Today, June 16th is Father’s day. I could not leave with only one post for my father. I felt the need to look deep into the library, and pull together another tribute to my dad and his books.
I would like to honor my father by displaying several of his childhood books that have been passed along to me.
“Bible Symbols or the Bible in Pictures” by Frank Beard, 1908. This unusual book was given to my dad from his Aunt Esther. He practiced writing his name in the back of the book. She also gave him “Our Friendly Animals and Whence They Came” by Karl Patterson Schmidt, 1938 for a birthday. He kept the books because of his fond memory of her.
Also have several books he either bought, or was gifted in his youth. They were all signed by him inside the cover:
“Red and Blue books of Trees” 1948; and “Red, Blue, and Green books of Birds” 1941. These were printed by Whitman books in Racine. He had these books first to teach himself, and then later in life, to teach us about our outdoor surroundings. I used them for research at Westfield school projects. They made their way to spend years at my mom’s classroom. And Mom and Dad often drove us to Racine to buy other books directly from Whitman publishers.
Through these few books, my father taught me about faith, family, nature, and the need (and desire) to read. He continued to be an active reader (and a good father) his remaining, yet too short life.
To quote Lily Hardy Hammond, “You don’t pay love back, you pay it forward.” I try to live up to those expectations. Happy Father’s Day to our fathers; and to us fathers…pass it along.
Thanks for reading…I’m going to remain for a bit and browse through “Bible Symbols”.
Librarytomes 