real tales

i love old, vintage books.  you know, the ones that when you open to read have that musty smell.  the ones where the pages are browned and not so crisp anymore.  not only that, i also love the memories and history that these books hold.  these books were from a different time.  they were held by hands from a different era.  and now i hold them in my hands.

that's why when i go home to my parent's house i dig around through their bookcases to see if i can snag a few.  that's why i have a whole stack of my aunt's hardcover nancy drew books (circa 1960s).  that's why i am the proud owner of an old, musty smelling cookbook, and desperately waiting for my mom to give up her betty crocker's cookbook (circa 1950-60ish).

i also managed to get my hands on a few of my mom's (and maybe my aunt's) old children's books.  one in particular (which was my mom's) had a collection of stories and rhymes, published in 1955.

there are hardly any pictures in it, and instead the book is filled with descriptive words and detailed sentences.  and when there was a page with a colored picture, it was like getting a special treat.  it's definitely not like some of the children's books written today.

we had gone through 2 short stories already, and emma wanted to hear more.  as i flipped through i came across a few rhymes and offered those as a nice ending to our reading session.  here's the first one i read to her...

"you will snap off our heads!"  did you catch that last part?

then there's this cute little counting rhyme (click on picture then click again to zoom in and read)...

the last two illustrations just had me laughing.

like i said, these books were from a different era, and not like some of the children's books written today.

but we love them!