comment!
Linda
I have some great, old fairy tale books that I LOVE! So fun!
ReplyDeleteIrene
Ah, oldies but goodies! They're like old friends, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Irene!
Linda