'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Sunday 3 May 2009

Vintage Books

It was a real thrill to find some children's book treasures today at Winch Books in Bungendore - a little country town near Canberra that's high on culture.

Winch Books is a second hand establishment, jammed to the rafters with teetering shelves of books from all over the world. It's heart-thumping, papery bliss. Wandering through the maze-like rooms of this literary aladdin's cave was breath-snatching for me. I could have dragged a bunk in and camped for three weeks solid.

Alan, the owner and literary raider of the lost ark, even treated us to some stories on his framed manuscript pages, some dating back to the 1400s. He also tempted us with first editions of Welles and Hemingway.

But my true finds were these precious vintage children's books from the US, flush with that vintage book smell and in excellent condition for 1960s editions. They even included floppy clear vinyl disks for our listening pleasure. If only we had one of those fandangled machines that played vinyl. Alan does. And he even showed Ella how it worked (she's never seen such contraptions before).

So here are my treasures...

Let's Find Out About Abraham Lincoln by Martha and Charles Shapp (Grolier International, 1965), pictures by James Caraway


And Let's Find Out About the UN by Martha and Charles Shapp (Grolier International,1962), pictures by Angela Conner


winch books
kings highway, bungendore, new south wales
t: 6238 1145