I am thrilled to be apart of this week's A Wrinkle In Time: 50 Years, 50 Days, 50 Blogs Celebration tour.
For me when I think of "a classic childhood book", I think of books that made an impact on me as a young reader, and I'm just talking about books that were popular at the time like the Baby Sitter's Club, Sweet Valley High or the Choose Your Own Adventure books, all of which I loved. I think of books that made an impact on me like Charlotte's Web, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, The Little Prince, and many more. I think it takes a curtain kind of author to create a story that's not just popular when the book is first published, but it becomes a book that's love and cherished for generations after that, which all of these book are. I think A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle is also one of those books.
First published in 1962, this book 50 years later is still a beloved classic for so many of us. I still remember the first I read this book and the impact it left on me. When I was growing up we didn't have YA or Middle Grade sections, which makes me sound really old. We had a library that had everything from the books I've listed above to Stephen King and more. Aside from The Chronicles of Narnia, this was one of my first books I read and loved that had that epic battle of good vs evil. I love that years later it's still making an impact of readers world wide. This year marks the 50th year of it's publication! What an awesome achievement to celebrate. With that, I highly recommend picking up the newly released 50th Anniversary Commemorative edition (shown below) by MacMillan. This edition includes:
* A letter from the 1963 Caldecott winner, Ezra Jack Keats
* An introduction by Katherine Paterson, US National Ambassador for Young People's Literature
* A new afterword by Madeleine L'Engle's granddaughter, with some never before seen photos.
* A Murry-O'Keefe Family Tree complete with artwork
* Madeleine L'Engle's Newberry acceptance speech
* Fronispiece photo
* Photo scrapbook with approximately 10 photos
* Manuscript pages
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Purchase the 50th Anniversary edition of A Wrinkle in Time from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
How did A Wrinkle in Time impact you as a young reader?