August 31, 2024

I grew-up in a house where no-one read books, yet I was encouraged to read and still read regularly both for pleasure and education. My parents had a small bookcase with ‘worthy’ books that should be read; the classics and encyclopaedias. On the other hand I have regularly have to get rid of books and need to avoid having piles of books build-up on furniture and even floors.

Despite the unpromising start, it worked-out well for me as a reader and I have fond memories of books from my childhood.

I was in my local public library so often as a child that I can remember the layout and details to this day. Moving from a children’s library card was a great rite of passage, allowing one the freedom to roam the whole library. There was the church-like reference section where people spent the whole day studying — probably just keeping warm in the 1970s! The world of new fiction that opened-up to me in that wider library — yellow Victor Gollancz novels introducing me to Ellery Queen and others. I fell in love with the world of Sherlock Holmes in Burntisland library; a love that survives to this day. I remember being puzzled why someone would ever choose the strange LARGE PRINT books but now, in my early 60s, I finally understand the appeal.

During my childhood my parent subscribed to Collier’s encyclopaedias and I remember two things well. The books included the occasional diagram printed using layers of acetate and it was fascinating to flip through the layers of the hum a body or a car engine. Colliers provided an annual year book covering recent events and new discoveries and the arrival of these was one of the high points of each year.

Finally although I grew-up in a house with few books, I was never denied them. My schools distributed catalogues of books by Penguin and Puffin and it was through them I first read much-loved books such as The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper.

I have always thought the best way to encourage my own children to was to read to them, then read with them and have them see us parents sitting and reading quietly for pleasure. Now they are both grown-up I hope I have managed this and in my own way provided an environment that leads them to the pleasure of books and reading.

Books


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