A gift

Working where I work, I get the opportunity to take home books that a teacher may not need, from his or her own classroom collection. (Just want to be clear, I'm not hauling off curriculum or anything.) The other day my co-worker was clearing a shelf to make way for some things and she ran across these little books. They are called Best in Children's Books, published by Nelson Doubleday. They from 1958, 1959 and are filled with short stories, poems, science lessons, geography, fables, mythology, and historical sketches of famous Americans. I am totally impressed. They still hold up today. Sure, some of the countries have different names now, and Pluto is no longer a planet (according to those in the know) but most of the information is still relevant. I'm not knocking current children's books, far from it, but these are so amazing, I'm not sure why they aren't still in print. Case in point: I'm looking through one of the books, and I notice a fable - illustrated by Andy Warhol, he was a very credible commercial illustrator before he became famous for Coke cans and Campbell's Soup cans. One of my favorite poems, Paul Revere's Ride was in one volume. And just this morning I read a delightful sketch about the Pony Express. I think these books hold a lot of important things that kids today (and even in my school days) miss out on. These are stories and things that children may encounter later- referenced in more intellectual literature that they come across. Certainly I was thrilled to read Horatius at the Bridge finally after seeing it referenced in another book that I read recently. How nice to read the source. Maybe I'm just too big of a nerd, but I am completely charmed by these books.