Books That Shaped Me: Childhood Edition

Hello my lovely readers!

Welcome to the first installment of the Books that Shaped Me series! The series is pretty self-explanatory, but if you haven't already guessed, this series is about the books that shaped who I am as a woman. It's a three part series starting with my childhood and will go through my teenage years (middle school and high school) and college/post graduate years. Here we go!

Honey, I Love

This is the first books I remember reading in my childhood. It was a "previously loved" book from my sister. I always remember my mom stating that she liked this poetry collection about love because it was "clean." Even one of the poems says "love ain't about all that kissing." I think I'm so fond of it because it had a beautiful Black girl on it, so I had representation at an early age and this theme of representation in books, entertainment and even my dolls would continue on throughout my life. It's a sweet book and I still have this copy sitting at home in my reading room. I'm saving it to read and give to my future daughter.

Retold Fairytales

This is NOT the official name of this series of books, but I noticed that it was often in parentheses on Amazon. This series of books was written and illustrated by the late Fred Crump Jr. (more on him in a future Author Spotlight) and it was all about fairytales retold for African American children. Do you know what it was like to read Afrotina and the Three Bears or Jamako and the Beanstalk as a child? It was AMAZING. Pair that with the Happily Ever After: Fairytales for Every Child series that aired on HBO (which was essentially the TV version of this series) and I was in heaven. Again, representation was big in my family and they weren't going to let me watch or read anything that didn't look like me as a child. I loved this series and please believe I bought the entire series for my future children!

Officer Buckle and Gloria

Now, this book taught some valuable lessons: don't be a ham, don't be a bore and figure out how to make them both coexist to keep people engaged. However, the main reason this book stuck with me is because....I stole it from my school library and was too afraid to tell anyone. I was in second grade and I checked it out and never returned it! I was too scared of getting in trouble about having it out too long, so for the rest of the school year, while everyone was searching for it, it sat in my desk. Untouched. On the last day of school when we had to clean out our desks, I miraculously found it. I didn't get in trouble for it either, but that ordeal with this book taught me at a young age to speak up.

The American Girl Series

I'm pretty sure you already know why I loved this series. Black girl. I won't apologize for it. I ONLY read the Addy series of The American Girl Series.  I eventually read Josefina's series, but all I cared about was Addy. I liked that I got a history lesson from this book in a digestible manner. I always rooted for Addy. Now, they've added another Black girl to the American Girl series named Claudine. You know it's already on my shelf.

Animorphs

Alright, I'm going to be 100% honest right now. I've only read two or three of these books. I KNOW, I KNOW. I collected ALL of these books but never read any of them. I just never got around to them and then my mom sold MY ENTIRE COLLECTION FOR ONE DOLLAR. I guess time is of the essence when it comes to reading right?

I loved this series (more so the television series) because it was something completely different than anything I'd ever read. People turning into animals? Sign me up! It was my only foray into the science fiction/fantasy genre, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I only have one copy of an Animorphs book now. It's one of Cassie's stories. 😉

The Skin I'm In

I could wax poetic about this book for the rest of my life. I'll never forget when I saw it. I was in fourth grade and we had received our Scholastic book orders. As I flipped through the pages, there she was, on the second page. Me...or at least a girl who closely resembled me. I was so awestruck that after walking home from school, I immediately ran to my mom and breathlessly asked, "MOM THIS GIRL LOOKS LIKE ME! CAN I PLEASE GET THIS BOOK?"

She read the blurb and said "Wow, she does look like you, especially with those almond eyes." When our book orders were delivered, I tightly squeezed this book like it was a teddy bear. I DEVOURED this book in one sitting and re-read it all the time. This book left such an impression on me about loving the skin you're in and it gave me even more confidence to be proud of my features and my race. I'll always love this book. Stay tuned for more about the author in an upcoming Author Spotlight!

Honorable Mentions

Maniac McGee, Where the Red Fern Grows, When Pigs Fly, The Babysitters Club and The Magic Treehouse

I loved all these books growing up, but the ones that I loved the most, were the ones where I saw myself in the stories....plus, it helped that they were all well-written!