I was thinking about books I've read in my life that had the most influence on my reading habits, and then later on, my writing. I think it all started with a 1943 collection of unexpurgated fairy tales called Giants and Witches and a Dragon or Two, which I read when I was a precocious seven-year-old in the second grade. My parents were appalled when they found out about it, but I think it worked out all right. Does anyone else know about this book? It's still in print and available, but I doubt that kids in today's world will run across it as easily as I did. I wrote more about it here: douglaslumsden.blogspot.com.