Take a look... it's in a book.

Ciao, Bee readers! I'm Monica aka Chessa! from Ciao, Chessa! When Melisa asked me to guest blog during her maternity leave of course I did not hesitate to say absolutely!

A new baby is such a blessing, a celebration of life and love. It's wonderful to think about the special things and moments that made our childhoods memorable and for me, the number one most treasured memory about my days as a growing girl—other than Thursday night dinners with my family when my parents would order Chinese and watch Family Ties and The Cosby Show with my sister and me—were books. Lots and lots and lots of books.

Both of my parents love to read and passed that love on to my sister and me. So, in celebration of the Wee Bee and of happy childhoods everywhere, here is a (short) personal list of my favorite books from my childhood, in no particular order:

1. The Favorite Place by Irmengarde Eberle
I have the hardcover version stamped by my school library where I bought it when I was about eight years old. In fact, I think part of the reason I loved the book so much is because it was the first one I bought for myself. It's a very random book and, based on a Google search, I see that it's out of print.

2. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

I loved Max. This is a book that I always went back to. Even when I was older, I used to study the illustrations. The details amazed me. The book is only about 10 lines long and coupled with the images on the page and the images you create in your mind, it feels like much longer. I had quite an obsession with wolves when I was younger (see number 3) and now that the movie is coming out, it's the perfect reason to rediscover this classic.

3. The Call of the Wild by Jack London

This book is a bit dark for little kids but I loved it when I was a little older. My dad bought it for me and I remember reading it in two days. I was in the 3rd grade; I know this because I wrote "Grade 3" plus my address and phone number on the first page. And, then apparently I read it again in the 4th grade because I put an "x" over the 3 and wrote "4"—this cracks me up for some reason.

4. ALL of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary

My dad brought one home and I was hooked. I read every single one. Ramona was such a pain in the tush and I was an older sister with a younger sister so I loved these stories. My poor sister, she just wanted to hang out with me and I found comfort knowing that Beezus was going through the same thing that I was.

5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

I loved this story even though it scared me so much. I have a very, very distinct memory of my grandmother reading this story to me and making all of the voices. By the way, I'm starting to see the trend here, I kind of liked dark, scary-ish stories. I also liked (and still like) fantasy stories and strange characters.

6. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Beyond The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, my sister and I were obsessed with the entire series of books in The Chronicles of Narnia. I think she has the collection. We devoured those books. We were also obsessed with the movie and watched it all the time. I think my parents still have the tape where my dad recorded it from television at home. I revisited these books after many years during my senior year in college when I read them all to the children I babysat for three days a week. I loved seeing their faces full of wonder as I read to them and I imagined myself with the same look when I first heard the stories.

7. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. They broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed. They left the house at half past nine in two straight lines in rain or shine—the smallest one was Madeline."

Who doesn't remember that? I loved Madeline. She was fun and feisty and adventurous. I think that my obsession with Paris may have come from reading about Madeline. In fact, my husband, the doll that he is, bought me Mad About Madeline: The Complete Tales for Valentine's Day one year knowing that I'd pass it on to our kids one day. To know him is to love him.

8. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Goblins and monsters and hobbits and magic and faraway lands? Yes, please.

9. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I loved this story even though it was a little sad, and I really loved the movie. I remember thinking that the kids had such a special relationship. I loved that they were all so different and had such different experiences but their friendships were so strong.

10. The Wizard of Oz

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my! Okay, not really a book but my sister and I watched the movie a zillion times. Another one of those that my dad recorded on the VCR with the commercials included. I remember running up to the TV to hit fast forward...

So, that's my list. What's on yours?

-Monica of Ciao, Chessa!

PS: Bee here. My family passed on to me a similar love of books (I loved Charlotte's Web and James and the Giant Peach!), and so I purposely picked today, what would have been my grandmother's birthday, to post this list. Love you, Gram.