Tiny Golden Books
Books were a very important part of my family's culture - possibly the MOST important. Because we are quiet reserved types of people, books were how we communicated with each other. It began in the beginning. My parents would read to us each and every night before bedtime. We read a passage from the Bible each night after dinner. Reading time was the time my family was closest, physically and emotionally. Even today we pass books from one family member to another, and every time my family gets together we all gather in the same room and read our respective books.
One particular set of books held special meaning to my sisters and I: the Tiny Golden Books. This was an old set of twenty-four tiny cardboard children's books measuring only three inches tall and two inches wide. They were read only on special occasions because they were very old and falling apart.
The stories in the books told short parables using anthropomorphic animal characters who learned lessons about minding their manners or telling the truth. The tiny illustrated pages were rich in detail, bringing you into an alternate ideal world inhabited by lovable giraffes and bunnies dressed in old-fashioned children's clothing.
But the most important aspect of the book was its tiny size. They were made to fit in a five-year-old's hand. This made the experience of reading the book, or having the book read to you, extremely tactile. This was especially poignant when my father would read the books to us, his giant hands suddenly becoming awkward as he handled the delicate pages. The books rendered the child the center of the experience, the master of the book. And to a five-year-old it is a magical experience.
-Adrienne