Sunday, Apr 26, 2026

The Joy of Children's Books

 

It was the middle of the day in the middle of the week.  My coffee buzz was beginning to wear off and I was sitting at my desk wondering which of the items on my far-too-long to-do-list was the most appealing.

Then my eyes lit on a short stack of books recently purchased, sitting on my desk and waiting to be catalogued.  On the top of the stack were the two books pictured above:  The Little Prince and A Little Princess.

My immediate thought was, my goodness, how often does THAT happen?  Perhaps more often than one might think, but it seemed serendipitous to me.

Most of you have probably read, or at least heard of, The Little Prince.  Written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, it was first published in the United States in 1943, and has never been out of print.  It tells the story of a pilot meeting a little prince from another world; the moral of the book is about learning what is truly important in life and what is merely superficial. 

A Little Princess is, in its own way, as popular a story.  Written by Frances Hodgson Burnett (of Secret Garden fame), this edition has illustrations by Ethel Franklin Betts.  As with The Little Prince, A Little Princess has never been out of print.  It tells the story of a rich girl who is sweet and kind to all, even when circumstances changed and, thought to be penniless, she was treated horribly. 

A friend asked me recently what book was my favourite as a child.  While there were too many to answer the question in anything less than a few hours, it made me realize the incredible power of children’s books.  What we read when we are young and impressionable stays with us, imprinted upon our brains, for decades.

More than that, the mere fact of reading as a child, and discovering the joy thereof, is the greatest gift one can receive.  They transport us over space and time.  I will admit that I enjoy Instagram.  A recent post had a clip wherein a teacher is speaking to a young student across his desk thus:  "The best moments in reading are when you come across something, a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things, that you’ve thought special, particular to you.  And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you’ve never met, maybe even someone long dead.  And it’s as if a hand has come out and taken yours."

For me, the love of reading led me, eventually, to open Swan’s Fine Books.  I’m sure the same love of reading led many to become book collectors.  I am so very grateful to the collectors, customers, and colleagues I’ve met since I became a bookseller.  I’m fortunate to be part of a wonderful community, whose motto (through our international association, ILAB) is "Amor Librorum Nos Unit” – “The love of books unites us".

 

"To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life."
     - W. Somerset Maugham