Yes, this is an encyclopedia set. The World Book Encyclopedia, copyright year
1972, to be exact.
It traveled all the way from Bronx to
Miami.
When I was five, and reading a favorite
series, I asked my mom about a word, and she pointed to our bookcase—it is the
same one that now sits in our sunroom in our Miami home—and she pointed out
our dictionaries, and often opened one. Never mind that my little hands could
barely move the hardcover and turn its delicate pages. It felt half my size.
Mom said, "Any word you need. Any
words you don't know the meaning of—use this book."
When I read more, and needed more, I
asked for other titles, those with identical binder design—dark brown, gold
outline and lettering—and was similarly told by Dad that I could use the “big
people” books.
What were other pre-k to first graders
reading? I wouldn't know. I learned almost all the known dog species by second
and third grade; I also learned about the cat breeds a little later.
When a seventh grade science teacher paired
me up with my friend, also a classmate, for a science project, my friend said
we needed to go to the local public library for research. "No,” I told
her. “We can go to my house. We have a library
there." She must've thought it was just three books by the look she gave
me.
By then, my dad had acquired another
set, discarded by my junior high's library. We also had an older set, dating
earlier than the World Book
collection. But I had learned early on not to use those often. This particular set
barely had photos, and most were poorly drawn illustrations—I did not realize,
at the time, I was a budding artist—and what little photographs the books had
were in black and white.
That afternoon, I led my friend into our
house, to our sunroom. She gasped when she saw our three-piece bookcase. She
grew more excited by our reference shelves.
"You weren't kidding!" she
said.
"Then let's get started." I
ran my finger over the binders, reciting which letter and secondary letter of
the encyclopedias we would use for our class work research.
The next day, my friend bragged about my
bookcases in science class. Our teacher was surprised by the level of research
we had done.
"It's because of Carmen's
library." My friend gushed to the teacher. "She has HUNDREDS of
books! Like a real library!"
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Carmen Welsh, (a.k.a. Kayfey, Angry Goblin, In Pretty Print, and Goblinrant), holds an Associate in Art Education from Miami-Dade
Community College and a Bachelor of Science from Barry University in
Information Technology. She's published stories and artwork in fanzines,
anthology magazines, and e-zines. One of her earlier short fiction became a
podcast. Carmen also contributes to various blogs and is part of a hive of
nerdy/geeky writers for the Nerd Junk
Food Blog. She tweets updates about latest projects and enjoys updating her
own website: http://TabbertheRed.com without calling tech support. Carmen is a
member of the Furry Writer's Guild.
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