I happened upon a gift this summer, quite unexpectedly.
Our local library has been hosting a summer reading program for adults; a program that encourages adults to read children's books.
When I signed up I thought I it would be a fun way to earn prizes while reading to my kids.
Then I started wandering the isles of the young adult section. A place I usually hurry past trying to keep up with my kids as they make their dash for the picture books.
Once I decided to slow down and look around I rediscovered books like Ramona the Brave, the Nancy Drew Series, and A Little Princess. Blasts from my childhood reading days.
An unexpected reunion with old friends like Ramona has ensued. Only now I am the age of Ramona's parents (a scary thought). Even though the age gap has grown, we bonded again like no time had passed.
Now I am reading The Wind in the Willows for the first time. It makes me feel like a kid again. I catch myself dreaming of what it would be like living on the riverbank with Mole and Ratty in a world where animals talk.
When I was little I used to think that maybe, just maybe if I went into our hall coat closet at just the right time I could enter the world of Narnia. I never was able to find that exact moment, and as I grew up I stopped looking.
It has been an unexpected, unlooked for gift to catch myself looking for the magical in between sibling rivalries and dirty diapers again, bringing a little bit of childhood daydreams and whimsy back into my everyday.
Our local library has been hosting a summer reading program for adults; a program that encourages adults to read children's books.
When I signed up I thought I it would be a fun way to earn prizes while reading to my kids.
Then I started wandering the isles of the young adult section. A place I usually hurry past trying to keep up with my kids as they make their dash for the picture books.
Once I decided to slow down and look around I rediscovered books like Ramona the Brave, the Nancy Drew Series, and A Little Princess. Blasts from my childhood reading days.
An unexpected reunion with old friends like Ramona has ensued. Only now I am the age of Ramona's parents (a scary thought). Even though the age gap has grown, we bonded again like no time had passed.
Now I am reading The Wind in the Willows for the first time. It makes me feel like a kid again. I catch myself dreaming of what it would be like living on the riverbank with Mole and Ratty in a world where animals talk.
When I was little I used to think that maybe, just maybe if I went into our hall coat closet at just the right time I could enter the world of Narnia. I never was able to find that exact moment, and as I grew up I stopped looking.
It has been an unexpected, unlooked for gift to catch myself looking for the magical in between sibling rivalries and dirty diapers again, bringing a little bit of childhood daydreams and whimsy back into my everyday.
For more unexpected gifts and small miracles, check out Tuesdays Unwrapped
11 comments:
Megan, I so agree with you! I love reading to our grandkids in part because it's an excuse to re-read books I love! There's something so fun, even comforting about sharing these word-treasures with people I love. (I think the real entrance to Narnia is in the first words of every chapter . . .) :)
oh, a lovely gift!
how i loved ramona & beezus... and nancy drew. and i love to pick one up and read it again! my son & i had so much fun reading tales of a fourth grade nothing. up until a year ago i worked in an elementary school library... adn loved every second of it. how i miss it all...
This is wonderful! :)
I agree! Now that Ashley is in to chapter books, I have been borrowing them from her! I reread the Narnia series a few years ago, and I am currenly reading all the Little House books. It's so fun!
thank you for sharing this unexpected gift, Megan. I'm teary from remembering my days with Ramona and her family, and shocked that we are, indeed, her parents age. yikes.
A truly fabulous gift!!
i had a similar experience about a year ago. i always felt like i wasn't finding what i wanted in the adult section, and i kept being intrigued by books in the 'young readers chapter book' section, but thought my kids weren't ready for a lot of them. (or i didn't want to read that much out loud.) one day it hit me that just 'cause it was in the kids section didn't mean i could read it for myself. :) fun, fun!
I love Wind in the Willows! What a great gift to unwrap--taking you back to the wonder of childhood and helping you connect on that level with your kids!
Megan this is great! I need a little whimsy right now. :) Love you!
As I've spent time over the years writing for middle-grade and young adult ages, I've been "taken back" many years to those periods in my life. I love getting lost all over again in books that impacted me when I was young.
I loved this post, Megan!
I have always loved reading books from the childrens section! I think I got this from Mom. Just recently I've been thinking I should read some of the Boxcar Children stories. I LOVED those as a kid.
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