I have eleven of them from when I was a kid, and I want all of them, and I want to read all of them. Remember the Real Book Club? It was a mail-order club for children in the 1950s, like the adult book clubs of the time. Children joined through mail-in ads in magazines or school flyers. Members received a new Real Book monthly. Parents could decline the next selection by returning a card. The books were inexpensive hardcovers, published by Garden City Books, designed for home libraries, aimed mainly at elementary-school children (roughly ages 7–12).
I don't know if my parents ever got a card about the next selection. It was always a mystery to me and a happy surprise when my next book arrived! If the book on Dinosaurs came, I was excited and interested in dinosaurs! If the book on Baseball came, I was excited and interested in baseball, even if I hated sports at school. I loved books, and my mind was alive.
Now these books are not only fun, but collectors' items, many of them still found on Amazon and especially eBay, some very expensive but many very reasonable. I have my eleven. I just need fifty-two more. Meanwhile I'm rereading some of the ones I have. I still enjoy them.
The Real Book about Abraham Lincoln
The Real Book about Airplanes
The Real Book about Alaska
The Real Book about Amazing Animals
The Real Book about Amazing Birds
The Real Book about Amazing Scientific Facts
The Real Book about American Tall Tales
The Real Book about Andrew Jackson
The Real Book about the Antarctic
The Real Book about Armed Forces
The Real Book about Baseball
The Real Book about Benjamin Franklin
The Real Book about Buffalo Bill
The Real Book about Bugs, Insects and Such
The Real Book about Camping
The Real Book about Canada
The Real Book about Christopher Columbus
The Real Book about Cowboys
The Real Book about Crime Detection
The Real Book about Daniel Boone
The Real Book about Dogs
The Real Book about Easy Music-Making
The Real Book about Electronics
The Real Book about Explorers
The Real Book about Famous Battles
The Real Book about Farms
The Real Book about Games
The Real Book about George Washington
The Real Book about Gold
The Real Book about Great American Journeys
The Real Book about Historic Places of America
The Real Book about Horses
The Real Book about Indians
The Real Book about Inventions
The Real Book of Jokes
The Real Book about Journalism
The Real Book about Magic
The Real Book about Making Dolls and Doll Clothes
The Real Book about Mountain Climbing
The Real Book about the Mounties
The Real Book about Our National Capital
The Real Book about Our National Parks
The Real Book about Pets
The Real Book about Photography
The Real Book about Pirates
The Real Book about Prehistoric Life
The Real Book about Real Crafts
The Real Book about Rivers
The Real Book about Robots and Thinking Machines
The Real Book of Science Experiments
The Real Book about the Sea
The Real Book about Ships
The Real Book about Space Travel
The Real Book about Spies
The Real Book about Sports
The Real Book about Stars
The Real Book about Submarines
The Real Book about the Texas Rangers
The Real Book about Trains
The Real Book about Treasure Hunting
The Real Book about the Weather
The Real Book about Whales and Whaling
The Real Book about the Wild West
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For the complete contents of the Butter Rum Cartoon, click HERE.
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