"Books are memories. Throughout your life, you'll reflect on favorite children's books. When you later pick them up, they'll evoke nostalgia. The characters leap out as long-lost friends who are always there, unchanged, when you return to their timeless world."
from The New Magic Bookshelf
Are you missing some friends from childhood -- perhaps even some whose names you can't recall? The Magic Bookshelf chapter Do As I Do details hanging on to treasured childhood books -- and if they've been lost or discarded over the years, finding them again. Sharing these best-loved pieces of your childhood with your children is what author Janie McQueen calls leaving a "literary legacy."
How do you go about recovering long-lost, out-of-print items, or tracking down a copy that might be in better condition than your own tattered version?
Don't remember the title or author? Even if you can only recall the name of a character or two, or the setting, or a vague storyline, your cause isn't lost. Loganberry Books has a unique --and highly entertaining -- service called "Stump the Bookseller" in which the most obscure, out-of-print juvenile titles are brought out of the fog of nostalgia. Just click on the link to give it a whirl.
If you do remember the title or author, it's time to jump in and try a rare and out-of-print source like Powell's or AbeBooks, which have solid Internet presences and amazing inventories of books just waiting to be found.
