I Remember Laura Week 4

Week four will be about sharing books and music. Laura had a great love of books and music. Books were a rare treat in Laura's young life and she devoured them when she could get them. Music was a part of her every day life be it Ma humming as she worked, Pa's fiddle playing in the evenings, the family singing together, or Mary's organ music. What songs and books are special to you. Do you have a favorite memory that you associate with a book or song? Link up this week and share it. Also, tell why you love the Little House books and any memories you have associated with them.

First of all, I can not believe that this is the final week of "I Remember Laura." This has been so much fun and I have learned so much and I don't want it to end! I may have to get out my tissues and bon-bons after this posting and have myself a moment.

Like most folks, I have collections of books. You may be surprised to see what they are. I have all of my mother's Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins books, but I also have my grandmother's collection of Ruth Fielding. Ruth was the Nancy of my grandmother's day. It isn't a complete collection, but these were wonderful fun for me to read when I was a girl partly because the language was a bit more challenging and I enjoyed that aspect and all the adventures.



You can see that by the time Ruth was headed for college and living at Cameron Hall, the book covers had been updated.

Here are a few illustrations...










The series began in 1913...



The last book in my collection is dated 1928, which means that my grandmother was reading them until she was at least 19 years old. Interesting...

I also collect basal readers. When I was learning to read, I loved them. Of course, they have fallen way out of favor now, but there was nothing more charming to me than Tuffy, Boots, oh Dick and Jane, too. Perfect homes, perfect families, perfect pets, perfect clothes, perfect, perfect, perfect. :D



I've saved the best for last. This Laura Ingalls Wilder book was given to the school library by a former teacher who was especially fond of the series. I rescued it when it was about to be culled. (I'll have more to say about this in a few weeks. ;>)







Music? Miss Sandy included music in this week's assignment? I am certain that I've discussed this before somewhere...

Some of my earliest and fondest memories were of falling asleep listening to my grandparents play all the old music. My grandmother is a skilled, trained, pianist having studied for 12 years and my grandfather was a self-taught fiddler. She learned how to chord so that she could accompany his many tunes from "Turkey in the Straw" to "Down in the Valley." It was always magical to drift off that way. I am certain that Laura and her sisters found it so when Pa played his fiddle so long ago.

Thanks for reading today...please join the tour at Quill Cottage!