Watching her granddaughter grow up, Barbara Rodgers noticed how different their childhoods were. "I realized she had no clue about things we did as kids growing up," said the Hallam resident.

Inspired to share her memories, Rodgers wrote and illustrated "Growing Up on Fox Street," a book about her school years in the 1960s in a small town in Pennsylvania.

The book was released in June, but Rodgers started working on it about four years ago. "I wanted to write something about growing up at Christmastime," she said. "Once I started writing, I couldn't stop."

The book features 19 chapters, full of stories of Rodgers' experiences from kindergarten through ninth grade, from 1960 to 1969.

Rodgers grew up in Williamsport with two brothers and several cousins. Her book recalls the fun she had with her family, including spending time at her father's hunting cabin, where there was no electricity and no running water.

"There was a creek nearby, and we'd play in that," she recalled. "We loved it."

The book also recounts how the kids would visit a local appliance store and drag oversized boxes home to create a city for imaginary play.

When she started the book, Rodgers planned to gear it toward younger readers, but it ended up being a longer project better suited for people ages 12 to 18, she said.

Her granddaughter, Lorelle, now 10, has heard parts of the book.

"I read it to her while I was working on it," she said of sharing the stories with her grandaughter. "She would raise her hand like she was in school and ask me questions while I was reading it, so I decided to put some annotations here and there throughout the book." The book also includes a few simple questions corresponding to each chapter, designed to encourage discussion.

Although much of the book is light-hearted, Rodgers did include historic events of the time period, including the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War. "I tried to hit on some history but without getting too deep or making it feel like you're reading a textbook about the '60s," she said.

A retired graphic designer, Rodgers lives with her husband, Richard. They are the parents of one daughter and one granddaughter. Rodgers is working on a second book, and she offers this advice to aspiring authors: "Just get started. At first, I was making all these notes, but you need to just sit down and start writing. And save little mementos, because someday, you'll look back on them, and they will bring back fond memories."

"Growing Up on Fox Street" is available on Amazon and at http://www.barnesandnoble.com.