We first encountered them when I discovered that the Jenny and the Cat club books had been reissued (shouts of ecstasy from my younger kids). In browsing their listings (collection? hmmm.. group of books they've reissued?) we discovered 'The Magic Pudding' which quickly became a new favorite with my younger four. No brilliant plotting, and certainly no character development... but the pace and diction were right on and the zany premise delighted the kids. (Our kids range from 6 to 14, it was the 10 and under crowd which fell for this book.)
My favorite Tam Lin retelling is Pamela Dean's... though I wonder if I would have loved it as much if I'd first encountered it in my late twenties rather than at 18.
I can't completely separate a book from the person I was and the way I saw it when I first read it.
That's not completely true. I read Wuthering Heights at 12 or so and when I read it again a decade or so later, the experience was so different it was as if I'd read a different book.
But for most books the shadow of my former self hovers over the page, or echoes in my inner ear as I read. Generally this is a gift. The disbelieving wonder from Children of Green Knowe, the grief which left me shaken for weeks when Thorin died, the enchantment of Fog Magic, the homey virtues in Eight Cousins, and the sense of homecoming in All of a Kind Family are all still there when I open the books despite the greater distance I now have from the books I read. (In some ways this is good. I could not cope with most modern fiction until I was in my later twenties; I took it all too much to heart.)
This thread has reminded me of old favorites I still need to purchase... how could I have neglected to get Tatsinda or MM's repose for my kids? Eeek...
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We first encountered them when I discovered that the Jenny and the Cat club books had been reissued (shouts of ecstasy from my younger kids). In browsing their listings (collection? hmmm.. group of books they've reissued?) we discovered 'The Magic Pudding' which quickly became a new favorite with my younger four. No brilliant plotting, and certainly no character development... but the pace and diction were right on and the zany premise delighted the kids. (Our kids range from 6 to 14, it was the 10 and under crowd which fell for this book.)
My favorite Tam Lin retelling is Pamela Dean's... though I wonder if I would have loved it as much if I'd first encountered it in my late twenties rather than at 18.
I can't completely separate a book from the person I was and the way I saw it when I first read it.
That's not completely true. I read Wuthering Heights at 12 or so and when I read it again a decade or so later, the experience was so different it was as if I'd read a different book.
But for most books the shadow of my former self hovers over the page, or echoes in my inner ear as I read. Generally this is a gift. The disbelieving wonder from Children of Green Knowe, the grief which left me shaken for weeks when Thorin died, the enchantment of Fog Magic, the homey virtues in Eight Cousins, and the sense of homecoming in All of a Kind Family are all still there when I open the books despite the greater distance I now have from the books I read. (In some ways this is good. I could not cope with most modern fiction until I was in my later twenties; I took it all too much to heart.)
This thread has reminded me of old favorites I still need to purchase... how could I have neglected to get Tatsinda or MM's repose for my kids? Eeek...