When my dad was young, he and his brothers and sisters read a book called “Thunder Cave.” It’s long been out of print, but the memories they have of reading that story are some of the most precious of their childhoods. Every so often, at family reunions, they would ask each other, “Did you find a copy of ‘Thunder Cave yet’?” Well, after several years of searching, one of them was able to locate a copy, and much rejoicing was heard in the land.
That’s the sad thing about books. Once they stop selling well, they go out of print, and a book that was once readily available on the bookstore shelf can suddenly become as hard to find as pirate treasure. You could spend years looking, like my aunts and uncles did.
However, this is not so much the case any more. We have been given a tremendous tool to help us with our search for that elusive, well-remembered book from our childhood: the Internet. No longer just a place to look for love or check our e-mail, the Internet is your single most valuable resource for locating that beloved tome.
I’m going to use “Thunder Cave” as an example. I don’t know the name of the author, but I bet I will in a minute.
First, I’m going to go to a search engine. I will be using Google at first; I tend to get more results with Google than Yahoo.
I’m typing in “Thunder Cave,” and immediately I get:
Amazon.com – “Thunder Cave” by Roland Smith.
I don’t know if that’s the right one, so I click on it and read the description. It doesn’t sound anything like what my dad described to me, which had something to do with someone named Jasper and another someone named Zeb, so I go back out to Google and keep looking.
Ah! Fifth item down, and what do I see? The link reads: The Thrilling Adventures of JASPER and ZEBBIE, and the Good GIANT WIGWAH, a multicultural fairy tale retold with cultural sensitivity by DG Jones from the …
Okay, so I got Zebbie’s name wrong, but I was close. As I click on the link, I find that the book is a rewritten, more “modern” version of the old classic. Close, but no cigar, although they are offering a discount to senior citizens.
At this point, I realize that I’m missing a major bet. I have long relied on Amazon.com to bring me what I’m looking for. Let’s head over there now.
Typing in “Thunder Cave,” and the second item down . .
Presto! There is the book I seek! And the author’s name is Jeremiah Stokes.
It did take a bit of wandering, but in all reality, that wandering took less than five minutes. Compare that to calling used book stores, wandering the tables at yard sales, hovering at estate sales – you could waste years of your life that way.
If Amazon does not have what you’re looking for, here are some other sites that just might:
How about you? Do you remember a favorite book from childhood that you would love to have again? I’m willing to wager you could find it on the Internet. Type the name into a search engine or go directly to one of the sites listed above, starting with Amazon. If it still exists, you should be able to find it.
Related Blogs: