Someone asked me recently for the name of the first book I ever read. I kind of just looked at them blankly, because I couldn’t remember specifics. I mean, I know I’ve been reading all my life, and my parents read to me as a little kid before I was even able to string letters together to form words… But to provide the name of the FIRST book I ever read was impossible. Even now, after having thought about it for a while, I still can’t come up with an answer I’m confident is true. But there are a few books I do remember from my early childhood…

First up is an illustrated book that I absolutely adored called The Story of Imelda, Who Was Small, by Morris Lurrie:

If memory serves, this book was about a really tiny girl who was so small that she slept in a shoebox. Her…