My Grade 2 Reader and my primary Song book
When I was a child, I eagerly anticipated the start of each new school year. The first week or two were magical. There were new teachers, new subjects, new routines, and, above all, new books.
In the first week of each new school year, we were issued our textbooks. These belonged to the school but a copy was entrusted to each student for a year. In Year 1 of primary, there was only one such book – a reader. Each year, the number of schoolbooks increased and by the time I was in high school, a dozen or so would be handed out to each student.
Receiving the books involved some trepidation. Each of us hoped that we would get copies that the previous custodian had taken good care of; that there would be no scribbled notes, stains or dog-ears. Of course, the school had a system in place designed to prevent such abuse: each copy contained a little slip where we would have to sign our name and enter it into the list of custodians. Still, being allocated a copy whose previous custodians included A-students or anyone you admired was a good omen.
Once the books had been handed out, we would schlep them home and spend the afternoon covering them neatly in protective paper.
And then the real fun could begin: reading the books. I loved that initial read of the Literature book with its stories and poems; the Geography book exploring far-away places; the History book enabling time travel; the Biology book explaining the natural world; Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Political Science, Religious Studies, Latin, English, French – I browsed all these textbooks with awe and read as much as I could. And with eager anticipation I looked forward to the point in the school year when we would study each lesson in detail and fully unravel the treasures they promised.
Throughout the school year, the books became our regular companions. We would carry them to and from school at least once or twice a week (some, like the Maths book, every day). And we would read them over and over again and use them to prepare for tests and exams.
At the end of the school year, the textbooks had to be returned to the school so that they could be passed on to the next student cohort. By then, the books had yielded all their secrets and new riches could be expected one grade up when school would return after the summer break.
When handing in the books, each copy was closely inspected by the teacher in charge and woe to the student who had not taken good care of their books; or, heaven forbid, lost their copy. Like most students, I was terrified that the inspection might find flaws for which I would be held responsible.
Sometimes, we were the last group of students to use a particular edition and, if that happened, we were allowed to keep them. Even today, I have those copies in my library.
The practices surrounding our textbooks taught us that books are precious and need to be treated with respect. They taught us that we are part of the great chain of human generations and that we are responsible for the legacy we leave to those who come after us. They taught us that books are guides and constant companions that help you grow and mature. And they gave me the gift of a lifelong love for reading and learning.
My experience with my schoolbooks was specific to a particular place and time. What lessons did your schoolbooks teach you? I don’t mean what their content was but what the practices surrounding their use taught you about books, life, and knowledge?
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This post brings back memories of when I was back in school. I was quite interested in reading books and used to always try and take a few books home from the library to read over the weekend. Not only that, my friends and I would always share and exchange copies of books by Enid Blyton. This interest of reading books reached epic proportions when the Harry Potter series came out. I have since then read many other books, and now I try and get my nieces and nephews to read those same books.
I enjoyed reading this post. Growing up books have always been an essential part of my life. My mum would read bedtime stories to me which later went on to me reading before I went to sleep. In school I was encouraged to keep my textbooks neat and tidy so that I could later give them away to someone less fortunate in need. I cannot express how much I agree when you say that books are a constant companion and help you grow and mature. Initially, I would borrow books from a library however, after I received the Harry Potter series as a present from my aunt I began to buy books and collect them. Back home in India, I was part of a group where we had to share our favourite books and pass them around every couple of months. At the end of the year, we would meet and talk about our experiences reading these books. There’s so much of knowledge in books. I’ve found inspirational stories from history, poems that resonate with me.
‘There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island. Best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.’ – Walt Disney
Thanks for sharing an interesting story about books. I really love schoolbooks when I was little kid. This interest even went bigger when a book reforming happened in my country. I did compare two books, namely the old and the new one to find out what is more superior. I prefer the old version due to the meaning lessons I can get from the book. However, the new one has better illustration, which attracts attention of the read. Anyways, I love to see how books evolve from years to years.
Thanks, Ingrid
Your article brought me back to my primary school days’ experience. At that time, books were so expensive and it was beyond the affordability of local people to buy them for their children. So, books, published in the donation of different INGOs and NGOs, were distributed to us by the school administrative each year but to attain them we compulsorily had to pass out the class. So, we used to study diligently due to the yearning of getting a new book set for another class. Every year, the day I used to get a new set of books used to be a great celebration day for me; the colorful pictures, new and interesting topics and the fragrance coming from the new books were fascinating things.
But the challenge is to protect them; I had to walk approximately 1 hour to reach school. In the summer season, the school bag and the books used to get wet by the rainfall; even in the winter, due to frostbite, I couldn’t protect my books properly.
I have learned so many lessons from this book protecting practices. Firstly, books are invaluable sources of knowledge; books should be protected to sustain and substantiate knowledge only if the human society can be progressive, prosperous and peaceful. Secondly, challenges are everywhere, nobody is completely free from the network of adversities, obstructions, and difficulties but through our conscious perseverance and devotion, we can overcome it. Thirdly, if we respect our belongings, they respect us. Books are highly effective for deep reading with a thorough comprehension of the text if books are kept safely we can use it repeatedly to rekindle our once learned matter.
Hi Ingrid,
This post reminded my childhood memory, when I were a child my experience was also same. In Nepal there are compulsory subjects such as Nepali, English, Math and general knowledge book in elementary level and each text book has a practice book in private schools. When I started school with heavy bag it made me tired because it was necessary to carry all text books and practice books. For this I complained with my parents about that heavy bag. Reading each text book and doing all homework was really stressful at that time.
