posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 1:48 PM by Nicole.Riehl

Story Time at the Cedar Rapids Public Library


Dr. Seuss was popular with people I interviewed today at the library. Classics like "Green Eggs and Ham" and "The Cat and the Hat" topped their list of favorite childhood books.

My favorite childhood book, on the other hand, is much more obscure: "Patchy Pumpkin Finds Himself a Home." It's rare enough that I only found one copy for sale on Amazon.com - a used copy priced at $299. Apparently it's in really high demand, or "Bilicansdad" has no intention of selling it.

My memory of this book is a little foggy, considering how long it's been since I last read it. From what I recall, Patchy the Pumpkin is sad because no one picks him to be a jack-o-lantern or to use for pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. As the cold winter rolls in, he sits in the patch, feeling lonesome and unloved. Fortunately, a family of field mice is in need of a home. They discover Patchy, hollow him out, and move in.

I'm not sure why I like the story so much. Maybe it's the happy ending, or the colorful illustrations. My favorite page was toward the end, when the mice decorate Patchy for Christmas. Or, maybe it's just fond memories of my parents reading the book to my brother and me before we drank our chocolate milk and headed for bed.

Now that I'm a mom-to-be, I'll have to dig it out of storage. Then again - maybe I should preserve it in a glass case if it's really worth 300 bucks. Nah. What good is it if we can't enjoy it?

Next week, Carly will hit a coffee shop to talk with people about caffeine consumption.



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