Today, August 20, is National Radio Day which means, of course, I found books to read in celebration! ;-)

Living so close to the border my family and I have always listened to CBC Radio. (I am a fan of The Vinyl Cafe). Seems at some point listeners were asked to send in their favorite recipes for cookies and other tasty treats and the response was huge! The result was a book: Great Canadian Cookies, Bars & Squares: CBC Radio Listeners Share Their Family Favourites, compiled by Sheila Peacock & Jennifer Abrams. I won't be trying to cook anything (safer for everyone) but the stories that came with them are wonderful!

It's getting so that the radio age is becoming nothing but a memory, but here's a nice little history of one momentous event to educate younger readers! Aliens are Coming: the True Account of the 1938 War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast, by Meghan McCarthy explains how this drama fooled so many people.

Are you a fan of NPR? Here is all got started! This Is NPR: the First Forty Years has contributions from the names you'll recognize, to those behind the scenes as well as pictures from around the world as public radio grew. There's a nice time line of significant events, and excerpts from major stories.

From a few radio enthusiasts, to audiences nation wide, Hello, Everybody: the Dawn of American Radio, by Anthony Rudel is a nice history of the industry. Once the idea caught on the possibilities seemed endless: weather reports, presidential campaigns, sports, religious services, even square dances! (The radio station provided the music and the caller, you did the dancing). Live audiences were used (originally station staff) to enhance comedy routines ... which were then included on the tape for a later broadcast. I loved the definition of a "powerful" station of 500 watts ... I can remember a local station boasting of "5000 watts of powerful good listening". :-)

Radios used to come in all sorts of interesting shapes, and featuring popular characters! Check them out in Radios: the Golden Age, by Philip Collins. I rather liked the globe radio! Other designs include a Coca Cola Cooler, Mickey Mantle, and even one that looked like a microphone.

The early days of radio seemed to be a sort of controlled chaos, or at least that's the feeling I got from Radio Girls, by Sarah-Jane Stratford. Although a work of fiction, many real people are included, in fact, one was actually the inspiration for this novel about the early days of the BBC. 'Modern' women stir things up with radical ideas for broadcast (votes for women, oh my!), there are Nazi spies (or are there?), and a most interesting special effects crew. Overall I enjoyed it although it felt rushed, and incomplete in a few places.

Now, to end this radio trail, something that appealed to me because I have fond memories of mine, too AND because it puts one of those (hopefully) unexpected spins on things I enjoy doing. My Little Red Wagon: Radio Flyer Memories, by Robert Pasin and Paul Pasin. The authors, grandsons of Antonio Pasin, the man who created the first little wagon, asked for stories and pictures of this popular toy for the 80th anniversary. They were thrilled with the multi-generational stories and pictures they received and how they picked the winners, well!, it must have been hard! This is one of those amazing stories of an immigrant with a dream that succeeded. You'll find out why Radio was used in the name, too. :-) Is there a Little Red Wagon in your past?

Reading Hermit With Dog