Shortly before the holidays, I received an e-mail request from our son, Shawn, in Berkeley, Calif. "Could you send us some books from that basket you always set out at Christmas?" he wrote. "We need some Christmas stories to read to Jasper."

Our grandson may be only 5 months old, but he's been read to almost from birth. What's more, he seems to enjoy it, proving the premise of the book our daughter gave them about how to raise a reader.

I got out the basket and chose a few books with simple stories and big, colorful pictures, added some new ones, and shipped it off to Berkeley. I was worried, though, because the Christmas Little Golden Books weren't in the basket, and they were my kids' favorites.

Little Golden Books came out in 1942, with the object of making children's books available for even low-income families. They cost only a quarter. One of the early books, "The Poky Little Puppy," still holds the record as the highest-selling children's book in history.

There used to be racks of them in grocery stores, drug stores, and anyplace else a mom might happen to have her purse out. They were so cheap that I usually returned from any errand with one.

When a toddler was sick, a visit to the pediatrician was usually followed by a stop at Tufts' Drugstore to pick up a prescription and a Little Golden Book. If a child waved me off mournfully with tears near the surface when I left for work in the morning, I picked up a Little Golden Book on my lunch hour, to ease my conscience.

Now I couldn't find them to buy, except a set called "65 Years of Little Golden Books." I snatched it up, paying about as much for the six books in the set as I would have paid for 40 books back in my mommy years.

When I returned from my fruitless search, I got on the Internet. Yes, they're still being reprinted and available, I learned, but mostly just online. Now, that's a shame. It was great when you could go into any grocery store and pick up a book for a quarter, or even the 49 cents they cost when my children finally outgrew them. It meant that kids in homes where the month lasted longer than the money could have big libraries. Why, we saved enough money to even add an occasional Dr. Suess book to the shelf.

I remembered a visit when my sister-in-law, Ruth, came to spend the weekend while our husbands were hunting. She was reading to her two and my two toddlers while I got dinner, and the third time Matt plunked "Green Eggs and Ham" on her knee and said, "Again!" she moaned, "I can't stand to read that stupid thing one more time. Get me something with a plot. Bring me a Little Golden Book!"

In my Internet search I learned that there are now Little Golden Book DVDs, and CD-Roms with interactive games for parent and child. Modern technology is wonderful, but I don't think anything can compare to sitting on mom's lap, or snuggled on either side of her on the couch, and hearing a story in her own voice. When a little one pipes, "Why is the tugboat named Scuffy?" the DVD isn't going to stop and explain. It isn't going to simplify the story to a 1-year-old's level, either.

Neither the DVD nor the game is going to personalize the story by asking, "What kind of sound does the Poky Little Puppy make when he's hungry?" Nor will they say, "Show me the puppy's nose. Now show me YOUR nose." No, Moms will never be replaced by technology.

I've got to be honest. I'm not just feeling sorry for kids, but for their mothers, too. Holding a warm little toddler on your lap and reading a story while his head rests on your chest has got to be one of the biggest perks of motherhood. It's a feeling to store in your mental treasure chest. It gives comfort when the child becomes a teenager, thinks you're dumb as a rock, and wants to hear your voice about as much as the strident alarm clock buzzer on a school morning.

Well, reminiscing isn't going to replenish my Little Golden library. I eventually found my missing Christmas books, but now that I know
I can't grab one at the grocery store, I'm going to have to replenish the regular stock for the new grandchild. Back to eBay!

It helped me collect enough Fisher-Price to keep Jasper entertained when he visits; surely it can do the same with Little Golden Books. I just hope the previous owners printed their names in pencil, not ink ... or crayon!

* Donna Scofield is a freelance writer whose articles, columns and short fiction stories have appeared in numerous national and regional magazines. The longtime Yakima resident is retired after working as a secretary and office manager in Yakima School District elementary schools. She has raised two sons and two daughters.