One of the nice things when your kids get to reading age is finding out whether all those old books you held on to for years are of any value.
One of the first books I loved when I was in the first and second grades was the How and Why Wonder Book of Dinosaurs. Note the cost: $.69. That was in 1970 or 1971. The nuns had the H&W series at school and I bummed enough change from my parents to buy a set at the East Milton ‘5 & 10’ store. (In those days there really were a lot of things you could get for five and ten cents.)
So it’s gratifying to find that my 7-year-old not only likes to read from this every night, she prefers it to the more current books from the Children’s section of Borders and Barnes & Noble. Given how much we’ve learned about dinosaurs since 1970, the book is still a delightful overview for kids (and doesn’t talk down to them).
In short, my book-hoarding years are paying off.
I remember that book from my childhood.
Oh, man. I had that one too.
Are you sure it only goes back to the 70s? I could swear mine was a hand-me-down from my Dad, which would put it in the late 50s to early 60s.
No, you’re right–it does go further back. But the one I bought at the time was a “new” printing.
I have fond memories of St. Agathat’s grammar school. Even at that time, we used to joke about the datedness of our history and geography books, which contained such memorable gems as, “Some day, we’ll put a man on the moon.”
I checked: the original was indeed from 1960.