"Hello Everybodee!"

While walking through the grocery store on Sunday, a rack of books caught my eye. This wasn't just any rack of books, but rather a childhood memory situated next to an end-cap of store brand mouthwash: a display of Little Golden Books. I hadn't seen a rack of Little Golden Books in years, and had in fact figured them to be extinct.

And there, sitting beside "The Poky Little Puppy" was my most favorite Little Golden Book ever - "The Monster at the End of this Book", 'starring lovable, furry old Grover'. Grover's drawn form smiled at me from the front cover waving hello. I admit, I clapped and gawked in my moment of excitement. This in turn caught Steve's attention, and he picked up the book, examined the price, and added it to our basket.

Tonight I picked up my childhood and read it aloud. The cover of the book made of the same cardboard I remembered, the binding appropriately pulling up on one side, and the same cast of characters telling me that I was reading one of a series of the most loved children's books for over 60 years. The only change to the cover of this book was the addition of "Visit us online at www.goldenbooks.com" in the lower right hand corner; oddly enough, advertising a web page was not prevalent in the 1980's.

As I read the pages of the story, I was flushed with memories of sitting on the floor in our apartment as a kid. I was suddenly curled up with my 5-year old brother in bed, myself only 8 years old, reading to him and remembering to add Grover's frustration and fear with every word. I was reading to my sisters when I was 12 and they 5 and 2, doing the same thing. Even at almost 28, this is still one of my favorite books of all time. I got giddy when I "knocked over" the brick wall, making a "terrible mess", as Grover sheepishly asks me: "Do you know that you are very strong?"

It's funny how much happiness is contained in these few pages of grocery-store children's reading. For the few moments of reading, I gain a few more afterwards of nostalgic relaxation.