Don't you think it is such an important collection if you still have your notes, as an elementary student, when you are already at high school like myself? Even more, when we are an adult, and still having our notes when we are at the first grade? Lucky are those who still have it!
I wish, I still have those books for children, that I had when I was a kid back home in the village. The weather in our village was and still cold, generally speaking. Without keeping books dry and put them at safe places in the house, books can easily be damaged, torn, wet and useless.
Plus, children in my village, as their parents, do not have reading habit. There is no library in the village, at all. None. As I reflect now, this situation makes people there do not have appreciation to keep books in good shapes so the books can last long. No, nothing.
As kid, I did let some of my friends taking my books and they didn't return the books. Did I care? Most likely, no. I can justify myself now that I was a kid, I didn't care to keep the book safe and in a good shape so those books could last long.
Reading and taking care of books was not my world, I only read and being interested on those books for a while. Also, I spent most of my time at the farm. There is a possibility that I could take any of those books to our farm and the book was damaged, torn or even left there, rotten and gone.
BOBO
I started reading BOBO at least since I was 9 years of age, may be even younger than that. My dad's oldest sister, who lives in Jakarta, regularly sent me BOBO to the village together with other books, and stuffs that I needed such as pen, notes, clothes, etc (et cetera).
Some of those BOBOs were also damaged, torn, wet, and gone. I managed to keep some editions up until now.Â
I am pretty sure, reading BOBO does contribute to my habit on liking to read especially non-text-books that are used at school. By reading BOBOs, I come to know all kind of information available on every edition. It was always a joy for me to find a new edition being sent from Jakarta.
At home here, I have some of Enid Blyton's books. Blyton is a teacher, an English children's writer. She is one of the most important children's writers in the world and her books have been translated into more than 90 languages.