When I started my high school study then I realized that books are necessary to gain proper knowledge in each subject. In Nepal schools never provided texts book we bought ourselves and keep those books with us forever. Now those books are in my library, still I love those book, which were the foundation of my academic career.
I remember when I was a young girl, I was told that I had to bring all the textbooks when I want to school everyday. In China, we usually study Math, Chinese, English, Science, Arts, and Music in an elementary school. All the subjects have a textbook. At the same time, these subjects have a students’ workbook. These books are very heavy for a young student. My classmates and I often complain about this requirement to bring these textbook to school because we do not understand the important role that textbooks play in learning process. When I enter a high grade, I have realized that textbooks are becoming more and more important. Because they provide a good way to preview and review the teaching content. It is very helpful to improve the ability of the self-learning .
Ingrid’s story about textbook reminds me of my school days. When I was a primary student, I did not understand why I had to keep my textbooks neatly. My classmates and I would scribble the textbooks or even use them to fight each other. The change did not happen until the night before a final exam. When I opened my Chinese textbook and wanted to recite an article which would be an essential part of the exam to be tested, I found that I could not find that article anymore. Then I remembered that these pages of the textbook might have been tore down by my classmates as a joke. Computers and Internet were not popular to be used at that time so I could do anything about it. As a result, I failed my final Chinese exam. Then my Chinese teacher asked me about the reason of the failure of the exam. I had no choice but to tell the truth. She told me that the importance of a textbook to a student just like the importance of a weapon to a soldier and a soldier could not fight and protect himself without a weapon. After this accident, I realized the importance of protecting textbooks and I never did the same thing again.
Hi, Ingrid.
Thank you for your story which is connected with textbooks.
I was very impressed with the textbooks had to be returned to school and passed on to the next students. In China, whatever it is a public school or a private school, the textbooks won’t be recycle. The main reason is every year there will be several revisions which is followed by new teaching syllabus. More specifically, the educators are asked to gain a deep comprehension of their target groups. To satisfy learners’ need is a basic rule of education system.
Hi Ingrid,
Thank you for sharing your story. It’s wonderful to reuse books and as you said, it develops students’ sense of protecting textbooks. I just think about books in primary schools. In fact, the primary school time is previous and meaningful for me. In my country, we often have new textbooks at the first of the term from schools. I am excited to obtain new books and when i have them, i always put them in my bag carefully to prevent dust. After school, i often ask my father to buy book covers, including different colours and pictures to make those books be more beautiful. Because of decoration of new textbooks, i learn to protect them and treat them as my treasure when i was young. However, when i went to the middle or high school, there are too many notes when i was studying. As a result, these textbooks are more important and necessary for me. In fact, according to these habits, reading is my favourite when i am free in the daily life. In addition, i realise that books are precious and when we cherish them, it is another way to express our respect and appreciate to authors or writers.
I remembered when I was young, before the new semester start, my mother usually borrowed the schoolbooks for me to read it and to know about my new subjects; and I did the same thing each semester until graduating from the high school. That helped me to understand all units. I did not return the books to the school after finish the year; but, I gave it to my cousin to read it before he starts his semester.
I love the idea of books as a ‘constant companion that help you grow and mature’. As a young child in primary school, I was bullied. I would turn to books as a way to escape the torment and explore new worlds, new ideas and new experiences. Still, to this day, I find myself getting lost in marvellous stories and beautiful poetry. I feel that my experience with books, especially those from the school library, taught me about patience and connection, as well as to appreciate the little things in life. They also at times act as a coping mechanism when life gets tough, which I also attribute to my childhood self.
In class, I especially loved receiving books with names, drawings and notations from past students. It reminded me each time that not only was this book a part of my life for a moment, but that I was also a part of its life, which will continue to change and influence, long after I’m finished with it. It brings such a sense of connection to both past and present owners of the book, that perhaps isn’t as common for children growing up in this digital era.
Good morning Professor Ingrid 🙂
Your childhood story was beautiful. The way you described the precious treatment of books made me yearn for an era gone by.
Thank you for the opportunity to now share a snippet of my schoolbook practices.
Growing up in the 1980s in a small sea-side town of Turners Beach, Tasmania (Australia) meant that entertainment was inclined to revolve around nature exploration and schoolbook education. My little primary school was a thirty minute bus trip away from home. It was there that the practices of schoolbooks taught me to highly respect each book as though it was worth the weight of gold. The vivid memories of English books and their series of colours signified that with each passing level I could have a purple book, a pink book, a blue book and a yellow book. I eagerly devoured each page and wrote down my answers on separate pieces of paper with all the energy and self-motivation of a learner who could not wait to start on the next book.
Books were expensive in the 1980s. The Australian Government decided to place a tax on every book that was bought. My Mother was devastated. The school continued to pursue the buying of books, the sharing of them and the utmost caring of them. However, this meant that books became a rare commodity to behold and to make the most of every single page and word contained within them.
Utilizing the primary school library was imperative and all my teachers not only encouraged the use of the library, but they also instilled a rule that after each lunch break we had to choose a book carefully and thoughtfully, then read it for twenty minutes Silent Time. During this Silent Time we soaked in the pages and the books became enmeshed into our lives.
We were all given an opportunity to share our feelings about the books we read with our class members. The funniest book was the iconic Australian one named The Magic Pudding. I tried not to giggle while reading it as the images it drew in my mind of a pudding that never stopped growing was my childhood delight.
School instilled the practice of mindfulness surrounding all books. A mindfulness that we all needed books. They were our only answers.
