Lisa Q. Mathews, Mysteries

Mystery on Cherry Street

Just how much do writers’ childhood memories shape the people–and authors–they become? Oh, hardly at all. Really. Take Lisa, for instance…

I have vivid memories of my first-grade reading group. We sat in a semicircle in little wooden chairs. At the far end stood our teacher, Mrs. Roper, beside an easel holding a copy of Our Big Red Storybook. We took turns reading aloud from the smaller versions we held in our laps.

Some of you may remember siblings Tom, Betty, and Susan of Ginn Basic Reader Series fame. They had a dog named Flip. The little sister (Susan) had a toy bunny. Its name was…Bunny. And they all lived on Cherry Street.

When our group moved on to a higher level in the series, things took a downward turn. Bad things happened to Bunny. Susan lost him in the book On Cherry Street. In the cleverly titled chapter “Where is Bunny?” she couldn’t find her stuffed friend anywhere, including the toy box.

Instead of helping Susan as directed by their mother, Tom and Betty checked out all their toys in the toy box—I think there was a monkey. Tom played with his airplane. “Zoom! Zoom!” Betty chose the train.

Those two were no Bert and Nan Bobbsey. I knew that because I was already working my way through the Bobbsey Twins series. Tom and Betty had the personalities of the bendy 50s family that lived in my dollhouse. But poor Susan. Poor Bunny. Had he fallen victim to a stranger offering candy? Was he stolen? Torn apart in the backyard by a jealous Flip? Was he shivering in the rain or lying smack in the middle of Cherry Street, where a truck was sure to flatten the stuffing out of him?

Photo by K. on Pexels.com

Mrs. Roper encouraged us to read our sections “with expression.” I’m not sure how she kept a straight face as we delivered our dramatic lines. But the exercise was right up my alley. My mom and older sister had taken to calling me “Sarah Bernhardt.” They told me she was a famous actress. (Later I learned Miss Bernhardt was known for . . . later 19th-century stage melodrama. How outRAGEous!)

Anyway, I’d already learned all about expression from Bert and Nan Bobbsey’s little sister, Flossie. She always got her siblings’ attention. Like, when her cat Snoop was kidnapped or caught on a kite, or her twin Freddie got avalanched in a snow house, she’d scream: “Oh! Oh!”—and they both came running. Pronto.  

I poured out Susan’s concern and guilt over Bunny as if the bwasted wabbit were tied to a set of railroad tracks.

Unlike the Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport, Tom, Betty, and Susan did zero detective work. Bunny was soon deposited straight to their door by a local delivery boy. Susan had left him in a store. Okay, fine. I’ll let you judge which siblings were better cozy mystery sleuths.

Recently I helped my grandson with his kindergarten homework. Assignment: Read 2 books from the classroom library aloud to someone in your family. He read the first book perfectly—and painfully. It was a true snoozer. A little girl wanted a pony for her birthday. Her mom said no and took her to see a pony in a field. The End. I almost missed Tom, Betty, and the ever-suffering Susan.

“Maybe that story needs more expression,” I said, as my grandson pretended to slide out of his chair from boredom.

“No,” he said. “It needs a mystery.”

Oh! Oh! I couldn’t have agreed more.

Readers, do you remember the first book (or mystery) you ever read on your own? Or a book you loved having someone read to you?

LISA Q. MATHEWS is a regular contributor to Chicks on the Case and the author of the Irish B&B Mysteries, the Ladies Smythe & Westin series, short mystery fiction, and many kids’ books. Visit her website and sign up for her newsletter at lisaqmathews.com.

28 thoughts on “Mystery on Cherry Street”

    1. Those books were entirely forgettable, ha, JC! My sis was much older and I had no kid neighbors, so I was pretty zeroed in on school and reading.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  2. I do not remember that first book. Like JC I do remember Jane and Dick and run Spot run! According to my mom, I taught myself to read when I was 3-4 because I was frustrated when she wouldn’t read me the same cereal box every morning. In her defense, she was a working mom and trying to get my sister and I ready to go and I was not a morning child!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. I was not a morning person as a child and I have never been one as an adult either. I am sure that my reputation for being grumpy in the morning will come up at a family reunion I am attending later this week. That’s OK by me. I can’t help being a night owl any more than my sister can help being a morning person. We loved sharing a room growing up. LOL

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  4. Oh, the Bobbsey Twins! My mom taught me to read them when I was 3 or 4 – she got tired of me following her around the house with books, asking her to read to me. I’m pretty sure “The Bobbsey Twins and Baby May” is the first book I read on my own.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  5. I was also a Dick, Jane, Sally, and Spot kid. (Hey, now that I think about it, maybe thatʻs why my subliminal brain told me to name one of my sleuths Sally…)

    I did read the Bobbsey Twins, too, though I canʻt remember the plot of a one of them. (And I do remember plots of Dick and Jane, such as Sally getting freaked out by a worm poking its head out of a flower her siblings were transplanting into the garden.)

