First love

We’re not talking about puppy love, crushes or the like. This is important stuff as Book Club Classics asks, “What is the first book you simply remember loving?”

You never forget your first love. It undoubtedly was How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. My first memories of books involves a favorite aunt who lived in Minneapolis reading this to me whenever she visited our house. It made this a year-round book, even though I’m sure she wondered about reading a Christmas book in the summer. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I simply loved Max and, evidently showing my cynical side early, actually liked the Grinch more than the Whos.

My love for that book led to a collection of Dr. Seuss books that came through some children’s book club she or my parents enrolled me in. As for so many of my generation — and later ones — Dr. Seuss helped turn me into a reader. Although Grinch became strictly holiday fare as I grew older, there’s no doubt it helped create my love of books and to learn to read.

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The books I read as a child transformed me, gave meaning and perspective to my experiences. and helped to mould whatever imaginative, intellectual or creative strengths I can lay claim to now. No doll or game had that impact on me, no pair of jeans ever changed my life.

Michele Landsberg’s Guide to Children’s Books