When I was a kid, there was no TV in the house. My mom fought hard to keep our home a TV free zone until I was about 12. As you might expect, I played outdoors a lot and became an early and veracious reader.

Mom, Dad, and I visited multiple libraries on a regular basis, and I had library cards to at least a half dozen public libraries. My parents weren’t much on games, so reading was what we did. By the time I reached third grade, I was automatically made classroom librarian because I was the only student who had read most of the books. But something happened that year for which I will always be grateful.

Miss Sachitano, who read aloud each day after lunch, read The Happy Hollisters and the Swiss Echo Mystery to us. I loved it. I quickly read the three or four other volumes she had in the library and began searching for more. I hit pay dirt at a second-hand bookstore we often visited, and soon I had about half of the 33 volumes in the collection. The problem was—this was in the 1970s. The books were already out of print. And they weren’t easy to find.

When I got married in 1988, my husband made it his mission to help me complete the collection. We spent hours combing through antique stores in search of treasures and Happy Hollisters. And before long we had done it! We had all 33 books and a few to spare. My husband called them my “trading stock.”

Over the years I taught school I often read at least one of the Happy Hollister books to my class. Some classes loved them more than others, but every class was intrigued with this family of five that solved mysteries together. And the kids really loved it when I used books from my trading stock as prizes for most AR points or Straight A average or some other end of year award.

If you’ve read to this point and you’re wondering What’s the big deal? and What the heck are Happy Hollisters?? I understand. Not everyone knows about these wonderful books from the 1950s and 60s. But I can truthfully say I owe a good portion of my education to them. I learned survival skills, about the early days of the space program, the manual alphabet, Lipizzaner horses, and much more. Each book contained a wealth of information as well as a good story.

The great thing is—the Happy Hollisters have made a comeback. I knew these books were popular with home school groups, but I was delighted to recently discover that Happy Hollister

The great thing is—the Happy Hollisters have made a comeback. I knew these books were popular with home school groups, but I was delighted to recently discover that Happy Hollister books are now available again in several formats. What’s more, there’s an entire website devoted to them. The website has some great information and activities as well the opportunity to purchase newly released copies of the original books. If you haven’t read a Happy Hollister book, I recommend you start at the beginning with the first book in the series The Happy Hollisters. This wholesome collection is like a time capsule. And can I tell you a secret? I still get one of mine out and read it again every so often. If you’ve been doing the math with the dates in this post, you know I’m a little older than the target audience.

The Happy Hollisters are not overtly Christian books, but they do model Christian values. And, yes, the vocabulary is a little outdated now. But you’ll find a list of such words on the website along with the title and chapter in which it is found. In short, the Happy Hollisters are a blast from the past your kids will love.

To learn more about these wonderful books visit: https://thehappyhollisters.com/the-books/

#HappyHollisters #homeschoolbooks #chapterbooks #kidlit #wholesomebooks #swellbooks

By Wendy Hinote Lanier
Co-author of Puppy Dog Devotions: 75 Fun Fido Facts, Bible Truths, And More! (Iron Stream Media, 2021) and author of the forthcoming Too Many Pigs in the Pool (Sleeping Bear Press, 2022).

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