@Holly Saunders I could never have guessed, based on the wording of your OP. No toys, how much happiness, I wonder? Small wonder at the adoption of reference to "dolly", then. I imagine the skeletons I've released from their graves have either directed readers to browse elsewhere, or sympathize, or doubt validity. Personally, I had plenty of toys, and friends (until I burned my face off!). You are sharing pain? Or, am I understanding incorrectly? Frank
Books were one of my favorite things as a child, too. My folks had a little neighborhood store, and we had living space in the back; so that is where I spent all of my time. My mom got me a set of those Little Golden Books, and I loved all of the stories, and Pokey Little Puppy was my favorite. I knew it by heart, before i was even able to read, and that was part of how I learned to read. Then came cowboy books, and I had a wonderful book that was full of cowboy stories and a horse called "Noonday Sun", who became my dream horse. Roy Rogers comics followed that. Since I was an only child, and my mom was usually busy in the store, reading was an important part of my young life.
As a student i love reading as a way of knowing what other people are doing in their lives. When i reached college, due to some financial constraints, i worked as a student assistant in the library. When i graduated from college i was taken as one of the staff in the library and later on sent for a graduate study of library science. If given the chance again, i would still choose to work in the library as i come to love books and learning from reading books.