Thirty Jewel Boxes

 

Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel, was published in 1972, which means it’s fifty years old this year. So are Agatha Christie’s Elephants Can Remember, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Glass Elevator, James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small, Richard Adam’s Watership Down, Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day. Seventy-five years ago, Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl was published. That same year saw the publication of C. S. Lewis’ Miracles, Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon, Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague, and Marcia Brown’s Stone Soup. Among the books that became centenarians this year are The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting, Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes by Beatrix Potter, Kabumpo in Oz by L. Frank Baum, and The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. Isn’t it about time you read a really, really old book? Or better yet, shared one with someone you love?