My Book House builds a foundation for life
Commentary by JoEllen Collins
Ever since I lost my home in a Malibu brush fire, I have yearned to
find a set of the books that dominated my childhood reading, a series called My BOOK
HOUSE. A few months ago, with the help of Iconoclast Books, I purchased a set and
have since enjoyed many moments of nostalgia poring through the pages of these 12 books.
The books I purchased are in fine condition. My set, published in 1965,
contains the very same contents as in the first edition, which came out in 1920. Each
volume in the series, numbered from 1 to 12, becomes increasingly more difficult. What
astounds me, in this age of coddling to the supposed interests of children, is that not
one of the pieces has been bowdlerized or simplified to cater to certain reading skill
levels. They begin with the somewhat easier and age-appropriate content of nursery rhymes
and finish, by Volume 12, with classics of English and American literature composed with
complex language and sentence structure.
A quote from the editor, Olive Beaupré Miller (whose name rings out
indelibly in my memory) best summarizes the goal of the books: "Stories and poems a
child hears and reads are a most important part of the foundation upon which his life is
being built. My BOOK HOUSE was definitely and consciously prepared to help
educate children from the very earliest possible moment to meet life by calling out in
them those qualities which make for the richest and fullest living. Therefore, at each
successive and varying stage of the child’s development, you will find in My
BOOK HOUSE the necessary material to use in approaching the one great problem,
which always remains the same: How can we best assist the child to meet life and adjust to
it?
As I thumb through the stories in these books, I am amazed at how many
of my early memories encompass ideas and themes in them. Three years ago, I wrote a poem
about the belief I had as a young girl that I was somehow possessed of the spirit of the
Blue Fairy. I, like her male counterpart, Superman, could fly above life’s problems
propelled by my diaphanous wings and a purity of spirit.
Only when I pulled out Volume 6 did I realize the strength of that
early image in my life. There she is, on the cover, in a magically beautiful Gustav
Klimt-like soft blue gown, hovering beneficently behind three smiling children clad in
Victorian clothes. I now remember wanting to be both the beautiful Blue Fairy and the
happy children. I believed I lived in a world of generous spirit and happy endings.
I can praise or blame many of those images for the illusions I had as a
child and perhaps even the ultimate disillusions that adulthood brings; I had to learn to
accept reality and leave the worlds of imagination.
Nonetheless, I wouldn’t trade those shimmering visions for any
straightforward stories about contemporary life that might be offered on current
children’s bookshelves. There aren’t many years before we have to face the
truths of the world. I, for one, find childhood the perfect time for fantasy.
And then there was the vocabulary! Several people have commented to me
over the years that I have an extensive vocabulary. Somewhere I did acquire a sense of
language. (Unfortunately I don’t possess many of the other skills that are required
to function effectively in our contemporary world. I still "carry" numbers when
adding or dividing, for example. New math remains a mystery for me.). But I love words.
Since I am a teacher and writer, I have found an outlet for that particular skill. Again,
I can credit My BOOK HOUSE for stretching my knowledge of the infinite ways
human beings choose to communicate through words. I quote a couple of sentences from
"The Nuremberg Stove," a folk tale included in Volume 5 (aimed for 2nd or 3rd
grade children):
"The grand old stove seemed to smile through all its iridescent
surface at the praises of the child. The grandfather Strejla, who had been a master mason,
had dug it up out of some ruins where he was building and only thought it worth finding
because it was such a good one to burn. Ever since the stove had stood in the big, empty
room—having seen nothing prettier in all its many years than the children tumbled now
in a cluster, like gathered flowers at it feet." Not only does this passage extend
vocabulary, it exemplifies symbolic language, including the use of irony in "nothing
prettier" than the beautiful children.
I rest my case. This year I will be teaching 10th grade English to
students I hope will be receptive to the kind of material I grew familiar with as a child.
I was fortunate to have parents who read to me and then a desire on my own to be a reader.
Perhaps I can remind my students this year that the great works of literature apply
to all ages and times, and that the beauty of language has always illuminated
readers’ lives.
