When I was little, I was obsessed with Little House on the Prairie and, later, Anne of Green Gables. I remember my mother digging the books out of boxes in our basement- copies from her childhood. They were dusty, the book jackets ripped and fraying at the corners, and they smelled musty and old. But that only made them more intriguing...I think I felt what Sebastian, in The NeverEnding Story, must have felt when he discovered the old, hard bound book with the medallion on the cover, that would inevitably change his life. I would spend hours reading about the Ingalls' adventures in the Big Woods and on the prairie. I would pretend that the field behind our house was the prairie and in the woods, I would make "log cabins" out of fallen branches and imagine I was living in the old west. In junior high, I devoured the Green Gables series and was so absorbed in them, I got my best friend, Jill, hooked as well and she became the Diana to my Anne.
I still have the old, dusty, hard bound books. I display them in baskets on my living room bookshelf like some would display family heirlooms. I imagine that one day, I will pass them on to my daughter as my mother passed them on to me. I can't help but worry though, that with all the new stories about glittering vampires and epics surrounding lightening bolt scarred wizards, that Anne and Laura's stories will seem too old...or worse "boring". I remember seeing Ethan's face when I gave him one of my favorite childhood books, The Indian in the Cupboard, for Christmas. You would have thought he'd opened socks or underwear by the "enthusiastic" expression on his face. I am sure a toy Indian just does't compare to a Lightening Thief in his eyes...I wonder if that is how my child will feel about Little House or Green Gables. I suppose I'll just have to introduce the classics to my baby in utero...before she can be exposed to more modern adventures :)
P.S. Before anyone misreads this and believes I'm actually currently incubating a baby, let me state, for the record, that I am NOT currently pregnant...just pre-planning my child's reading list based on my own wistful memories :)
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