***Nostalgia alert***
A - marvelously written and illustrated by May Gibbs - world peopled with small creatures (the gumnut babies), who are on the ultimate adventure of life whilst trying to avoid the evils of the world in the form of:-
The big bad banksia men. How scary for a child?!
My sister and I had a copy of The tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie when we were about 6 (me) and 8.
I read and read it, till I imagined different ending. Till snugglepot and cuddlepie were grown up and were fighting Mrs Snake;the ultimate baddie, with swords. Till I pretended I was a 'bush' dweller and out on holiday with my bush family.
During my teens I forgot about the book, relegating it to the 'childhood' memory pile. When I met M we were talking about our favourite children's stories and I happened to mention S&C.
About a month later I went to stay at M's house one weekend and there was a present for me on the table. When I opened it I was stunned with happiness. It was an original second hand copy of The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie which was printed in 1986. He'd been on a mad treasure hunt to try and find it, eventually settling for one that had to be shipped for 3 weeks.
I've got a thing about second hand books. I love the fact that someone has treasured it and loved it before me. There is an inscription on the inside of the front page which reads "To Bob and Fiona, love and kisses for your first Christmas together, we'll be thinking of you always, love Phil, Mary and Bizzy xx."
I wonder if Bob and Fiona made it through their first Christmas without killing each other. And I wonder why they decided to part with the book. I'm glad they did, it means I can look at the beautiful illustrated pages and pretend I am 6 again.
If you have a child, I implore you, get this book. They will love it and you will enjoy reading it too.
1 comments:
That banksia is quite scary! *Hides behind laptop! My faourite book is Enid Blytons, The Magic Faraway Tree :) x
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