Of Children's Books...

My aunt has started night duty the other day. And so, for two days I have been putting my six-year-old cousin to bed (I used to do this when my aunt had to come home late from school as well). As with most children, bedtime stories are a tradition. Sometimes, I would read her several short stories, as these are the most engaging for a young child. Sometimes, she would request one of the longer books because these "made her sleepy faster." It goes without saying then that she finds "long books" a bit boring. It is difficult, after all, to hold a young child's attention for the time it takes to finish a book.

This time, however, she found a "long book" that captured her attention and imagination with every page.

 I'm talking about Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Even I (and I haven't read this book as a child) found it pretty amazing. And funny. I think the descriptions of delicious sweets and colorful things in Charlie's life and inside Wonka's factory stirred her imagination so much that she didn't really need many illustrations to visualize what exactly was going on. She was pretty shocked that Charlie could only have one chocolate a year, and she would clutch her blanket in excitement as Charlie opened his candy bar as she proclaimed "I hope Charlie gets a golden ticket!" And she positively squealed with delight when Charlie finally got one! Halfway through the book, she even got so hungry from listening about candy bars and jelly beans that I had to make her a snack.

Children's books are pretty wonderful. I was a very imaginative as a child myself, and until now I prefer whimsical and meaningful Childrens' books to most Teen/Adult ones. After all, simple stories such as The Velveteen Rabbit and The Little Prince contain so much more wonder and life lessons than a lot of the adult novels I've read. And so, I've decided to start rereading one of the books I enjoyed as a child as well:

Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess. I've forgotten most of the story, but I can definitely see a lot of myself in little Sara - I also had/have a strong imagination and love making up stories.

And, you know what? If I get children of my own one day, I think I'm going to stock the house full of these marvelous children's stories and share it to them. I don't want them to miss out on the joy and magic of reading books (and they sure as hell don't rot your brain out as television and computer games do.) I don't want them to be boring children who spend their lives with eyes stuck on the television or computer screen. I want them to have an imagination, to see extraordinary things in the ordinary, and to be able to find something fun when everybody else thinks there's "nothing to do".

So, join me in the nostalgia. Why don't you pick up one of your favorite old children's books and reread them? I think it's the best way to feel young again. :)