A book worm from way back

In the small country school where I moved at the end of 1956, one was simply invisible if one was not sporty. I could not run. I could not wrestle. I could not shoot for goal. I could not slide into base. That ruled out just about everything: athletics, netball, and softball. I could not swim either, but that only mattered when I went to high school. I guess it was a big deal being ostracised like that, but I tried to find other things to do. I loved reading, so from very early on I became the student librarian, yes, even from Third Class. I stamped books in; I stamped books out. I covered books with plastic. I made sure books were in the correct order on the shelves. I also added new acquisitions to the ledger. Which meant I invariably read them first.

I adored Enid Blyton, from "The Faraway Tree" to the "Famous Five". I sweated on new volumes coming in on a regular basis. They were all real people to me, especially Georgina, who was me in disguise. And Timmy, who was my black'n'tan Kelpie, Darkie in disguise. They did ordinary things that read like the grandest of adventures. And they always had someone to play with. And the adults did not interfere too much. I have just bought via e-Bay the first FF adventure: "Five on a Treasure Island" with the illistrations as I remember them. I will see how Alannah reacts to them. I gather there were 21 adventures in the series which were originally published between 1942 and 1963, meaning there are some I have NOT read! Book #17, published in 1958 was called "Five get into a Fix". What an inspired name for a book. I DARE anyone to be this creative nowadays.

I did not restrict myself to Enid Blyton though. I had no need to. The runners, and wrestlers, and base-sliders out in the playground were not banging the library door down, for heaven's sake. Another passion I developed was for the "Twins" series by Lucy Fitch Perkins, who was *gasp* an American. But mostly her books were set elsewhere. Not that I had my biases in place until later in my life, you understand. Fitch Perkins wrote in the first half of the 20th century whereas Blyton straddled the middle of the century. I suspect I was the prime mover in getting th twins books into the library, as the author diued just before WW2, so they were not hot off the press in any way. IU feel sure if I were to read them again today, I would cringe at their beige sameness. But for a quiet, solitary girl in country New Soth Wales in the 1950s they were a window to another world. I suspect I raed the majority of these. As well as the volumes you see illustrated there was one about The Eskimo Twins, The Cave Twins, The Japanese Twins, The Spartan Twins, and The Italian Twins. A bunch of them are up on Project Gutenberg. Do I dare take a peak?

I was not alone in my adoration of the Bobbsey Twins. Even the shooters and sliders were keen. Keen enough to object to my always getting the new ones first, and being smug about it. So, rules about sharing were introduced. Blast 'em! But I took my time, and just branched out a bit. I sobbed and heaved over "Black Beauty". I braved the icy wilds of Alaska in "Call of the Wild". And there was one particular Ladybird Book about a seaside donkey who was mistreated and alone, that tugged at the heart-strings to such an extent that the images are still vivid and readily brought to mind. The imagination is such a wondrous thing.

I did not know this at the time, but Laura Lee Hope did not exist . She was about 10 different writers who took it in turn to conjure adventures for Nan and Bert, Freddie and Flossie. The similarity here to Blyton;s FF is striking. But probably only to an adult. Blyton came up with Julian, Dick, Georgina, and Anne, with the fifth being Timmy the dog. I remember in the '80s reading Susan Cooper's "Dark is Rising" series to my children, and realising it was a more complex, better quality concept. Kirsten has asked me a number of times why I never read FF or BT or Twins to my own children. I guess I am a book snob. It's the only way I can explain it. I adored them, and they meant the world to me. But I was coming off a very low base, an arid plain. Life is short, and choices have to be made. I read them lots of other books, like, "The Indian in the Cupboard", Victor Cannings "Smiler" trilogy, and Mary Norton's "Borrowers" series. To cite but a few.

Let the Frozen princess go!

We are enduring a bout of Frozenmania. On the weekends, Alannah is allowed to choose a film to watch in the early evening, usually taking over two nights. For the month of May - is it only that long! - the flavour has been "Frozen". A modern take on Hans Christian Anderson's "Snow Queen, "Frozen" does not have a hero and a villain, but two people who are the Yin and the Yan of the same character. And Alannah - and her mother - adore it. They burst into song whilst wafting down the stairs. Make jokes about headless bodies whilst shovelling porridge drowned in honey. Which is why the visit to the library today filled with with so much hope. The two of them had spent an hour on the sofa in the morning sun, reading Enid Blyton's "The Magic Faraway Tree", and this put Kirsten's brain to work.

Last week they borrowed "The Princess and the Peas". Alannah does not need encouragement to aspire to princesshood. She was astounded that, come the end of this book, Lily-Rose May decided to revoke her membership of that particular order. Alannah's aspirations lay in tatters. "But, WHY would she decide that?" she wailed EACH AND EVERY TIME!

Alannah goes to ballet each Saturday morning, and is forever pirouetting down the garden path, or at barre practising tippee-toe stuff. On Sunday she performs in a concert. Her favourite colour is pink, but she will allow rainbow colours - in an acceeptable shade of the original, mind you. No room on that palette for olive, grey, or poo-brown. Today, however, at the library, they went to investigate chapter books for young readers. Kirsten is forever asking me to remember details of her childhood. This morning I was hit with "What were Alastair's favourite books when he was six?" (Alastair being her brother.) Blimey! His all-time favourite was "Goodnight Mister Tom" but he was older than 6. So I listed a few when he was aged between 6 and 12. Quite an age range, I agree. A list like: Goodnight Mister Tom The Smiler trilogy The Phantom Tollbooth Charlotte's Web Charlie and the Chocolate Factory The Giraffe, the Pelly & Me The BFG The Borrowers There's an Indian in the Cupboard They came home with bundles of Roald Dahl. They drove into the garage, then joined Juliet, myself and Sellie on the verge in the sun, and began to read "The Magic Finger". This evening Kirsten started "The BFG" and Darren started to read Alannah "George's Marvellous Medicine".

According to "The Princess and the Peas", you should be diagnosed withe disease of Princesshood if you are: quite pretty; polite; and, allergic to peas. Add to that: adore pink, squeal at spiders, choose your own clothes from under two, and wear ONLY dresses. Luckily, Alannah gardened with me this afternoon, and took great delight in all the massive, juicy wormie-woms that my pitchfork kept on turning over. I'll cure her yet!

And, yes, there is another little girl growing up under our roof. But she is only 8 months, and I feel sure no-one qualifies to be a princess un til at least 18 months.