My dad worked at the Veterans Hospital as a recreation therapist. The hospital had a large library for the patients, but if a book wasn’t read by any patient for a long period, it would be thrown out. My father took some of those books being thrown out, if he found them interesting but also appropriate for his children, home. So we had bookshelves on two walls in a room in our basement full of books.
Since I loved to read and was interested in everything and anything, I read all those books. Two of the books I especially liked. I still remember them today. I noticed today they’re both still available to purchase, which I didn’t expect!
‘Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House’ was a story written by Eric Hodgins about a man who lived in an apartment in NYC much too small for his family. He purchases his dream house, but it turns out to be a disaster. The old farmhouse, purchased for many times the actual market value, is in such bad shape that it can only be torn down. He then builds a new house where the old house had stood, but has all sorts of problems with the architect, masons, carpenters, roofers, etc. I found the story hilarious when I was a kid. Later in life I had similar problems, although not as bad as those of Mr. Blandings, with my own house in the country.
‘Where Did You Go? Out, What Did You Do? Nothing’ is a short book written by Robert Paul Smith. It’s a humorous book, but it advocates leaving children time for themselves. In suburbia in the US in the 1950s, when the book was written, there was already a tendency to send kids to dance lessons, music lessons, football practice, softball practice, etc. The author promotes the idea of giving children time for themselves, so they can think about things and so they learn how to manage boredom. I thought, and still think, this little book was fantastic!