May 30, 2008

classic reading


My friend, Betsy, and I were talking about "The Wind in the Willows," which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. We chatted about how much we both loved that book and its enchanting riverbank world. Reading it as a kid would transport me to a make-believe place that was so real in my imagination. We would play Wind in the Willows in the backyard, and I cherish those memories.

This got me to thinking about other books that I would read and reread as a kid, getting lost in the worlds on the pages. We’d spend weeks pretending we were Laura Ingalls Wilder exploring the Western frontier or Anne of Green Gables working on the farm. And I laugh just thinking about the time we dragged an old wash tub down from the attic in the garage, filled it up water, jumped in clothes and all, and then hopped out and spun as fast as we could to dry off just like Pippi Longstocking did. I wished I had a Secret Garden hidden away and liked to pretend Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy had a fifth sister, so I could be one of the Little Women too.

Just writing about all of these makes me want to read them again now. I wonder if they would be as magical to an adult as they were to me back then? I sure hope so.

(Image above from LarkingAbout's Ladybird Books Collection via Flickr)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

awww..I loved all of those books! and did many of the same things you did.

this summer will be a good time to re-read every one of those books!

karey m. said...

oh, you brought back some memories here!