Yusuf থেকে Řepiště, Czech Republic
Inscription inside is Christmas 1953 To Lee B. Slauter III from Aunt Irma W. Curry To Pook from Tee with very best love Old and tattered, taped together and with an occasional missing piece of the page, this book epitomizes the essence of a well-loved book. Couldn't resist rescuing it from the Friends of the Library bookstore, nor from giving it a 5 just because of the memories it evokes. Update about this book: My daughter was a new 2nd grade teacher and I was helping her build a good classroom library (she picked the books and you guessed it, I took care of the bill). It is the one and only time we set out to visit all of the Friends of the Library, Goodwill and used books stores we could find. Most have odd hours and of course, the web pages weren't always updated. We arrived shortly before closing and had to choose books from their stock very quickly. Among the thousands available, this one just jumped out and demanded our attention. We don't usually buy books in bad condition, but the topic and the inscription made it special. Sadly, many of her 2nd graders are unfamiliar with many nursery rhymes and so we picked up several to help fill the gap. That evening, we read favorites to each other even though there wasn't a single child in sight. The memory makes me smile. Later, I added the book via Goodreads, listing the inscription because it felt right to include it. My daughter then added it to her teacher's library and read the rhymes to the children. The book rested quietly in our care for about a year. And then, out of the blue, came an unexpected e-mail from a stranger. It was the daughter of Lee, aka Pook. He died when she was young. Although she says she has 'bad technology karma', she put her father's name into the search box and found the listing. Had to create a GoodReads account just to email me. And, as it turns out, she has a little girl, just the right age for the book. As a reader, I love books, as a parent, I loved reading together with my girls. As the family genealogist, I also have a deep appreciation for small, tangible items that belong to family members. I surround myself with them and so there was no hesitation, the book will go where it belongs. I wanted to share this story for several reasons. First is that it is incredible how many people it took to get this book from him to his daughter. The aunt who bought a book for a child the person who kept the book safe all these years the Friends of the Library volunteers, my daughter and myself, the Goodreads programmers and staff since it was vital to helping us connect, the search engine and its support, the daughter who reached out to a stranger. Even the post office, as beleaguered as it is, will help. Second is that we are losing something very important as we slowly let go of paper copies and allow the publishers to greedily lock us into 'rentals' stored in a cloud and often unlendable. Sharing is powerful in binding people together. This book is over 50 years old, and is a priceless memento for the daughter and her child. It will help her connect to a great-aunt she didn't know she had, and draw her a little closer to the father she barely knew. It is tangible. Technology has its place and it played an important role in the story of this book. But I can't imagine today's Nook or Kindle being in use 50 years from now, nor will downloadable files be inscribed with the kind of feeling invoked by the handwritten "To Pook from Tee with very best love".
loved it.