Pastime: The Childhood of Famous Americans books

This is a Pastime of reading pleasure and memories of pages filled by books of famous Americans.

There was a small, but compact collection of little orange/red backed books found on a shelf under the east window of the children’s section in the old Warren Public Library. That collection still fills my memories – even almost six decades since I first discovered them.

Tucked away in that tiny little 600-square foot library, in that free standing building outside the Bradley County Courthouse, was a wonderful collection of books of famous American leaders.

The small “chapter” books, none possibly over 200 pages and as many as 10 to a dozen chapters, captivated my reading pleasure. There were men and women written about in these easy-to-read and easy-to-understand fictionalizations of their well-known lives.

The series was called The Childhood of Famous Americans (COFA) series, by the Bobbs-Merrill Publishing company.

The series was praised by parents, teachers, and librarians for over sixty-five years, was first introduced to the public in the 1940s and continued to be printed into the 1950s by Bobbs-Merrill. The Indianapolis publisher has been going since 1850 but was sold to the Howard W. Sams Company in 1959.

I know I am not alone in my appreciation for these “starter” readers. My good friend Cliff Morgan, who spent his professional life as a star librarian for the Memphis Public Library in Shelby County, Tennessee, says he too, was drawn to this collection.

Cliff’s favorite among this collection was “Frances Marion: Young Swamp Fox,” by Wilson O. Steele.

Me, I was fond of a trio of these books, “Tom Editor: Boy Inventor,” by Sue Guthridge; “George Washington: Boy Leader,” by Augusta Stephenson and Noah Webster: Boy of Words,” by Helen Higgins.

And I recall from those old sign-out cards, found in the little pasteboard pocket glued in the front cover, many, many other classmates enjoyed this little series of books. As names from yesteryear both inside my class and both older and younger classmates at Warren’s schools filled these check out signature cards.

Originally printed in hardback form, these fictionalized biographies (suitable for independent readers third grade and up or to be read aloud to any age) became instant favorites.

Sadly, the little hard backed books we all knew back then are now gone – relegated to finding one on Amazon or in carport sales, or in used book stores – yet if I stumbled across one of two of my favorites today, they would be in my home book case. Cliff has a copy of his favorite boyhood book in his library at home.

The series was reintroduced in an infamous red, white and blue paperback form in the 1980s by the new publisher. These were much shorter versions of the first publications, and probably not suitable for a book report for Charlotte Young, Jane Ford or Margarite Atkinson. Much like some of those old pulp comics the Classics Illustrated Comics in the editions I often tried to sneak in as a “book” report.

I am predicting that the Warren Library back then owned a full set, which at the time was about 15-25 books. Many additional books and additional famous Americans have since been included into that collection of modern-day books mimicking the original Bobbs-Merrill series.

The clutch of librarians at the Warren Public Library, Hilda McEwen, Wickie Morgan, Rosemary Garner, Ginger Cuthbertson, and others were the keepers of these volumes. I also recall some part time fill-in librarians, Cherie Bradford, Gail Simpson (who ran the WHS Library) Lucy Taylor, Noma Watkins and others who filled in as librarians when needed.

Nary a one of the librarians ever failed not to mention to me as I was loading myself down with easy-to-read picture books, I read something not only to not only challenge me in my reading skills, but give me something solid to digest.

As I read every one of the popular Dr. Suess books (which later I divulge had some hidden political messages around Horton Hears A Who, and other titles.)

The books were fictionalized, though based on information about the childhoods of these famous Americans, as I have said, but these books could transform me sitting in the humid, summer piney woods of Bradley County to the lush swamps as Frances Marion Young Swamp Fox by William D. Steele taught me about the sly soldier or how Helen Higgins showed me Noah Webster’s use of words lifted from a life of poverty.

Country kids like me at the time found the books inviting because of their focus on the childhood life of people they know only as adults. As a youngster we never seemed to realize that our heroes also experienced our same disappointments, failures or challenges.

Each book is packed with noteworthy experiences, personality traits, and adventures from the growing up years of famous inventors, scientists, statesmen, and explorers.

Children gain understanding of how a person’s experiences and personal gifts contribute to an impact on the lives of other people.

By the end of each book, the reader is left with the desire to find out what happened next, a perfect lead to further study.

A Pastime of reading for those of us growing up in Warren and Bradley County has only been augmented by libraries and librarians who showed us all so much love, concern and care.