Hi Ingrid,
Thanks for sharing your experience with your textbooks. I am so impressed that textbooks in your primary school are reusable which is good for the students to take good care of the books and might help create a close relation between them and the next users of the textbooks. That brought me back to my experience about taking good care of my own books as I needed to buy brand new textbooks at school in my country. I was excited at the beginning of the school year because I could buy different types of book covers with different colours to decorate my own books and some of them were even with good smell as well. In addition, I took notes in my beautiful notebooks in order to keep my textbooks clean. After the school year finished, the books always looked like the brand new ones. However when I started to study in the middle school, I found that writing notes in the books is easier for me to review and there were too many textbooks so that I gave up using the protectors to keep them clean. In short, the most important thing that I learned from my previous experience is that books are precious and I should respect the writers by protecting them neatly and completely.
This story is quite fascinating and reminds how I started to enjoying books and those years in a school. I would love fairy tales so much and my siblings used to read magic fairy tales before i sleep. In the kindergarten, I used to listen fairy tales told be teachers with curiosity. The most favority book was “Uulen Bor” covering magic Russian fairy tales and I think that this boos led me to fancy reading books. I find that if a child enjoys being told bedtime stories or fairy tales, this is a sign this child will be a bookworm in the future. Being literate has opened freedom and gives a chance to read any book I am interested in. As being recounted this story, we used to have to share textbooks among 2 or 3, 4 students because there weren’t enough textbooks and we had to give back them at the end of school-year. The advantage of sharing books was that we used to become friends easily while we shared textbooks and studied together. These days, there have been a wide range of books and we have been picky choosing a book to read. I find that a book is a window looking into the world.
Thank you, Ingrid, for this incredible piece of writing. Reading it took me back to my own school days to when my friends and I would swap fictional books with each other and each of us fangirls about particular events or characters. We were 14 years old and we proudly called ourselves bookworms. We would buy books from Dymocks or Big W and then give the books to each other to borrow. I remember a particular series that I loved was called Fallen by Lauren Kate and it became the epitome of my high school experience. When I think about my high school days, I remember my friends and I sitting together in the library at recess and lunch just quietly reading our books and that itself, sparked enough joy and excitement. The whole concept here is giving and taking, as I would deliberately buy a book my friends were excited about just so they could borrow it. The most exciting part was waiting for my friends to finish the book so we could finally talk about its events without worrying about spoiling anyone. Another amusing story is when one of us borrows a book from the school library and we nag each other to hurry up and finish it so we could read it next. Books were part of our friendship, the link in our friendship and what nourished our friendship to what it is today. I’m still in contact with my friends whom I shared books with. After I graduated, I passed on my book collection to my little cousin who was literally following my footsteps. She was a bookworm too and I decided my books deserve a new home whereby they will continue to be loved and appreciated.
Thank you for sharing such a story, and it’s really touched my heart. It softly reminds me about the first time I received the Harry Potter book on my eleventh b-day. Since then, reading becomes one of my top hobbies.
In Vietnam, every year, before the new semester begins, my parents always take me to the book store to buy a new set of appropriate textbooks. I might sound strange but I often read the whole literature textbook before the new session begins, and I still remembered some of the poems in those books. Your delightful story really reminds me of those good old days as I still want to travel back to the past to hear my teacher lesson. All of my textbooks are then passed to my sister, as what the writer’s school did as a way to fully contribute their ability to later generation.
Thank you so much for your reminiscing and taking us back to a little journey to our beautiful first days of school. I got truly immersed in your story as it recalled so much of my early school years in which books had always been a significant part and taught me great life lessons.
I still remember how eager and delightful I was when a new school year came around. In Vietnam, students are required to use a set of textbooks regulated by the government for each grade. Unlike other students, instead of having to purchase new textbooks from local bookstores, I got inherited the whole set from my three elder brothers. The one next to me was a bit of a careless student which turned out to be great as all of his textbooks were clean with almost no marks in it. The other two were studious pupils and kept all their books throughout the years in a small shelf and organized carbon boxes. Thus, I got to read through all the textbooks of higher grades every summer break before the school year starts. Just like you, I found myself stimulated by the knowledge of numerous fields and could not wait to explore them all with teachers in class.
My brothers always taught me to treat books gently as treasures. Hence, every new school year, I would discard the old covers and replace them with the new ones on my own. When the school year ends, I stacked them carefully and handed over to my cousins or neighbor kids. And it has become a habit until now that I still store books after every study period. The passing down of books over years and generations taught me of the importance of knowledge storage and transmission. It has, in the mean time, given me a longing for acquiring more knowledge through constant reading. I strongly hope people will continue viewing books as valuable source of human intelligence and train children not only to read but also preserve their books well.
Thank you for such an inspiring story about schoolbooks. It reminds me of cheerful experiences when I received my own schoolbook for the first time in primary school. In my family, schoolbooks would be passed down from senior relatives to junior ones to save money due to the poverty of my family at that time. In my year 4, people made a great renovation regarding schoolbooks; therefore, all of the students are required to purchase brand new books for their semester. I was the first person in my family possessed the books of the new generation. The first thing I did with my news books was to compare them with the old ones, which gave me a general outlook about the changes to books. Anyways, I always attempted to preserve them with my heart and soul because I thought that those books would be used by my juniors. Sometimes, I did leave them some useful notes that my teachers told me in class. I hoped those notes will help my juniors catch up with the lessons in a better way.
