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My wonderful daughter is almost eleven but she still loves Winnie the Pooh. And I couldn't be happier about it. There is a gentle humor to Pooh, an open honesty and a genuine loving friendship among the characters. There is no petty bickering in the stories and they all put their friends needs above their own.
She hurt herself tonight... cut her finger pretty bad and it was really bothering her, and as she always does when she's hurt or sick, she asked me to read a Pooh story to her. Not from the original, mind you, because that is something that only my dad can do for her ("You can't read as good as Papa can, Mom," she says, "but I love you anyhow."), so I read these illustrated stories that I bought through the school's book club several years ago. Beautiful pictures matched only by the wonderful prose.
Today she choose Winnie the Pooh's Valentine by Bruce Talkington. These books really capture the feel of the original. Quiet, loving, clever and charming they are definitely the type of story I want my daughter to fall asleep thinking of.
The first four lines of the book:
It was easy to see what day it was in the Hundred-Acre Wood. Birds cuddled in pairs on drooping limbs and were loudly chirping duets. Friendly breezes tickled the leaves of trees until they fluttered with laughter. Saplings shyly touched and, bending close, exchanged sweet secrets in restless whispers.
...exchanged sweet secrets in restless whispers. I know just the sound that is. Poplar whisper just like that and even on a still day their leaves quiver. And there's this sweet smell about them...
My ideal vacation spot would be the Hundred Acre Wood. I could spend all day sitting in a thoughtful spot or playing Pooh sticks then watching the stars come out... and listening to the saplings shyly exchange sweet secrets in restless whispers.
She hurt herself tonight... cut her finger pretty bad and it was really bothering her, and as she always does when she's hurt or sick, she asked me to read a Pooh story to her. Not from the original, mind you, because that is something that only my dad can do for her ("You can't read as good as Papa can, Mom," she says, "but I love you anyhow."), so I read these illustrated stories that I bought through the school's book club several years ago. Beautiful pictures matched only by the wonderful prose.
Today she choose Winnie the Pooh's Valentine by Bruce Talkington. These books really capture the feel of the original. Quiet, loving, clever and charming they are definitely the type of story I want my daughter to fall asleep thinking of.
The first four lines of the book:
It was easy to see what day it was in the Hundred-Acre Wood. Birds cuddled in pairs on drooping limbs and were loudly chirping duets. Friendly breezes tickled the leaves of trees until they fluttered with laughter. Saplings shyly touched and, bending close, exchanged sweet secrets in restless whispers.
...exchanged sweet secrets in restless whispers. I know just the sound that is. Poplar whisper just like that and even on a still day their leaves quiver. And there's this sweet smell about them...
My ideal vacation spot would be the Hundred Acre Wood. I could spend all day sitting in a thoughtful spot or playing Pooh sticks then watching the stars come out... and listening to the saplings shyly exchange sweet secrets in restless whispers.
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Date: 2004-03-13 07:54 pm (UTC)From:In a world that seems to revolve around hatred and cynicism, she still loves these gentle tales, she enjoys the quiet, loving things that I try to share with her, and she finds the in the world things good and wonderful... and I spend everyday fighting to help her be able to do that.
I find being a parent a strange and daunting task. As she is is growing into this totally separate and unique human being it's both as if I knew she would always be this way and yet as if I have never met her before. I spend most of my waking time fighting to share my beliefs and thoughts and knowledge with her and yet it is both amazing and terrifying to see her incorporate those teachings into her own attitudes and beliefs.
It is a humbling thought to know that how I behave, doing even the most mundane of tasks, forms her view of how the world is and how she should approach life.