Early Memory

I remember laying down in bed every night with my mother. She would read me the same three books every night, it was nice having a consistency with something since we always had to make drastic changes. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown was one of the books. I remember her always whispering when she read it, it created a calming mood yet I was always more eager to listen. The second book was A light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, we must have gone through each of the poems three or four times. The illustration by Silverstein is what inspired me to branch out in my artistic abilities, it also broadened my creativity.  I vividly remember reading Guess How Much I Love You written by Sam Mcbratney. This was the first book I memorized. It amazed my aunt when we would read it together because when she would ask me to narrate the book I knew the exact words. It wasn't the same reading that book with anyone besides my mom because we had created a significant bond over it. When the line "I love you from the moon and back" was approaching we would always glance outside to make the sure the moon was there.This is also when I learned all the phases of the moon . When there was a crescent moon she would tell me it was because all of the little boys and girls were reading the book at the same time with their parents and their love was slowly putting the moon back to its fullest (the full moon phase). I believed that until I was about five until she explained what really happens to the moon, that Reptar from The Rugrats keeps getting hungry and biting chunks off at a time. I dont know why I had to mention that, everyone knows that. Anyways, after we would be done reading Sam Mcbratney's book my mother and I would make up our own lines on how much we loved each other. Still today when she and I are trying to be cute or get our way we still make references like thos. I think the book has left such a strong impact on me because of the vibrant yet simple pictures and the simplicity of it. The fact that there are only two bunnies was symbolic of our connection with each other, putting emphasis on the theme of our relationship, that two people could still love each other as much as they possibly can even if they have no one else to fall back on. Looking back on my earliest memory of a book makes me realize how great of a mother I have.