Sudbury boy finds his mom's long-lost childhood book at little free library

After decades of being misplaced, a Sudbury woman's long-lost childhood book unexpectedly popped up at a local Little Free Library and the experience has brought a bit of joy to her in a strange pandemic year.

Elle Hoar'sson unknowinglyfound a long-lost childhood book of hers at one of those book-sharing boxes found in some neighbourhoods, where anyone may leave or borrow a book.

"My son had gone out with his grandparents and they were walking in the neighborhood and they came to the local book lending box and they said, 'go ahead and choose one and we'll borrow it, we'll read it.'And this is the one they chose," Hoar told Up North CBC's Sam Juric.

"And they were unaware of the book's history. So when I went to go pick them him later in the day after work, I'm like, 'I love those books.'And then she told me, 'it has your name in it.'"

The revelation shocked her.

"Growing up, we had a series of nature books, there's about 25 in the collection altogether, plus a couple of supplementary books, and we read them all the time. But I didn't realize that one was missing," Hoar said.

"And I know that it was part of this collection. I know that it was particularly mine because it had my name in it, that I wrote.My full name is Elenita and I have never met another one. I only know one person. So to see your name written in your,juvenile handwriting in the book that you haven't [looked at] for 30 years is pretty remarkable."

She says the returned book is "a little worn around the edges", but it's a hardcover book and is still in great condition.

"This particular series of books we held in high regard. My sisters and I, we read them all the time. We looked through them. They were really special," Hoar said.

"Even as we grew a little bit older, we still use the photos for references for art and sketching and painting and drawing. So this has been a set of books that my parents have kept and we've held on to, you know, like that set of encyclopedias that everybody has and everybody keeps."

She says the discovery is a good reminder to pay more attention to the "little simple joys or those little things" that rekindle child-like experiences.

"That little stuff can be great."

More stories from CBC Sudbury