Thank you for sharing your experience with schoolbooks. In my country, it is a little bit different because we do not give the copies to the next generation but the government support by reducing the textbooks’ price to make sure that all students can afford to possess them. The used textbooks are usually possessed by younger brothers or sisters in a big family, but if the family has the only child, they sell them with lower price or donate to people who need them more.
Nowadays, we have the policy to encourage students to donate textbooks at the end of the school year to the next generation, especially to students living in rural and remote areas, which is considered as a way to spread the knowledge and love to others. We are taught to keep books clean because, as you mentioned, books are precious. Therefore, sharing books is not only sharing knowledge, but also sharing love and invaluable assets.
Thank you for sharing this stunning story which greatly reminds me of my school time when I was a child. In my country, Vietnam, children who are about to begin their first step of education are all equipped with the whole set of the textbook, which allows them to discover what they are going to learn ahead. I still fully remember how curious I was as I received the first-grade textbooks from my parents at my pre-primary-school since they sound like a whole new world to me which I had not ever experienced during my kindergarten-hood. They are not just only colorful and lively images but amazingly also texts telling stories, sending moral messages and giving knowledge that absolutely satisfied my curiosity. Also, Vietnamese children are mostly advised to cultivate love and respect to their books for a traditional belief that as young students are learned to have a habit of valuing their books, they might gain good behaviors for their study. That can be explained for why Vietnamese parents always carefully cover and label their kids’ books with their belief and expectation that a beautiful and neat appearance of them will lead the kids to their learning achievements.
Hi Ingrid,
Thank you for sharing your story. As a student, I used to go to school every day because I attended both International and Japanese-weekend school. For both of my schools, I received schoolbooks for all my subjects: English, Japanese, Mathematics, Science, History and Geography.
For my International school, I was given a lot of different history schoolbooks according to different units. I always loved to read the primary sources that were included in my schoolbooks. I also loved reading the classical Greek myths in my English schoolbook.
In contrast, I remember that the Japanese schoolbooks were very thin but it contained very dense information. However, I recall how the information of historical pictures and dates changed. Similarly, science schoolbooks changed its explanations because many new findings were added with Noble Prize winners in Japan.
As a result, I had a very different “look” about schoolbooks as a young student. It taught me that nothing is always 100% correct in life and everything is open to changes with new interpretations and findings.
I think in this post the author made the essence of books or textbooks, the most traditional way in which people gain broad knowledge from, that is the strong aspiration and awe for knowledge and the unknown world. Such power drives people to learn hard and take good care of the tangible media- textbooks. It is such attitude to books that makes knowledge pass down generation to generation. However, those paper books are increasingly replaced by E-book, and people have unprecedentedly good access to internet. It is concerning that if such awesome attitude towards books or knowledge decreases or disappears in new era.
Such an inspiring story!
I now realize how important it is to have a practice of passing down books from generation to generation. Lots of students in Indonesia are living in poverty. To have nutritious foods is their number-one every day’s dream, therefore being equipped with books are not on their priority. However, I remember that the government ever provided an appropriation for schoolbooks and it had the same concept as applied in Ingrid’s past schools. Reading Ingrid’s personal experience with schoolbooks raises my awareness of how those students were feeling. They must have been really grateful! Not only did it help the students to learn more easily, but also their parents who were (I am pretty sure) willing to give their children the best education but could not afford it. I did not personally encounter the same experience but the lesson has touched my heart.
The writer’s delightful story gave me a trip down my own memory lane. In my country of Vietnam, there is a set of textbooks issued by the Ministry of Education and Training, and each time before the start of the school year, my parents would take me to a bookstore downtown to buy them and plastic covers. As I marveled at all the long literary texts, enigmatic mathematical equations and formulae, fearsome yet tantalizing chemical reactions, and sundry other awe-inspiring knowledge-laden items that I had yet to comprehend, the thrill of touching and flipping through the crisp and fragrant pages never failed to add to my optimistic expectation of the plethora of new things to be discovered and explored in the upcoming two semesters. Those spanking new books, indeed, represented an enlightening itinerary and offered a sense of potential. Unlike Ingrid, unfortunately, my exhilaration didn’t tend to survive the fleeting honeymoon period due to the imminent panic and anxiety that would stealthily creep in as the new stress-filled academic year officially rolled around.
In contrast to Germany, the set of textbooks in most education levels (except for tertiary one) in Vietnam – my home country – had to be prepared by students themselves. And I could say that these items are pricey and for some low-income families, they might cost parents an arm and a leg. Students can get required materials in many ways such as buying new/like ones or buying cheap used ones or they even can utilise items passed from their cousins/relatives. In Vietnam, it’s easy to catch sight of public-school-goers carrying their big heavy school bag since each unit they take at school requires distinctive materials and textbooks.
Nonetheless, books in general and textbooks in particular plays key role in bringing knowledge to learners despite their high cost. In my opinion, they are precious treasure which can activate/enlighten (I think) the dark/darkest parts of our brain and disabuse us from misconception/ misleading inputs.
However, I could see most of students (including my classmates) show little “respect” to such treasure. They dont treat books well. This can be evidenced in their “ugly” or “arts-like” drawings inside the books. Some of them even tore books.
I am not like those. I am a book lover and kind of keen on collect books and treat them as my close friends. For me, books are a true friend who makes me an “educated” person today.
Hi Ingrid,
Thank you for sharing such an interesting story with us. In my experience, I have never had to return school books to school but I still make a cover out of paper every time I get a new book. I agree with you that books are very precious, and we need to treat them well. In my country, there still have some children who lived in the poor mountainous areas cannot have their own new textbooks. Most of their books come from old books used or donated by students in the city. Poor and remote, they have little access to the outside world. For children in the mountainous area, books teach them knowledge and show them a wonderful world. Therefore, they cherish their books so much.
