Saturday 29 January 2011

Mid January Tally

It's already the end of January.  I've worked on two books under contract- one an Aussie Nibbles, one a collection of poetry and now there's no hiding, I need to tackle a larger project.

For that I go back to fragments, abandoned starts in recent notebooks and on the lap top.

I also go back to the stories that still resonate with me and must seem like ancient documents.
In fact I found the book online without the wonderful illustrations that I enjoyed:





Now as I look back over the illustrations I wonder how a much loved childhood book affects the way I write now for children?


There is a central theme- three layers of characters and the gorgeous grandmother( I loved my grandmother to bits) and that 'otherworld' essence.  So maybe I need to keep digging away at a fantasy I've been trying to write for the past four years.

One book I just had to buy because it really resonates with me is The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh.   
The tingle factor is there.

I'm going to now find which manuscript to push through to the glorious end.

What childhood books still resonate with you?

5 comments:

BookChook said...

I am not sure, looking back, if my adored childhood books would pass my acid test of great writing now! But I loved them partly because I owned them, which meant I could read them over and over, whenever I liked. Swiss Family Robinson, Pollyanna, Anne of Green Gables - they all carried me away in dreams. Even the cloth-covered school readers like Children of the Dark People still make me go all gooey just to think about. What a heyday the political correctness police would have with so many of my books nowadays, though. Didn't matter - I knew nothing of such things but lived in my imagination because of the dream makers.

tjoyy said...

that would be go dog go

Life's a poem said...

Susan, they are some great classics, and I was an immense fan of fairy tales too- Enid Blyton just didn't interest me- yes there is so much to cringe about in some older books- but so much to celebrate also.

Tj- I remember reading and rereading and re-reading GO Dog Go- wonder if the kiddies will count that as a classic for them? Maybe I should widen the scope to include what books were read and read as parents to kids...

Rochelle said...

You read The Princess and the Goblin to me - loved it. And you and Dad also read me the Pinocchio book. I'm pretty sure you and Dad read me a few "chapter" books when I was young - loved it!

Life's a poem said...

oh didn't realise that we'd read you that book- so glad we did!!