Dear Reader: From Little Golden Books to Lifelong Memories: A Celebration of Reading and Family
November 2025
by Thygerson Vaun
November 2025
by Thygerson Vaun
Oct 30, 2025
Much to my surprise, for a wedding gift almost 35 years ago, my mother revitalized my original book for me. She had re-bound, fixed the ripped pages, pasted the original wording over my colorful renderings, and laminated it. This treasured book has definitely seen better days, but its importance means everything to me. I am grateful to have grown up in a household that encouraged reading and to have had a family that read this book to me so often that many of them can still quote from it to this day. And, thanks to my mom’s gift, I could share my original copy with my children.
Speaking of books, November 1st celebrates Family Literacy Day and National Authors Day. KCFM wanted to find out our readers’ favorite books to read as adults or children. In the article, “Have You Found Your Favorite Read?” Andrea Rose gives KCFM friends’ recommendations from family favorites to classics like Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White & Garth Williams to crime-solving novels like First to Die: A Novel (Women’s Murder Club #1). To find out more about KCFM readers’ favorites, and mine too, turn to page 14.
Callie Collins writes KCFM’s Happy Mama articles each month, and this time, we get to learn more about her foster parenting journey. As November is National Adoption Awareness Month, she writes about her foster and foster-to-adopt family. With her husband Mario, they are parents to six boys, many temporary infants and four long-term placements. In her article, “Hello, Happy Mama (Of Many Kids): Callie Collins,” on page 12, you can read how love is what makes a family.
For this month’s laugh-out-loud Humor at Home article, “Chicken, Chicken, Chip: The Sandwich Memory That Started It All,” Julie Willis shares how her child loved dipping her chicken into sour cream during a lunch date at Sequoia Sandwich. Next time, she ordered chips, which her daughter had never eaten, and this turned into a fun chant of “chicken, chicken, chip.” Soon, this mealtime fun evolved into a sandwich tradition, complete with “dirty” chips. To read all about it, turn to page 22.
As November’s signature feeling of thankfulness fills the air, it’s a joy to remember being grateful for the memories we had as children, and how these moments from our childhood help shape us into the people we are today. Something as simple as remembering your favorite book can evoke nostalgia. Maybe this year, around the Thanksgiving dinner table, you can share your special books with each other. KCFM gives much thanks for our incredible readers and friends!
Happy Turkey Day!
