Sweet Childhood O' Mine. Review on Favourite Books Of Childhood

Now, this is what I have always enjoyed doing….reliving my childhood memories. In fact whenever I think of my childhood, it’s the books I read, that I remember more vividly. They have seen me through all the phases of my growing-up-years.right from the piggy-tailed first grader to the gawky adolescent; they have seen it all.

I must say that I have always been fascinated by stories. My earliest memory is of my grandpa making vain attempts to put an adamant 2 year old(that’s me) to sleep by telling stories about a faraway land in which lived a king & a queen who lost everything in a battle and then met a fairy who granted them 3 wishes….  and much to his chagrin, I listened all the more wide-eyed instead of going zzzzz. zzzzzzzzz. As far as I can remember, stories(of any kind) could never put me to sleep…. they only awakened me and made me think about the wondrous things that might be happening in the outside world!

When I was around four or five years old, I was introduced to the amazing little world of Enid Blyton through ‘Noddy’. The cute little pink nosed boy and his antics never failed to impress! Thanks to my school library, I completely fell in love with ‘Noddy’ and the lady who created him. Then came ‘Mr.Twiddle’… and then ‘ The enchanted wood, ‘The Faraway Tree’ & ‘Up the faraway tree’.  These were undoubtedly my favourite children’s books. The  wonderful adventures of Jo, Bessie & Fanny in The Enchanted Wood  was a real treat. In these woods was the huge ‘Magic faraway tree’ and it grew right into the clouds….and at the top of it was this strange lands… magical yet so mysterious. So, as Jo, Bessie & Fanny climbed up, they met many interesting magical little creatures like the angry pixie, moonface, Silky and many others. And yes, at the top of the tree there are delightful, wonderful lands; one each week.’ The land of do as you please’, ‘The land of secrets’, ‘The land of treats, dreams’ …the list is long; but our three enterprising youngsters had a great time meeting the faraway tree residents and visiting these amazing lands. They were of course wary of ‘the roundabout land’.’the land of spells’……but it was an adventurous & exciting journey for them. These books transported me to another place altogether made me fantasize and made me believe that the world is a magical & exciting place where & may come across elves & goblins walking hurriedly towards their tree houses and fairies flying in the air! It made me believe in myths(which were truths for me at that age), magic .and the goodness of the human spirit.

(Oh God.I seem to have forgotten that I am writing a review for Mouthshut.com and not Enid Blyton books)

Well, that phase of my life ended in just a few years and still I was hooked onto Enid blyton’s brilliant works. ‘The Famous  five’ & ‘The Secret seven’ happen to be my all time favourite mystery books. Soon, enough I had outgrown those books and I craved for some real suspense & thrill…so in came ‘The Hardy Boys’, ‘Nancy Drew’ .the murder mysteries, the bank robberies. Slick, fast & thrilling, just what I wanted. Not for long though. Soon, there was the advent of novels on the scene. Sidney sheldon, James Hadley Chase, Jeffrey Archer etc etc. Of course, by that time I was more than fifteen years of age. I had lost the twinkle in my eye, which the faraway tree had given me. I had stopped believing in magic and elves.

I am reminded of Ralph Waldo Ermerson’s famous quote: ‘A child is a curly dimpled lunatic’

These books actually paved way for my immense love for reading. Books have always guided me, supported me, and encouraged me all through my life.

William Wordsworth rightly said ‘Sweet childish days, that were as long… As twenty days are now’

How very true it is! It’s because of all these books that I read during my childhood, that I really enjoy looking back upon those days. Those days of carefree abandon…the recklessness & spirit of childhood, when I had nothing to fear & nothing to lose.

I owe all these pleasant memories to Noddy, Silky, Jo & Fanny, Julian & Dick & Anne and all my magic childhood friends. Truly, my friends for life!

KEEP ON READING.KEEP ON DREAMING