Thank you to the writer for reminding me of my childhood. I am a nostalgic person and many memorable moments came up to my mind while I am reading the blogpost. Once again, the role of valuable printed books is emphasized, which shows education through inherited generations is a crucial part of our lives. One more of interesting things here is the carelessness of our performances with books such as dogears, scribbled notes and stains at the beginning period of time when we went to school just because that our duties and we are completely unconscious about that.
Hi everyone!
Thank you for sharing this story. It is wonderful. Your article reminded me when I was in high school when I started learning French. I remember using one French textbook and the first page of the textbook was the picture of Chateau de Chambord. On top of that, it had a little note written down in French “Je dois y aller!”, which means “I have to go there!” Even now I have never known who wrote that down and who used the book after me, I wish I could know because it inspires me a lot to learn languages and become who I am.
Personally, as in my case, the schoolbook creates learning motivation from one generation to another generation. I learnt to become a better person in order to achieve my goals. At that moment, I thought I also really wanted to visit Chateau de Chambord too, so I needed to improve my French and study hard. I do not even know where s/he is now, and I always wonder has he/she been there yet, but I went there, and it was fantastic. For this reason, beyond the knowledge I learnt from the textbook, the schoolbook inspires me to become a successful language learner and encourages me to make memories. I wish the person who used the same textbook after me could pick up this feeling and this motivation too.
Hi Ingrid, thank you for sharing your stories with us.
I think we have similar experience on receiving new textbooks each new semester. When I was in elementary school, every time I received a new Chinese textbook at the beginning of the new semester, I would read those stories with great interest. I miss the days when I still could read printed books for a few hours, however the internet and social media have changed everything. Nowadays people become more frivolous and get used to fragmented reading on websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Weibo etc. These websites and applications basically enable people to browse quick news (with a title and content of around 100 words) on smartphones by sliding their fingers.
It is believed that people nowadays have gradually lost the habit of reading books.
Good morning,
What an interesting story! Your story makes me remind my childhood moment before I started to go to the primary school. According to the Education Ministry of Vietnam, all schools requires the whole pupils to prepare a set of textbooks and notebooks before going to school. One week before going to the primary school, my parents spend time on covering the whole books and notebooks in protective papers. That moment, which I witnessed my parents’ contributions, aroused me to have a way of thinking that I would always keep the precious books carefully and cleanly. After finishing academic year, I often donated my precious books for poor young pupils who live in the remote areas. Although I regarded books as my best friend, I still would like to donate them for the poor people because their condition is more difficult than me. Besides, I also hope that those poor pupil students can be learned the valuable lessons from the precious books. To me, books are my companion in my academic life from when I was a child until now, I will always memorise valuable lessons which books brought. In the future, if one day I could become a teacher, I would impart precious knowledge from the books which I was learnt for the next generation.
Hi Ingrid,
Thank you for your absolutely motivating story ! when I was a primary student, I was also curious about the textbooks of the next grade. For example, I also spent a whole of the first day browsing all the books to please my curiosity because I was attracted to colourful and animated visual aids , namely, pictures of trees and animals in biology books. Additionally, I was addicted to the scent of brand-new books, which was distinctive enough to keep me smelling them whenever I felt bored in class 🙂 . One noteworthy point that I strongly agree with you is that ” Books are precious” owing to the fact that books are the human tools allowing the previous generation to convey knowledge, values, beliefs to the next one. Therefore, they are indeed “legacy” as you believed. For that reason, one of my conventional practice with books is to treasure them more than the word ‘treasure’ that I use. I take the view that a book is similar to a body, which means that if it loses one page, its consequences will be the same as a body that functions without an organ. Hence, books inherently worths being treasured and protected. Does anyone agree or disagree with my viewpoint? feel free to leave a comment ! 🙂
Hi Ingrid,
I am in agreement with you that books are the guides to help us become knowledgeable and thoughtful. Reflecting upon my school years, the most enjoyable reading to me is the readers instead of my textbooks.
In Taiwan, where I was born, we had to pay for textbooks and read them only when we had exams the next day; therefore, the memory of studying textbooks was stressful for me.
However, I enjoyed the extra readers put in my classroom and we could read them during the break. I could read stories, scientific and ecological books, and translated novels to understand things which were not taught in the textbooks.
It could be true that learning protecting textbooks helped us understand how precious they are; however, we might not realize it if we own the books. My classmates used to draw pictures on his textbooks and all his books became messy; on the other side, he would be very careful when he read the extra readers in class. That also made me realize that we enjoy reading rather than reading for tests.
Ah! Thank you for reminding me of all those extra side readers!
I recall those tacit interpretations that we kids (un-)consciously harboured – that some books are more important than others, or to be more direct, some subjects are more valued than others by teachers, school, education system etc.
For example, every year, we did receive a textbook for moral/ethics education, together with ones for maths, social sciences, music and so forth. However, year after year, the moral education textbooks were seldom used in class. It was a mystery why they were even given to us in the first place; I remember thinking to myself that that must be because this is an unimportant subject!
Likewise, textbook features including its thickness, size, paper quality and also the frequency of its use during the terms also made me think, “OK, the school’s not really serious about music or physical education etc. Don’t know why…??”.
