As a kid, and an adult, I have always enjoyed my birthday. When much younger it was a day I always shared with my twin sister. Still is—as least by phone. Our birthday was near Christmas, which added to the excitement. And, more often than not, I did not have school, the day being tied to the start of the Christmas holiday. Even if there was school, no work was done. Party time!
I love my birthday for another reason.
On that day, I almost always received at least one book as a present. Early on, it might have been a Golden Book such as The Poky Little Puppy. (How I loved that one.) But what you see here is the book I received when I was ten years old, which is to say some sixty-eight years ago. The Grosset & Dunlap books, The Illustrated Junior Library, were texts of classics, very well illustrated, and my guess is that it cost something like $2 50. I have another early one, a copy of Robinson Crusoe.
But this one, inscribed to “To Edward from his friends—Susan Biff John Ann Elizabeth December 23, 1947” is my oldest, and my favorite. Edward of course is me, my school name, Avi being as yet only a family name. Yes, the book might have cost $2.50, but in today’s terms that means it would cost $26.60. No wonder four families chipped in to make the purchase!
I would like to tell you who Susan, Biff, John, and Ann Elizabeth were. Such 1940’s names! They were probably classmates—but that is all I can guess.
It was a great gift. It still sits on my shelves—wherever those shelves might be. Happy birthday indeed.
What’s the oldest book—birthday or otherwise—that sits on your shelf?
7 thoughts on “Birthday gifts”
I have a copy of The Poky Little Puppy, too, but the oldest book, given as a gift, on my shelves is a copy of Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, with a beautifully gilded cover, that a one-time roommate gave me. It’s from the mid-1800’s but it’s the inscription that captures my imagination, “May a book always be your best friend.” I’d love to know the story of the person who originally bought that book and gave it to someone with that sentiment becoming a part of the book for all time.
What an amazing surprise! You and I (and your twin) share the same birthday! Happy birthday to a great writer! Yay for December 23!
Weirdly (and I promise, I am not making this up) I pulled out my favorite childhood book this morning (Tiger is a Scaredy Cat, by Joan Phillips). However, I am not sure if I received this for my birthday. I do know it was a present.
I had a really hard time learning how to read as a child. My family is rife with early learning disabilities. I learned on Tiger is a Scaredy Cat at the ripe old age of 8 years old, almost two years after my classmates learned.
This made my day! Thanks, Avi!
Happy birthday to you, too. Glad to share it with you.
Avi
Happy birthday, Avi! I don’t have some of the earliest books I can remember but I do have some of the Three Investigators series, which I loved to read and read again. I was about 9 or 10 when my aunt Fran gave me a monthly subscription to a science-based, non-fiction book club. I don’t remember any of the books specifically but I do remember discovering the practicalities of traveling to the moon (very fresh back then!) or diving into the Mariana Trench to find exotic sea creatures in the deepest part of the ocean. Those books opened my mind to the layers of life on our planet and the possibility of looking beyond Earth, too. Good gifts, those books.
The oldest book on my shelf is The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell. My aunt would read it over and over to me (by my request) until I could recite the entire book by heart.
I still get it out every Christmas and read it. I LOVE you that book!
Not so much from my childhood but from my children’s childhood is the Swedish book I would read to them the day before my birthday every year, HURRA, FÖR PAPPA ÅBERG! by Gunilla Bergström.
When six-year-old Alfons Åberg asks his father what he would like for his birthday tomorrow, Pappa simply states, “There is only one thing I would like to have: Nice children, of course.”
I guess by reading this story, it was my way of not-so-subtly reminding my kids what I, too, would enjoy having on my birthday.
Happy birthday, Avi! Even though your kids are all grown up, I’m sure they have been nice to you on this special day.
Happy birthday! That illustration is beautiful, it must be a lovely book. My copy of Arabian Nights looks pretty bland in comparison.
My oldest books are Andrew Lang fairy tale collections, printed roundabout 1920. Most of them were gifts from my mother, handed down out of her library, but I love them so much I always keep an eye out for more.