I'm having a lot of fun asking folks what books they enjoyed as children!

I'll put Babette, by Clare Turley first here because not only was it a favorite book, but also the reason SpaceCat named her first kitten this very name. A search for this book showed it had sweet, gentle illustrations.

We both read Stuart Little, by E.B. White, but it looks like SpaceCat enjoyed it more than I did ... I am going to guess this is probably because there was no horse involved! Also, while we both read many of the Little Golden Books, they are all a blur to me while one, Beauty and the Beast, stayed with SpaceCat all these years. That was because there was a wonderful peacock dress and a hanging bed (which seemed so very exotic at the time)!

We share a mutual favorite author, Zilpha Snyder, for books that have been reread and enjoyed down through the years: The Egypt Game for SpaceCat and Season of Ponies for me. There's more about these books on the March 24, 2015 and March 25, 2014 posts, respectively). (Hmm, curious that they were both March books)!

Then there was a story of a boy in ancient Egypt who discovers his evil uncle is raiding the tombs of the parents of Queen Tiye. Using this information, I tracked down the title and then (drum roll, please) I got a call from SpaceCat saying she'd remembered the title and it was The Golden Goblet. Two minds working alike. :-) (More on this important call later).

She enjoyed The Borrowers series, by Mary Norton, and The Silent Miaow: a Manual for Kittens, Strays, and Homeless Cats by Paul Gallico. I loved the description for this book ... it's a manual which teaches kittens, strays,and homeless cats how to obtain, captivate and dominate the humans of their choosing!

Now, back to that phone call: The most important part of the call was that books that SpaceCat had been most fond of were the Little Bear Series by Else Holmelund Minarik. I too loved these books, and remember Tall Reader reading them to her sons .... This is a delightful series of stories about a mother bear and her son (the father is a sea captain and away on voyages much of the time).

In Junior High SpaceCat discovered Andre Norton which launched her into science fiction and fantasy, which is what she was reading (and was one of the reasons) when we became friends. :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog