Friday, January 29, 2010

Iconic books of our childhood

For many of us, certain childhood books have iconic status. It is not that they were necessarily the "best" or most literary children's books, nor just that we liked or even loved the books, but that they had and have an almost mystic meaning and status for us. We have never forgotten them, nor the feelings they engendered. For my brother Paul, for example, the book was "Shadow the Sheepdog," by Enid Blyton. His devotion to this book was part of our family lore; we teased him about it, but also recognized its seriousness. His copy of the book somehow got lost during our many family moves, and he mourned it. As an adult, he sporadically, for many years, tried to find a copy, without success; finally, the Internet allowed him to track down and purchase a copy. I recently asked him about his feelings about the book; below I quote an excerpt from his reply. (Thanks, Paul!)

"'Shadow the Sheepdog' was definitely iconic to me. I can't say all the reasons why I read and reread it so many times, but I suspect that it had to do with the fact that the book dealt with themes that children find fascinating - unconditional love, separation and reunion, unblemished heroism. I know that no one could have known how important that book was to me at the time; later I came to jokingly call it my 'Rosebud.' But there was an element of truth to the joke. I never did forget Shadow. When I finally obtained a copy of it so many years later, it gave me a satisfied feeling. I read a few chapters and realized that re-reading it wasn't really the point. Just knowing that I could re-read it was what made me happy. I plan to re-read it at some point, but I am very happy to be reunited with my beloved Shadow even if I never get around to it."

Readers: What were your iconic childhood books, your "Rosebuds"?
 
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