When it came to the moral education textbook, it was all the more confusing because, as kids, we were all told to be good people, and the very book that was supposed to help us on that front was nearly never even mentioned by our teachers. What’s more, in those very rare occasions where I took them out and read them just out of curiosity or boredom, they were actually quite interesting!
I miss all these childhood mysteries. lol
In my country, they give us the schoolbooks for free and no need to return it. My mum taught me when I was in primary school that I should take care of my schoolbooks because they are very precious and useful. Because I kept the books were clean and neatly arranged all the time, by this action I developed a deep interest in reading. Even though I did not recognise how useful books were at that age, gradually keeping them clean allow my mind to be nurtured by them. I agree with the author when she said that books are priceless friends, because I was raised to think about them like that.
In China, it is different from the writer’s experience that all the students get their own new books in each semester, and they themselves keep books, even in university. As personal belongs, most students protect books well–they buy colorful paper to make covers for books and make notes orderly, so the books look like new ones. The first time when I got my books, I knew I should do something to make them accompany me longer, I could say it is an awareness of treasure, and nobody teaches us, we had this awareness the first time we got our schoolbooks.
Your post bring me back to the time when I was a primary student. In China, we have to buy textbooks and the textbooks can owned by ourselves instead of getting the copies of textbooks from our schools. On the first day of the semester, I was so eager because I could receive new textbooks and I was so excited to open the first page of all the textbooks. In my school, our teachers always remind us we should take care of our textbooks and keep them clean as we can preserve our textbooks for the revision of knowledge and the preparation of examinations. My parents and my teachers also told me ‘every time you read the textbooks you could have different feelings for the content contained in the textbooks’. Therefore, my classmates and I usually carefully wrap all the textbooks with plastics covers and write down my name and my student number in the cover of every book before the classes started. For example, I still keep reading a schoolbook called Chinese poems although I have been to the university and I was so happy that I can understand why the poets wrote those poems and what they really want to say. Keeping the schoolbooks in hands let me to re-consider specific ideas that the poets really want to indicate are influence my perspectives of life and guide me to overcome challenges. I also read my favorite Chinese poems to my litter sister and explained the meanings of poems, give the schoolbooks as gifts to them for their future academic learning. My experience with my schoolbooks taught me to value the schoolbooks and share how I feel and what I think about the schoolbooks with others.
When I saw this article, I felt a long-lost incitement in my heart. I recalled the feeling of receiving textbooks on the first day of school in primary school. Although there is no system for recycling textbooks in my country (China), we still use textbooks or plastic covers to protect textbooks. In China, our courses, especially those in elementary schools, are almost strictly in accordance with the content of the textbooks, so we use textbooks in every class. Our textbooks are edited by the Ministry of Education and almost the same version of the textbook is used throughout the country. Therefore the quality of our textbooks is very high.
Therefore, at the beginning of each semester, reading textbooks can stimulate my interest in learning.
Hi Ingrid,
It was such a beautiful story. Your story is strongly reminiscent of my childhood. I still have a vivid recollection of the first day at primary school. At that time, it was the school’s policy that teachers examined students’ textbooks and notebooks. Consequently, before that, my mom and brother sat together and spent the whole evening wrapping all of my textbooks and notebooks in perfect white protective papers. Having witnessed the efforts that my mother and brother put into the wrapping, I realized that I had to be more responsible for protecting any of my books from stains and even folded corners.
In addition, fortunately, one of my cousin, one year older than me, handed all the textbooks to me in good conditions. For this reason, I felt more obliged to maintain them in the best conditions so that I could give the books to the charitable organizations for unfortunate children in rural areas.
From those events, I have learned that when you are careful in keeping your books or any belongings, I am responsible for my study, my actions in my life, my study as well as other people’s.
Thanks Ingrid for the great read! I had that excitement too every new semesters! I usually used newspapers as protective device which needs to be done at least twice per semester. What I remember particularly clear is that as kids we are often scolded by parents when we put our books on the floor or somewhere not clean or kitchen or close to the feet. Books are supposed to be placed at the zone close to the altar or on the clean and tidy desks. It’s part of habitus now.
This article makes me recognize that how students in my countries have been wasting schoolbooks or textbooks. Textbooks of each school year will be purchased by each student without any of the government’s financial support. When the new school year starts, students seem to be quite eager for new textbooks with new knowledge and new lessons. By the end of the school year, however, these books might become useless because they are not returned to the school library to pass on to the new student cohort, but they can be sold for used – book stores or recycling centers. This can be considered uneconomical in terms of human knowledge and natural resources.
However, there have been recently some volunteering organizations that collect used schoolbooks from school students to hand out to poor children in mountainous areas or remote areas who can not afford to buy new textbooks. This makes a significant contribution to expressing the humanistic meaning of schoolbooks.
This article most definitely took me back to my primary school years. As a migrant to this country I had to first and foremost master the local language; English. Although I did not know it at the time, the textbooks provided to me by the public education system were to be my lifeline. I was very fortunate to be in such a system where newcomers where given opportunity through education, and textbooks played a vital role. In hindsight, they were the key that unlocked this magical wonderland called Australia. This provision and instruction permitted me to develop, grow and most importantly, integrate into society as an equal (to a certain extent).
As a student growing up in the United States I can emphasize enormously with the precariousness and adoration in which you speak of, when referring to the relationship which developed between you and your schoolbooks as a young girl. A new, unopened school book was an agglomeration of pleasant mysteries that empowered me as a child. All of that untouched knowledge lay in wait for me to consume; a weapon of wisdom I could unleash on the ill-prepared comrades of my childhood universe. As a frightened young girl, a sealed book was a weapon in my hands, and once opened and absorbed I could use this newfound knowledge like a bayonet to protect myself against the unknown. Even now, as a 26-year-old “adult”, I still become delighted by the idea of opening the cover of a newly purchased book, whether academic or leisurely, in that eager way a child handles a new toy. The possibilities, still endless.
