A couple of books I love
Everything's fixed, I'll leave for England in about three weeks time (6th of September) where I will stay with a family with two children, 2 and 3. The father is an IT consultant I believe, and the mother is a writer (!) They seem very sweet, I just hope I won't be too homesick.
Now I just have to run around and find everything I need before departure. I'm allowed 20 kg on the plane, and every kilo above that will cost me 100 sek (about 13 dollars, or 8 pounds). Careful planning will be needed.
My mother taught me to read early, for which I have been ever grateful, except in first grade when everyone else was struggling with the alphabet and I had already gone on to books with real chapters. Growing up, I always had a book in front of me, and I think children's books could be the most important thing there is.
Today I picked up a childrens book at the library, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I'd seen it before, and marvelled at the illustrations, but now I took it home and read it. I pride myself on not being very sentimental, but this book made me cry for real. It was just so beautiful.
Most of my favourite books take place in the 19th or early 20th century and this one is no exception. It's about a porcelain rabbit, given to a small girl on her birthday. By accident he falls into the ocean where, months later, he is picked up by an old fisherman. He has quite an adventure, passing between different people, one time being smashed to pieces and somewhere along the way he learns to love. I highly recommend it!
I just thought I'd mention a couple of other books I love, because they're what shaped me, so my own writing should have a similar tone. If you like what I write you should definitely look these books up!
The Secret Garden - The book that got me started on huge mysterious houses on the moor, with hundreds of rooms and locked doors, and of course a big, wonderful garden! If you like it, you might also want to take a look at A Little Princess, by the same author.
The Narnia books - might be the first books I read that weren't fairy tales, but fantasy. Everyone should have read them. If you read them for the first time as an adult, try not to be too disturbed by Lewis's obvious christian agenda :)
Mary Poppins - I used to adore the Mary Poppins books, the way fantasy merges so wonderfully with real, sensible things. The way the smallest things are magical.
Poo-Poo and the Dragons - A wonderful story that I used to read at my grandmothers place. I picked it up from the library today to reread it and I still love it. It's a bit bizarre, in a good way :) I love the very matter-of-fact way of the father, and the way no-one seems to think it strange that a boy has a dragon living in his garden.
There are several others, but these are the ones I could think of at the moment. I might write a post some time with fantasy recommendations if anyone's interested.
Now I just have to run around and find everything I need before departure. I'm allowed 20 kg on the plane, and every kilo above that will cost me 100 sek (about 13 dollars, or 8 pounds). Careful planning will be needed.
My mother taught me to read early, for which I have been ever grateful, except in first grade when everyone else was struggling with the alphabet and I had already gone on to books with real chapters. Growing up, I always had a book in front of me, and I think children's books could be the most important thing there is.
Today I picked up a childrens book at the library, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I'd seen it before, and marvelled at the illustrations, but now I took it home and read it. I pride myself on not being very sentimental, but this book made me cry for real. It was just so beautiful.
Most of my favourite books take place in the 19th or early 20th century and this one is no exception. It's about a porcelain rabbit, given to a small girl on her birthday. By accident he falls into the ocean where, months later, he is picked up by an old fisherman. He has quite an adventure, passing between different people, one time being smashed to pieces and somewhere along the way he learns to love. I highly recommend it!
I just thought I'd mention a couple of other books I love, because they're what shaped me, so my own writing should have a similar tone. If you like what I write you should definitely look these books up!
The Secret Garden - The book that got me started on huge mysterious houses on the moor, with hundreds of rooms and locked doors, and of course a big, wonderful garden! If you like it, you might also want to take a look at A Little Princess, by the same author.
The Narnia books - might be the first books I read that weren't fairy tales, but fantasy. Everyone should have read them. If you read them for the first time as an adult, try not to be too disturbed by Lewis's obvious christian agenda :)
Mary Poppins - I used to adore the Mary Poppins books, the way fantasy merges so wonderfully with real, sensible things. The way the smallest things are magical.
Poo-Poo and the Dragons - A wonderful story that I used to read at my grandmothers place. I picked it up from the library today to reread it and I still love it. It's a bit bizarre, in a good way :) I love the very matter-of-fact way of the father, and the way no-one seems to think it strange that a boy has a dragon living in his garden.
There are several others, but these are the ones I could think of at the moment. I might write a post some time with fantasy recommendations if anyone's interested.