Last fall, I had the opportunity to browse through children’s books at a Roman bookstore.  Despite the Italian titles, I recognized many of the books from the covers  - Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham, and Scooby Doo.   Other books included Geronimo Stilton and The Guinness Book of Records.  It is kind of neat to think of a child in Italy enjoying the same characters and stories as a child in Urbana, IL.

When I came back to the states I was quite taken by one of our display cases that held a collection of Star Wars puppets.  These characters made me think of stories across time and my own childhood, when my brother and I would spend hours playing with Star Wars figures.  One of us got the idea to attach one end of a line to the fireplace mantel and another to the middle of the Christmas tree, allowing Luke Skywalker to slide right into Death Star (a.k.a. the tree) undetected.   Those hours of play – those stories – still connect us today.

What favorite books and stories do you share with your friends and family? -Elaine