I have discovered, gleefully, that the yearning for knowledge that a new book so often satiates, has never dwindled. The love and upmost appreciation for knowledge and new information, found immeasurably inside the page of every book I have ever had the blessing of possessing, even if momentarily, has led to me to where I am now. Fruitfully, traveling the world, pursuing a master’s in linguistics, in a faraway corner of this planet, in the hopes that one day I may be able to share a small piece of the accumulated knowledge that books have given me with another young girl who may be emboldened and empowered just as I was by the countless gifts a book undoubtedly possesses.
Quite an interesting ‘book-sharing’ and ‘book-keeping’ practice you had in your primary school years! Where I come from, we had to have our own set of books, even in our very first years of school; we could buy it or borrow it, mine was passed down from my brother who is 2 years older than me. We were also taught to keep our books very neat and tidy by cello-wrapping all our textbooks and by not drawing in them or making the pages all messed up. I remember not having been a very keen reader when I was a little child, although I really the bedtime stories told by my Mum. When I got to Grade 5, I started developing my love for reading. I remember there was a bookstore next to my primary school and they had this very cool collection of fairy tales from different countries. To collect all those books, I had to save up all my breakfast money and bought one of them each week. I still have the full collection on my bookshelf until today, which is in very good condition. When I got to Grade 7, my Mum took me book-shopping every once in a while. Now that I’m all grown up, I still keep all this practice, buying books on a regular basis, cello-wrapping them, keeping them all neat and tidy in my bookshelf. I know I might never be able to read them all in this lifetime (I have almost 800 books now), but knowing that I have all that knowledge present in my house, I feel like I’m in a very good place already!
For me, my childhood thrill of reading is inseparable from the ritual of going to my public library. It was there, among the old-school card catalogue system, that I first learnt how to research and locate information. Thumbing through the index cards I began to understand just how much knowledge there was in the world, waiting to be known. The Dewey Decimal system was like a secret code on a treasure map, allowing me to hunt-and-gather endless books so as to explore this world of ideas and understanding. The biggest gift my Dad gave me when I was a child was his Adult borrowing card, allowing me to independently borrow any fiction or non-fiction book in the library without being limited to just the Junior section. There were no limits on what I could read, which meant there were no limits on what I could learn. This was my happy place, and still is.
In retrospect, I can tell that the only lesson I could learn from the practice surrounding schoolbooks in my country (Vietnam) is: The country should have been economical.
In Vietnam, there is no regulation regarding lending students a copy of the textbook. Although Vietnam is a developing country and we are much poorer than Australia, parents have to spend a big portion of their salaries on buying books for their kids. With the absolute authority over the books, most students, regardless of their ages, take the books for granted. Towards the end of the school year, books are marked with more drawings, stains, dog-ears, notes, etc.
On my part, I have a cousin who passed all her books to me. When I was still a little student, I was upset because most of my friends got new books. However, when I grew older, I understood that this helped save my parents a lot of money and the notes in the books actually supported me in many cases. I started taking more care of the books to pass them to poor students in remote areas. When I read this blog post, I wish my country applied the same policy as in Australia to teach the young generations such beautiful lessons.
I also have very vivid memories of my primary school textbooks, in particular of the very first book I owned on first grade. I still remember the feeling of becoming a “big” girl by owning this textbook. I can recall the activities of the book, that were aimed at teaching students how to spell and write and my enthusiasm and eagerness while doing them. I will never forget the front cover of the book (which was orange) as it has left a big imprint on my memory. I guess I have never reflected on this before, but I now realize I have a very a fond of memory of this first book for what it has represented in my educational journey.
This article made me reflect on my own childhood and my relationship with my textbooks, and overall I find it a little bit hard to relate with the author’s experiences. I remember my mum would buy and provide me with the required textbooks for the curriculum each year, and I would write my name on a tag and stick it to the book so it could be re-used. And I would feel bad if I damaged the book. But as a student I was not an avid reader, and would prefer to spend as much time as I could playing video games and watching TV shows. I remember being quite distracted in class and failing to listen to the teacher often, I don’t think I was a very good student.
However, I agree with the thoughts expressed by the author, and believe its important to respect and preserve knowledge for future generations, and encourage our youth in society to do the same. Thank you for sharing your experiences and allowing me to step into the childhood shoes of someone else. 🙂
This post brings me back to the time when I was a primary student. I was so eager on the first day going to school because I could start turning the first pages of my new books. In my country, we have to buy schoolbooks by ourselves instead of renting from the library. Before a new semester started, I carefully wrap all the books with plastic covers, then writing my name, my class and the concurrent semester in a tag sticking into the cover of the books. Parents and teachers always remind us to keep our books nice and clean as a way to show our respect for “knowledge”. If one doesn’t keep the schoolbooks nicely, it means they can never be good students. That’s why every student is required to have name tags on their books, in case they forgot them somewhere, the books could be returned. I took care of all my books very well during primary school and secondary school. When I grow up I don’t cover the schoolbooks by plastic cover or stick name tags on them anymore, because I am fully aware that once we love a book we turn every page of the book so gently and we would never need a name tag on it because we would never leave it anywhere.
