This is in response to Esther’s Weekly Word Prompt.
This week’s prompt : Red
Down The Readers’ Lane
As far as I remember my earliest readings in English were from two books: The Pancake and Careful Hans. The stories that I read and re-read were:
Little Red Riding Hood where the little girl in a red hood goes to meet her granny and gets waylaid by a cunning jackal.
Goldilocks And The Three Bears where Goldilocks gets lost in a forest (picking berries?) and lands up in the cottage of the three bears – mother bear, father bear and their child – the young bear. The house has bowls of food and furniture in three sizes for the mother, father and the child. Goldilocks tries them all one at a time and goes off to sleep on the child’s bed where the three bears find her eventually.
This Is The House That Jack Built is a poem where various characters (and elements like malt) like a cat, a rat, a dog, a cow, a maiden, a man , a priest, are introduced in relation to the house that Jack built. It is a cumulative nursery rhyme where the previous lines of the poem are repeated again and again with the introduction of the new entrant. It’s peculiar repetitive rhyme is great fun to read.
Then, of course, there was such others like Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs and The Sleeping Beauty. As I grew up I was introduced to the Classics – abridged or translated versions. I was fascinated by The Three Musketeers and Ben Hur and read them innumerable times.
Alongside, followed Enid Blyton – The Famous Five. At once I wanted to be the tom boy George with her dog Timmy snooping and sniffing for mysteries. In the classroom we girls competed with each other for Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys. Who could read first the latest.
In my teens I was more into murder mysteries. But for my class mates Mills & Boons and Barbara Cartland were the craze. I loved Georgette Heyer though – historical (Regency) romances and thrillers with an added dash of wit and comedy. Victoria Holt was an exciting mix of romance and suspense too and Evelyn Anthony , although could not replace Christie, had good measure of suspense and thrill. Daphne du Maurier was another writer we chased. But it was Agatha Christie I thrived on.
The reason I am going down memory lane is that I have recently become a grand aunt and I wish to make my grand niece read all the fun books that I have grown up reading. I still love to read kids’ story books and books for young adults. They always transport me back to my childhood days.
I do wish I am able to inculcate a reading habit in my grand niece too though I know she will have many other tempting means of exposure in this fast age of information and technology. But is there any greater pleasure than holding a book in hand and reading? More so when the books have attractive illustrations which can tickle a child’s imagination more than anything else and take her uphill and down the river, through the forests and meadows and fly like a bird with the clouds ?
I know nowadays children are more attracted to visuals like watching cartoons on mobile and laptop. But I hope our new member of the family can make a choice of her own between pictures that words create and a pre-designed visually depicted story.
My niece is a voracious reader and she downloads books on her IPad and reads. Sure your grand niece would do the same. So go ahead and introduce all that you read to her.
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Thanks Ganga. That’s heartening to know.
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Dear Gita,
It’s a great fortune we met in WordPress. I loved many things in my youth, literature, fine arts, Indian classical music, Bengali & South Indian culture, corporate houses I came to know through their products and gadgets.
I loved Philips brand having HO in Kolkata and IBP that had fuel pumps in India till the turn of the century. I saw one old tall banner of IBP near Chitradurga. I included the photo in my post.
Since you told about your having been part of IBP my writing has been significant for myself. I want to know more about it and I’m sure we will talk one day, sitting together. Your grand niece will read blog posts later. I have written about it in today’s post. You are the leader. The seed of our liking certain things is like seeds described in the movie.
In the Bengali movie Palasher bee (correct me if I’m wrong… in English the seeds of Palash tree .. in Marathi पळस known for proverb it has three leaves .. for expected results) the niece of the pretty woman from North (correct me ) Bengal meaning Bangla Desh, considered as downtown by South Bengal, love marries in large house, large beautiful family, boy, whose grandmother had opposed that pretty woman’s (aunt of the pretty niece) entry in the same house a generation ago, rendering both of them staying single.
If both of them had not married the ancestry of both the families would have ended. Therefore, this image of seeds. The grandmother bent because grandson clearly told the family of not that girl then no marriage and grandmother would die with this grief that her ancestry would soon end.
I loved the movie very much. I am going to reblog your post as a review of the movie (I will include link to the movie) and share on FB & Insta. Your love for your niece prompted me to write this.
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Overwhelmed. I will read the blog post in leisure and get back to you. I have not seen the movie Palaasher Biye but now I will watch it definitely.
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It’s on Zee5, please watch. I want to reach your grand niece to director of the movie via Insta and FB 🌷
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Dear Gita Ji
My father read books,so did I and so did my daughters.
Kids who grow up watching their elders reading books, definitely read and so will your niece.
Like you,I still love to read storybooks,I read them with my daughters and will read with my grandchildren.
Loved reading your post,dear.❤️
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Thank you so much Nusrat. Your words generate hope. And you are right. Children learn what they see and speak what they hear. I am also loving your rich posts and wonderful thoughts.
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An excellent reading history
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Thank you so much Derrrick
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I loved reading most of these stories too.
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Oh! Sadje, we have similar tastes in books. Happy to know that.
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Yes, I’ve read both Heyer and Christie books at least three times each.
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Christie …countless times.
Heyer… A few are my favourite
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I loved all her books, even the murder mysteries
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Yes, they were highly enjoyable and the humour…
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Exactly. My daughters were also very keen to read all her books
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Now I wish my grand niece grows up to love them.
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She will I’m sure.
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🤞🤞
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Such a warm walk through reading memories, GC.
Those stories shaped imagination and joy. (You must be from 60 s)
Passing them on feels like a gift.
Words still build worlds no screen can match.
If your grand niece picks up one book, the magic lives on.
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Yes, Mr. P. I hope so too for the magic to live on. Thank you so much.
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What wonderful memories you have of these stories. You took me down memory lane. Thank you. I really hope your great niece reads and enjoys books.
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Yes, I hope so too. Thanks Esther so much.
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Was there one moment or book along this “reader’s lane” that unexpectedly stayed with you longer than the others?
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All these books and moments stayed with me forever. That’s why I am still able to reminisce about them with such pleasure and excitement.
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What a beautiful, nostalgic trip down memory lane! I absolutely loved reading about your earliest literary adventures. I, too, grew up with Enid Blyton and was obsessed with Nancy Drew—they were essential reading!
It’s so wonderful that you’re planning to introduce your grand-niece to these classics. I completely agree, nothing can replace the magic of holding a physical book and letting your imagination run wild with those illustrations. I really hope she enjoys them as much as you did!
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Thank you very much Shanky. I am glad that you walked the readers’ lane with me. I hope and wish my grand niece too loved this journey.
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