1963 can be described as a tumultuous turning point in history. Beatle-mania, segregation, JFK's assignation all served to set the stage for a world of uncertainty while MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech begged for sanity. However on October 7 of this historic year, a little girl was born in a small East Tennessee town who knew nothing of world events but who would grow up with a desire to counter the culture in her community in a small way through a peaceful but profound medium...books...living books...books penned to infuse life into the young hearts and minds of those who read the words.
So 50 years later, I have my own dream that those children who enter my library, who read the books of a past generation, will be the culture changers of the next generation. We desperately need them.
For a fun (and an eye-opening look) at where the literary world was 50 years ago, I thought I would list 50 of the books published in 1963. Some I've never heard of, others appalled me, and a few I dearly love.
1. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
2. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
3. Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
4. The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh by Vincent Van Gogh
5. Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
6. The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carre'
7. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
8. The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson
9. Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald Sobol
10. Noble House by James Clavell
11. Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle. (Seriously...)
12. Stormy, Misty's Foal by Marguerite Henry
13. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (loved in my library for Owls in the Family)
14. Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics by Its Most Brilliant Teacher by Richard Feynman (also Six Not-So-Easy Pieces)
15. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
16. The Clocks by Agatha Christie
17. Swimmy by Leo Lionni
18. Glory Road by Robert Heinlein
19. Rascal by Sterling North
20. The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris
21. I Am David by Anne Holm
22. The Graduate by Charles Webb
23. Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
24. The Castafiore Emerald by Herge' (Tintin)
25. Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander
26. Five Are Together Again by Enid Blyton
27. The Moon by Night by Madeleine L'Engle
28. The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges
29. Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever by Richard Scarry
30. Curious George Learns the Alphabet by H.A. Rey
31. Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon
32. Strength to Love by Martin Luther King, Jr.
33. Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff
34. The Mystery at Bob-White Cave by Kathryn Kenny (a Trixie Belden book and my favorite twaddle series growing up)
35. Dark Canyon by Louis L'Amour
36. The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge (something good had to come out of this year)
37. The Winged Watchman by Hilda van Stockum (one of my all-time favorites!)
38. Paddington at Large by Michael Bond
39. Sexuality and the Psychology of Love by Sigmund Freud (well that explains a lot...)
40. The Dry Divide by Ralph Moody (Little Britches #7)
41. Kisah Smurf Hitam by Peyo (who knew the Smurfs went back that far?)
42. The Cosmic Computer by H.Beam Piper
43. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
44. Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean
45. The Words by Jean-Paul Sartre
46. Stig of the Dump by Clive King
47. Anti-Intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter
48. Emil in the Soup Tureen by Astrid Lindgren
49. William the Conqueror by Thomas B.Costain
50. Happiness Is a Warm Puppy by Charles M. Schultz
