A Boy and his Books

As far back as I can remember, I've been a voracious reader. I was very sick as a child, with asthma, allergies and various other ailments that often kept me alone in my room. I would get nature books at the grocers, like Seashells of the World, a Golden Guide, for about a dollar. I would read Highlights at the doctor's office, and the backs of cereal boxes at home.

Some time in the late 1960s or early 1970s, I began to purchase books through my elementary school that were made available from Scholastic Book Services and their Scholastic Book Clubs. We would get a newspaper-like catalog that listed books we could buy, and a form with check boxes to order what we wanted. Always excited to get the new form, I raced home, made my selections and then begged my mother for enough money to get them (they were really inexpensive). I think my book budget was about a dollar -- which would net me four or five paperback books. Then, of course, the wait for a couple weeks until the box arrived in our classroom and the books were handed out. It was a happy time. I wish I could remember the names of all the books I got through school. There were dozens, perhaps even hundreds.

I have a vague recollection of only one specific book from that period: Life Under the Sea. I think the reason I remember that one is the dramatic cover illustration of a giant squid in a fight to the death with a sperm whale.