All the books that I was allowed to finish
By
Gerry Niskern
“I read the whole book. It was so good. I liked the little dog best”, I happily announced to my teacher. Surprise! I received an embarrassing scolding for reading ahead of the two pages assigned.
Looking back, I realize we didn’t have any other books in the classroom and Miss Mary Jane Crow was planning on spending a lot of time on that first grade reader.
At home I read the comics in the newspaper, and of course, everything else I could make out too. When we passed the library building down in town I was fascinated to learn that it was full of books and you could borrow them! I was too shy to ask to go in.
I was ten when we moved to Phoenix and I discovered the Carnegie Library on West Washington. It was only ten blocks from our house but Mom was hesitant to let me go alone. I begged my older sister to go with me, but she had just discovered the teenage boy down the street.
Children were not allowed in the main room. I was directed to go around the side of the big red brick building to the entrance to the basement, the children’s department. The red side door welcomed me and I began my adventures of reading every single book in that huge basement. There is no other way to describe the feeling of pure joy each time I looked at those shelves of books.
I staggered home with armloads of books every week. In the summer I walked over in the cool evening. I didn’t realize that I was acquiring knowledge of the world and its traditions. My imagination was developing and creating my own images of the stories. I was developing empathy, creativity and gaining vocabulary too.
I read every book in the girl’s section, and of course my favorite was the “Little House” series. I started on the boys area and finished it too. Then, all I could do was wait; wait until my twelfth birthday. Then I would be allowed to take out a card in the adult section upstairs.
The quiet room was overwhelming. Beautiful polished hardwood floors called for tiptoe. Looking up, “I’m twelve now and I would like to have an adult library card, please.” I whispered to the little while haired lady sitting at the high counter. At last, I could read any book I wanted and I carried several volumes home that day.
I was thirteen when the war was over and many heart wrenching books were written by people who actually experienced the war. I read those books and learned more about history than any movie could have shown.
Of course, later on, after I was married, I was still voraciously reading. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that as a young mother I balanced my current book on my lap along with my babies as I fed them.
My great-great-granddaughter is in first grade and has fallen in love with reading. At Christmas I gave her the complete set of the “Little House” books. I Think the poor kid already knows she is only going to receive books from this grandmother.

(FAVORITE BOOKS: When I started w/c painting my bible was a book on composition and design by Whitney. And as with any class, I learned you need to “Hit the books” if you really want to excel. My go -to book for writing was called “The Elements of Style” by Stroud.