Childhood Inspirations - Part One
We recently rearranged some furniture and moved books around – including our collection of children’s books. Lots of gems in there. And it got me thinking about how if childhood is our most formative period – which it must be if you think about it – the books I most loved then must have played a role in who I am today, particularly in terms of my literary interests and practices. So what were they?
Early on I suspect the big names were Where the Wild Things Are, as discussed in a previous blog, and the Mr Men books. Particularly, Mr Nonsense, Mr Impossible and Mr Muddle … read into that what you will. And of course books like The Balloon Tree and There’s a Monster in my Bathtub – more the former – began to instil in me that sense of wonder beyond the ordinary world.
But when I think about this, which I actually do far too often, it always comes back to Hugh Lofting’s Doctor Dolittle. My mum had three old hardbacks: Dr Dolittle’s Post Office; Dr Dolittle’s Zoo and – my absolute favourite – Dr Dolittle on the Moon. I was absolutely captivated. They’re charming stories and the whole concept of the way the animals work together and communicate really captured my imagination. And any tale that includes a pushmi-pullyu has to be good doesn’t it?
I remember excitedly finding three more of his books in a second-hand bookstore. They were possibly my first exciting finds. And besides the wonderful animal characters and fun whimsical plot ideas, there’s the Doctor himself. A quiet man who loves animals and learning things and working things out who has wonderful adventures – without needing anyone else; I think that spoke to me too. It’s okay to be quiet and studious, and here in books wondrous things can happen and I could have the adventure too.
The other most important book in my childhood would have to be a collection of Greek and Roman Myths. They were written in an engaging way without too much of the overemotional complications and they stuck to heroes or warning tales like Arachne – no divine sexual exploits or matricides. I read that book multiple times and I very rarely read something more than once. Gods, heroes, evil kings, monsters … everything my imagination continues to play with today.
Of course, then came The Hobbit and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe which are discussed enough. Besides, while I loved both it was The Fellowship of the Ring a year later that really got me going. But, funnily enough, I didn’t read any of these till I was a teenager. Actually, I didn’t sit down and read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe till I was 21.
Which reminds me of the third and final book from childhood I’ll mention for now – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I can’t remember if it was the first or second Narnia book I read, the other being The Silver Chair, but it was the one that truly got me. A voyage on the high seas encountering amazing creatures and battling evils, internally and externally (looking at you Edmund). And the magic … well, here was possibilities. Here was the land of faery.
I took that voyage, like I took the trip to the moon with a quaint vet who could talk to animals, and I’ve been voyaging off ever since.
Keep dreaming.
Early on I suspect the big names were Where the Wild Things Are, as discussed in a previous blog, and the Mr Men books. Particularly, Mr Nonsense, Mr Impossible and Mr Muddle … read into that what you will. And of course books like The Balloon Tree and There’s a Monster in my Bathtub – more the former – began to instil in me that sense of wonder beyond the ordinary world.
But when I think about this, which I actually do far too often, it always comes back to Hugh Lofting’s Doctor Dolittle. My mum had three old hardbacks: Dr Dolittle’s Post Office; Dr Dolittle’s Zoo and – my absolute favourite – Dr Dolittle on the Moon. I was absolutely captivated. They’re charming stories and the whole concept of the way the animals work together and communicate really captured my imagination. And any tale that includes a pushmi-pullyu has to be good doesn’t it?
I remember excitedly finding three more of his books in a second-hand bookstore. They were possibly my first exciting finds. And besides the wonderful animal characters and fun whimsical plot ideas, there’s the Doctor himself. A quiet man who loves animals and learning things and working things out who has wonderful adventures – without needing anyone else; I think that spoke to me too. It’s okay to be quiet and studious, and here in books wondrous things can happen and I could have the adventure too.
The other most important book in my childhood would have to be a collection of Greek and Roman Myths. They were written in an engaging way without too much of the overemotional complications and they stuck to heroes or warning tales like Arachne – no divine sexual exploits or matricides. I read that book multiple times and I very rarely read something more than once. Gods, heroes, evil kings, monsters … everything my imagination continues to play with today.
Of course, then came The Hobbit and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe which are discussed enough. Besides, while I loved both it was The Fellowship of the Ring a year later that really got me going. But, funnily enough, I didn’t read any of these till I was a teenager. Actually, I didn’t sit down and read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe till I was 21.
Which reminds me of the third and final book from childhood I’ll mention for now – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I can’t remember if it was the first or second Narnia book I read, the other being The Silver Chair, but it was the one that truly got me. A voyage on the high seas encountering amazing creatures and battling evils, internally and externally (looking at you Edmund). And the magic … well, here was possibilities. Here was the land of faery.
I took that voyage, like I took the trip to the moon with a quaint vet who could talk to animals, and I’ve been voyaging off ever since.
Keep dreaming.
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