Reminiscing on childhood games

Everyone should own a set of their favorite picture books.

This is one of mine. Ezra Jack Keats wrote and illustrated books that he set in city environments. Whistle for Willie and Hi, Cat! were two other favorites of mine. The Snowy Day in particular taught me how to play in the snow.

I feel at home when I read these books. The games the kids play with cardboard boxes in Whistle for Willie were just the types of things we did. We used to play all sorts of games on our little deadend street in Cincinnati, especially when we lived at 1015 Rapid Ave. We lived in the upper floor of a duplex. My older sister and I had some great times there. (Aimee would not be born for a couple more years, after we had moved to a more rural area in Clermont County [which, sadly, is now a non-descript bustling suburb...boring.])

We played Kick the Can, Freeze Tag, and Hide and Go Seek. Very common games. We also played Kickball in the street and Pickle on the sidewalk. There was a slight slope on the street and a ball could get away from you and go down the storm sewer. We were very adept at levering the sewer lid off. I was one of the smaller kids, so I was often dropped in to get the ball. I shudder at the thought of that now. I would not let Gabe do that in a million years. My mom probably didn't even know.

We played board games on the front porches like Monopoly, Life, Payday, Trouble and Sorry. I had a Gnip Gnop that was very popular. Oh, and Yahtzee was huge. At other times, the older kids would lead us in huge reproductions of television shows and commercials. Partridge Family and Gilligan's Island were common sources. Trying to do the Nutter Butter and the famous Big Mac commercial from McDonald's were fun, too. Too bad we didn't have cameras rolling for those. Someone would invariably bring out their portable 45 rpm record player and we would listen to music on the porch and in the front yard. That often lead to lip-synching and lots of clowning around.

I haven't thought about those days for a long time. All of these memories were triggered by looking my copy of The Snowy Day (which I bought for my kids before they were born.) Good books sure do wield a lot of power.

What were your favorite books and games as a kid? What kind of neighborhood did you grow up in?