Bright, Shiny Childhood Reads

Okay. Y'all knew I was an odd Word-Whore, right? Up to now our favorite children's books have been safe for all audiences. Then you get to me and that comes to a crashing halt. *Squints*. Yeah, I don't see any surprise in your faces.

Maybe it's because I was sneaking out of bed when I was 5 to watch the late night scifi/horror show with Dad (The Omega Man, The Fly, The Incredible Shrinking Man - you know - all those happy, feel good movies guaranteed to sear weeks of nightmares into an impressionable 5 year-old brain) but my favorite books as a kid weren't . . . well . . . entirely cheery.

I adore(d) H.M. Hoover. The Children of Morrow was the first of her books that I read. Nuclear war has shattered life on earth. A tiny pocket of survivors cling to life in a village that worships an old nuclear bomb still in its underground silo. Two children witness (and *might* have caused) the death of one of the elders, sending them running for their lives from the only family they've ever known. This book is tough to find. It was first published in 1973. I picked it up about that time while I still measured my age in single digits. I still own this book. Somewhere. I moved to a boat, but I kept this book. It's that good. Funny thing, though. None of my nieces or nephews were at all interested in this one or in This Time of Darkness by the same author. Can't understand why.

Andre Norton also wrote a ton of kid's books. Although I started reading her adult books first (while still a kid), the kid's books are more than worth it. Lavender-Green Magic is a prime example. It was one of the first books (but not the last of hers) with protagonists who are people of color. I wish that weren't remarkable, but when I read the book in the late 70s, it mostly certainly was. Sadly still is today. This one isn't quite as grim as the first book. . .but it has its moments. The kids in the book get word that their father is MIA in Vietnam. Their mother, trying to cope, sends them to stay with their grandparents. The lavender-green reference is for an overgrown garden labyrinth that ends up being the kids' doorway to magic, time travel and trouble (but not necessarily to finding their father.)


Also firmly slotted in the Books Nobody I Know Wants to Read: Anything by John Christopher. Another author I adored. The Tripod series is still one of my favorites. Because, you know, every fourth grader should be reading stories about aliens invading and enslaving humans. . . or turning them into static museum exhibits.

Oh sure there are more. Some creepier than others. Some less so. (See Andre Norton, The Prince Commands - dated as it was written in the late 30s or early 40s - but this is The Three Musketeers meets The Werewolf - all fun, no creepy.) Susan Cooper wrote a series I still love that starts with The Dark is Rising - a riff on Arthurian legend. The list is long and the hour is late so I'll stop.

Does this semi-grim childhood reading list explain everything?

Gift Book for a kid...

When I was young I devoured series. Encyclopedia Brown books, Nancy Drew books, Hardy Boys, The Black Stallion series. the Marguerite Henry horse books...then I found Dragonlance and I was hooked.

 Here is a book I particularly loved. I don't know if it is still available, but was part of a series about various dog breeds. I still wish I had a saluki.

I also recall a large size picture book of the black stallion, with fabulous drawings inside.

So, I guess if I were going to gift a book of my past to a kid today, it would depend on the kid. Mystery, animals, or fantasy... To me, so long as they read something they find interesting, it doesn't much matter what.

When I Was Wee: My Favorite Folktale

My favorite childhood book was...

Tikki Tikki Tembo

This is a great little story about the most honored elder son with the grand (nearly fatal) long name and his younger brother Chang. Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sa Rembo-Chari Bari Ruchi Pip Peri Pembo ~gasps~ is the beloved son of his mother, while younger brother Chang is easily dismissed. T3 is keen to get into mischief, as children are wont to do. That mischief leads to T3 falling down a well and it is up to his little brother (and the old man with the ladder) to save him.

Being the younger child, the days I empathized with Chang were many, many, many. Being the younger child learning to read while my family was stationed in Taiwan...not even typhoons could pry it from my grip.

The book was first published in 1968 and was widely welcomed by academia. Nearly 50 years later, the book is tossed back and forth as being a racist representation of Asain culture. I'm not going to wade into the political correctness of a folktale. I will say only that it spoke to me so strongly as a child, that I've shared it with the next generation of my family.

Favorite Childhood Book Pick!

During this season of many holidays, the Word Whores are discussing what childhood book favorite would we gift to a kid today.

My answer immediately popped into my head, but I set it aside to mull others. Why that book? Maybe I should pick something more... what? Feminist or something science fiction or fantasy. Some unusual book that would make me -- oh, right. I was falling into that trap of wanting to sound all smart in my choices.

So, here it is, and I don't care if it IS a princess book!

A LITTLE PRINCESS was one of the formative books of my early childhood. So many of my ideas about story and the true meaning of being a princess - a gracious behavior that comes from the heart and not from circumstance - were formed by this book. From looking it up, I see that it's discussed as a fairy tale derived allegory, so I suppose it's no surprise this book sang to me. And, in fact, clearly set the foundation for me to love Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters and so many more of that tradition.

In fact, I'm buying a copy for my granddaughter for Christmas.