    Thanks for the memories, Lisa! And Iʻm so glad that Bunny was returned–what a trauma!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. I love that Sally (not Susan at ALL) was freaked out by a worm. How much did those writers hate their jobs? On the other hand, that detail left a lasting impression. And Sally 1 should be honored to have been a possible inspiration for your sleuth’s name.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  6. I don’t remember the first book I read out loud or what my parents read to me, which come to think of it, I don’t think they ever did. But I do remember stopping by to say to my 1st grade teacher when I was in second grade, and her declaring loudly that I couldn’t read when I showed up to her class after kindergarten, and me thinking, “That’s not true! I could to read!”

    I also remember running into the same teacher at a book fair, where she highly recommended a book so highly to me that I bought it. It was filled with cautionary tales for children and to this day may be the darkest book I ever owned. I only remember one story where children were playing with matches and set the curtains on fire. I’ve blocked out whether they lived or died, but I’m pretty sure it was the latter.

    She must have thought I was an illiterate potential miscreant who needed to be set on a straighter path.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. Ha, those cautionary tales! But setting the curtains on fire, that’s gold. One of my fave poems (included in the Roberts English series, around 4th grade) is still Hilaire Belloc’s Rebecca Who Slammed Doors For Fun and Perished Miserably. I quote it to my 3 yo granddaughter all the time. (She does enjoy a good door slam.)

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. We did have the Dick and Jane books lying around. And I remember loving this picture book with sailboats in it–I think they just traveled around the water, so my mom must’ve been pretty bored reading it to me!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. The boat story sounds very peaceful to me, Jen–your mom probably loved it. (As opposed to that little Golden Book tugboat who had to navigate the big ocean.)

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  9. One picture book I loved as a kid was Nate the Great. And yes, he was a detective. The mystery he solved was pretty good for kids just learning their colors as well. When my brother was little, we discovered there were other books in the series. They weren’t quite as good as the original.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  10. I did not care for the Dick and Jane books used to teach reading. But I knew I loved mysteries when I discovered them.The first mystery I ever read by myself was a Hardy Boys book. I don’t know which mystery for sure, after all these years. Eventually I read the whole series, along with the Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden series. I have been reading mysteries ever since.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  11. I think the first Nancy Drew was the first mystery I ever read…at least it’s the first I remember!m. And boy was I hooked! I almost bought that set of yellow-spine hardbacks in the silent auction at Malice. What a nostalgia overload!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. I inherited and/or read so many versions of the Nancy Drew books I had a little trouble keeping them straight! (Like, back when Nancy’s hair color was “titian.”)

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      1. Lisa – Thanks for the alert on Nancy’s changing hair color. I always thought she was blonde. Plus, I had to look up “titian” – which I learned means strawberry blond, reddish-blond, or anything in-between. Good to know.

        Like

        Reply

  12. In 1st grade, the popular Dick and Jane series were my learn-to-read books. But “The Poky Little Puppy” soon became my favorite. I loved the cover.

    I was introduced to my first Nancy Drew around 3rd grade and quickly got hooked. After that, Dick and Jane and The Poky Little Puppy were left on the shelf. And I was into mysteries.

    My husband’s family had a set of Little Golden Books, which his father called the “Clean Hand Books”. He doesn’t remember the series, but does remember that none of the three brothers could touch the books until they washed their hands and they were sparkling clean. Made sense to me. But I can imagine there might have been some “Do have I really have to?” going on.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  14. My parents read me so many books! And I don’t know what the first mystery was, but we had a bookshelf full of Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, and Bobbsey Twin books that I read over and over again on my own.

    However, I have a very vivid memory of my second-grade teacher reading us The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Not sure why that one stands out, and I can’t tell you anything about the story, but I remember her reading it for weeks after lunch as we sat quietly on the floor in a circle. Also I remember that she wore pink frosted lipstick and a cardigan every day. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment