It’s Week 2 of the #ListifyLife Spring Challenge! I am posting every Tuesday.
The topic this week? The Books I’d Want to Live in for Awhile… My picks, in no particular order but with some degree of rationalization, are:
When I thought about this topic, I decided to go with the books that most enthralled or otherwise inspired me as a child. The ones I identified with. I didn’t read Gone with the Wind until I was 21 or so, but I chose it as my most “adult” book, because I’d love to stand near Scarlett O’Hara and whack her on the head every once in a while. But I’m getting ahead of my nominations…
My list is missing Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Nice Fat Policeman. I (well, my older sister but I stole them) had 5 or 6 in the Raggedy Ann and Andy series, but the one starring the Nice Fat Policeman really piqued my interest. Who doesn’t want to live the life of a rag doll? I had my own Raggedy Ann and Andy, and I remember declaring to my dad that I would name a kid Andy, which turned out to be his middle name (Andrew). Years later, I actually DID name my first son Andrew, after my dh’s brother, Andy, who passed away at 25 from an asthma attack. But we didn’t actually call our son Andy, because that was Andy’s name. His legal name is Andrew, though.
Hmm, why isn’t Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Nice Fat Policeman on my list then? Quite simply, I ran out of space in the cute graphic box. This is the book I also read to my grade one class, so it stuck in my memory.
Back to my nominations:
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This one is simple. I’m Canadian, and so is Anne. Anne is a little quirky and odd and has great friends and great adventures. Plus, I’ve never visited Prince Edward Island. Living in Anne of Green Gables for awhile would give me that chance.
- Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. Hmm, I seem to have a penchant for stuffed animal stories, but, honestly, stuffed animals come to life? I’m there! Not scary like Chucky. Being a Wednesday’s Child, I always identified with Eeyore, although others might classify me more like a Tigger. But really I want to steal Winnie the Pooh’s honey while he’s stuck in that hole.
- On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I could have chosen any of the LIW books for this “living in awhile” list, but I didn’t really want to be caught in a long, cold winter and On the Banks of Plum Creek left a lasting impression on me as an 8-year-old finally realizing actual people actually wrote actual books. That writing books was actually something an actual person might actually get to do some day. This blew me away! I learned to read peeking over my older sister’s shoulder when she was in grade 1 (we didn’t have kindergarten or more than 2 TV channels, and the family lore goes that perhaps I was bored – or a genius; the jury is still out). I was 4, maybe closer to 5 because it would have been in the fall. I learned to read via Dr. Seuss and likely my sister’s grade 1 readers, but our grade 3 teacher read us the LIW books every day. Laura had dark hair and always had to wear pink, like me (honestly, my mother!!) whereas Laura’s sister had blond hair and got to wear blue (like my sister – Mom!!!). Laura had an adventurous life, and she got to live in a sod sorta house in this book. This greatly appealed to my imagination, because until the age of 5 I grew up in a tiny farming community where 95% of the residents were related to each other (but not intermarried – we had scruples), and my grandparents were pioneers. Laura’s dad was a pioneer. One + one = Budding Writer whose first attempt at a novel was a grade three project, a little paper pamphlet book I called “On the Shores of Mable Lake.”
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I doubt this one needs an explanation. I mean, come on, a wardrobe with a magical passage to another world where you get to ride a huge lion? The wardrobe itself is reason enough. I spent an inordinate amount of time as a child trying to figure out what a furniture “wardrobe” was.
- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. I had some hesitation choosing GWTW because although it’s one of my favorite character reads, it’s set during the U.S. Civil War, which feels like an odd era to want to “live in for awhile.” As a Canadian growing up in a not-very-diversified period of time, GWTW captured my imagination and enthralled my emotions. I wanted to know the characters, to whack them on the head if necessary, to see what it was like to sew a dress from curtains, to learn the history of our neighbors to the south, to find out what grits really tasted like. In other words, the world of GWTW was as different and foreign to me as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I didn’t identify with Scarlett, but she was spoiled and headstrong and fascinating to explore through Margaret Mitchell’s writing….
What books would you choose to Live in for Awhile?