Your post brings me back to my childhood. In my hometown, students need to buy their own schoolbooks before a school year begins. Parents can find textbooks in any bookstore for their children. Back then, when I studied in primary school, my parents could not afford to buy me new schoolbooks so that I used old ones from my elder brother, who is 2-year older than me. Even though at that time I didn’t have chance to feel the smell of new books, I really loved those I received from my brother and tried to protect them as new, fresh ones. Because my mother always told me when I move to the next grade meaning I don’t need the books anymore, someone may need them. That is how I learned from the way of keeping schoolbooks.
Hi Ingrid,
It was nice to read about your childhood memory with textbooks. I completely agree with you that books are precious belongings that we need to treasure, yet I saw my friends treating textbooks badly when I was young. Unlike you, we had to buy our own set of textbooks every year, which also means that we could keep it and often nobody would check the conditions of our textbooks. As my friends believed the books were their properties, they felt free to treat them the way that they liked. I and some of my friends were very careful with them; we placed them in plastic covers and only wrote on them with pencils. Others did not bother to protect the books’ covers, consequently, they all fell apart at the end of the school year. Some even drew on the books when they felt bored in class. While I could not say for certain that the friends who were careless with books also developed negative characters, what I could see at that time was that they were unwilling to read books and expand their knowledge; they were often impulsive and careless in other circumstances, as well. As for me, though I am not exactly a neat person, I think that keeping the books with care has taught me to be more patient, considerate, and gentle.
One thing I am concerned about is that many schools these days are switching to online textbooks. I myself has recently become a faithful e-book reader because of the convenience in storing, highlighting and taking notes. Will this practice result in young people’s carelessness with hard-copied books? Will our stories about books be irrelevant in the future? Love to hear what you all think.
This post brought my memories back from my own schooling, Ingrid. I remember that excitement when I was checking who the previous owners of textbooks were (if it was someone I liked, even better – this was even more important in grammar school!). Being so far away from home and all my loved ones, I often think about the past. One thing in particular keeps coming back – how my parents planted a seed of love for books when I was a child. My fondest memories are from the time when my mum and dad did bedtime stories. It was not only reading, but also creating their own funny and spooky stories accompanied with laughter, tickles and kisses. My dad in particular was so great at it. I could drive him mad when I insisted on listening to him narrating the very same story for weeks and weeks! Ha! Based on this personal experience I truly believe that bedtime stories make a massive difference in child’s life – not only it strengthens child-parent relationship, but also helps develop good reading habits. Now, I can compare my own upbringing and upbringing of my younger brother when it comes to reading and relationship with books. Due to life circumstances, my parents didn’t have as much time for him when he was a child as they used to have for me, so he didn’t turn out to be an avid reader and a bookworm. Despite that we love him and he’s got many more qualities I’ll never have.
In Japan, where I spent most of my childhood, main textbooks are handed out to pupils at school for free – funded by the government. There is no sharing or passing down of these books as each child will keep these books as their own. While we kids would just take that for granted, there would still be that tacit, shared sense that we should treat these books with care, and as far as I can remember, most kids did just that. And YES (!), there was this excitement when receiving those shiny brand-new books with lots of “knowledge” on them.
Additionally, I also had this sense that all that essential wisdom that would make us a step closer, one at a time, to the grown-ups was being given from some higher places via these materials. As a child who might have been intellectually curious, but with little everyday hardship to endure and (therefore?) less than half-developed critical perspectives to the world, I tended to take the textbook content as partial revelations of absolute truth. Was this sense made stronger because these books were given to us for free by, in my imagination, some unknown, faceless, but supposedly kind and learned people at the beginning of the year? I really cannot say.
When I moved to the US at the age of ten and found out that the textbooks belonged to the school, and that we were expected to take some of them home only when we needed to, I was shocked. “Leaving the textbooks at school? But that’s rude to them! How can you look after them, if you don’t keep them in a safe place at home?” was my immediate reaction. At the same time, the other thing that I understood instantly was that people do things differently in different countries, and that this was just something that I was going to accept without a fuss.
Still, I somehow had to live with this pang in my heart: “Well, that’s just the way it is here, but I know I’m a little sad that I am leaving all these beautiful books in the school desk, even in the coldest evenings…”.
This post resonates with my early high school days at a very strict boys school in Sydney – the kind of which I would actually never send my children to in hindsight. However, the article did rekindle with me a sense of how magical books are and a sense that I somewhat feel in adult life I have forgotten. Many of the novels I had to read in English literature class I still vividly remember today and there are even some that I so very much wish I could remember the title so I could find and read them again today and in which a feeling of loss still exists. My school books taught me to care for and appreciate works of art and helped me to be creative and imaginative myself.
Thinking back to my high school days when I would receive textbooks for each new year, I feel similar excitement. A change of books meant new beginnings, new teachers and a chance to make a fresh start. Thanks to the French book that I so much loved, my passion for foreign language learning grew. This book was easy to follow and I could self-study through its glossary and accompanied audio tapes. Even today, I continue to buy foreign language books and attempt to self-study. I learned that books are our teachers, but above all, they are friends which can entertain and bring joy to us whenever we need it. Passing down of books from grade to grade taught me to share. I enjoy passing on books that I have read to friends in hope to give them similar joy.
This post describes how much love the author has had for readings. It reminds me of my childhood. I agree with her statements that books were our big companions, which are not only study materials but also our guides to grow. I used to read fiction novels for 30-45 minutes every day before sleep when I was a child. Thinking back, it is sure those books helped me in many ways: it developed my imagination and gave my many insights. Now that reading has become an activity for study to me, I wish I could do more extensive reading now.