The Wonder of Reading

The solution to yesterday's newspaper ‘Cryptoquote’ said it well:
There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all. — Jackie Kennedy.
Reading has always been a special part of my life. I cannot remember not having books. My wife and I, both former teachers, still read a lot and have always ‘adopted’ books over our house.

During my early years, my Mom, as well as just about any visitor to our house, often took time to read to me. For example, we would look through ‘The Three Little Pigs,’ while she told the story and sang the famous ditty: “Who's afraid of the big bad Wolf?” Of course, I followed the excellent illustrations.
My reading career was launched in a variety of Walt Disney books, especially those featuring Donald Duck (with his three nephews: Hughie, Duey, and Louie) and Mickey Mouse (and HIS nephew, Morty, who never appeared to rise to the popularity level of H, D and L).
I can still remember the plots of some of these stories, so here are a couple of early detective mysteries:
— One story set in modern days, concerned Mickey, who had been called in to solve some robberies on the 'Weehawken, Hoboken and Troy Railroad.’ Now, that name had a certain ring to it, I was sure it was made up for effect, but I discovered much later that all three are REAL CITIES! If you consult a map, you note that the first two lie on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River (with Hoboken being the hometown of Frank Sinatra!), while Troy is found further north, next to Schenectady and Albany, the New York State capital.
I don’t remember much about the plot, other than Mickey collaborated with members of the train crew — engineer, brakeman and conductor — to discover and dispatch the robbers.
— Another story was set in the mountains during the ‘Wild West’ days, and also starred detective-consultant Mickey, who was called in to solve a series of stagecoach robberies. This one had a curious hook: at the end of town near the depot, there stood a fully- functional … (wait for it) … steam calliope!
It was never explained how it got there, but it was probably a refugee from a traveling circus that had gone bankrupt.
Every afternoon, just before the stagecoach arrived, the keyboard player would serenade the town by playing some old standards on the calliope. He had a fairly standard repertoire, with the closing number, ‘Hearts and Flowers.’ However, on some days, he would vary the lineup slightly and play, ‘Silver Threads Among the Gold.’

(If you want to hear examples of excellent calliope music, listen to:
‘Baby Elephant Walk’ from the movie, “Hatari!’ by Henry Mancini. (Copyright 1961 RCA Records.)
or the Beatles’ recording, ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!’ from their ground-breaking album ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.’)
The loud musical notes would bounce around the small town, as well as up-and-down the nearby mountain pass. (I heard some of this effect much later, when trying vainly to capture AM radio station signals while driving through Rocky Mountain passes.)
On some afternoons after the performance, a scout from the stagecoach (whose job was to ‘ride shotgun’) would run in from the mountain pass and breathlessly tell the Sheriff that the gold shipment had been stolen.
At first, the Sheriff and Mickey were quite puzzled, but our hero finally solved the mystery and brought the robbers to justice.
He discovered that on the days when the stagecoach was carrying a gold shipment, the calliope player would alert the robber gang, ready to ambush in the mountain pass, by playing … (you guessed it, or DID you?) … ‘Silver Threads Among the Gold.’
Clever clue, which probably got me started on reading detective stories!
I was a young adult when I discovered — and read — ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,’ and anything by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that I could get my hands on, which I maintain relate the best plots and characters of mysteries.
A couple of months ago, I even got to ‘read’ a wonderful audio book, ‘The Thirty-Nine Steps,’ the riveting, classic story by John Buchan (later to become Gov. General of Canada).
They are still my favourite books, and I will relate more of those experiences at a later time.
Meanwhile, what do YOU, Dear Reader, like to read?