Posting Pooh's hum yesterday got me to thinking about old favorite children's books I love--and wondering if the magic could be the same for Josie, considering that she's already familiar with the Disney versions. When I read Winnie the Pooh to her, she assured me she already knew all about it--though she was fairly engaged as we read.
Mary Poppins, The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, spring to mind. Can just the words and a few illustrations compete with the full color, singing, dancing extravaganzas? Same with The Wizard of Oz.
When I was falling in love with these books and with reading in general, we had no television and movies were an occasional treat. I have a real feeling things will never be the same. But I'd be happy to be proved wrong.
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I had kids books — the illustrated readers type of thing. When I started actually reading at age 7, it was The Bobbsey Twins. That was followed by The Hardy Boys, and so on. I seem to have missed The Classics.
I don't remember reading any of those books as a kid. My family couldn't ford to buy books, but I read everything I could get my hands on, and they were mostly adult books. I don't know how I learned to read. Nobody ever read to me or tried to teach me to read, yet I was somehow reading well at an early age. I envy Josie for having adults who read to her.
A similar thought occured to me, when one of my son's family became enamored with Disneyland...so the granddaughter was totally one or another princess from Disney when growning up. It a good guess they never saw the books that gave other illustrations. My other granddaughter's family also had princesses, but many children's books, so it's possible. A. A. Milne's birthday is this week, by the way.
It's weird, but I enjoyed the movies as they came out and I enjoyed the stories and books. Loved The Secret Garden, went to see the movie, still loved the book. Maybe it depends on what you encounter first. Same thing with Snow White, Cindarella, etc.
According to my mother, I was reading by the age of four. She'd always read to me, following the words with her finger, out of a children's chapter book (as opposed to picture book) while I was sitting on her lap. And then one day I impatiently pushed her hand out of the way, and she realized I was reading silently faster than she was reading aloud ... We had no television; indeed, I still remember the excitement when one of our neighbours bought a tv.
That changed to a large extent when we emigrated to the U.S., where televisions had already become a customary part of any home, although my parents were strict about what I watched and for how long. (Even so, I swear I learned English that summer from The Mickey Mouse Club -- thank you, Jimmy and Annette and the Hardy Boys!) We went to the movies too seldom for them to take up much space in the landscape of my imagination. There were always books, though. Always.
I loved the Bobbsey Twins!
Oh, I loved the Bobbsey Twins too. And Honeybunch--Just a Little Girl. But I still re-read the others I first mentioned.
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