365 Bedtime Stories by Nan Gilbert
I
grew up in a family of readers. We had a bookcase or magazine rack in every
room of our house. From the day I was born, I was surrounded by books,
magazines, newspapers...and four people who would snuggle up on the couch and
read to me. I remember watching as my older brother ran his finger across the
page while he read to me, and soon I realized that letters made words and words
made sentences and before long I was reading the stories along with my brother.
When I was four years old, one of my favorite books (even then I couldn't pick
just one favorite) was 365 Bedtime
Stories. All the stories took place on What-A-Jolly Street, and inside the
cover was a map showing the characters' houses, the school and the store. Each
story was one page long, with one story for every day of the year. January 1
was titled Baby New Year, December 31
was Good-by! Good-by!, and in between
we read all about the children who lived on the street with a monkey and a
parrot and rabbits...everything a four year old could want! Books have always
been precious to me, and I still have my copy of 365 Bedtime Stories. I shared it with my children, just like my
brother shared it with me.
