My earliest memories of favourite pastimes as a child revolved largely around books. Reading them or colouring them in, hours spent in activity books, even writing and making my own. For the last little while, I've been quietly obsessed with collecting vintage children's books. Cursing my lack of storage space and lack of foresight in my twenties, I've found myself wishing we hadn't given up so many beloved books to garage sales or the charity stores. Everything from Enid Blyton to The chronicles of Narnia to The Babysitters club, I want them all back in my life. Am I just being overly sentimental? Does this feeling pass?! One comforting thing about letting them all go in the first place is that hopefully they've been capturing the imaginations of other children all this time.
We have a healthy stock of new and wonderful children's books in this house, but with the little one getting ready for 'big' school next year, I've been feeling the need to share with her some of the stories I fell in love with at her age. So far I've managed to find some lovely, sometimes non-pc, old school Australian classics like Blinky Bill and Snugglepot & Cuddlepie. My favourite Enid Blyton books, The Magic Faraway Tree and The Wishing Chair, perhaps it's the rose coloured hue of nostalgia but the illustrations of the Georgina Hargreaves editions are so beautiful they make the effort and purchase worthwhile.
My latest and most extravagant find has been The Value Tale Series. I've been keeping an eye out for these in the thrifts, second hand bookstores, on Etsy and eBay for a while and finally came across this lot, available as a set and in amazing condition. Not a single one has been written in, stained or torn. I agonised over the expense of shipping them from the US but knew I'd always regret it if I missed the chance to bring them all into our home. Finally looking through the pages at these familiar images after all these years, I'm thrilled. I couldn't put a price on them. The Value Tale stories each tell a biographical tale about a prominent person in history who demonstrated a particular strength in character. They are wonderful educational stories, illustrated beautifully and I couldn't think of a better gift for a very special five year old girl this Christmas. I'm SO looking forward to reading each one with her. I hope she loves them as much as I did.
Did you have any of the Value Tales? Did you love them too?
Hope you have a happy week!
Belinda x
What a divine collection Belinda. And what a treasured childhood you are giving your wee one x
ReplyDeleteI still have all my childhood books including all my Golden Books. I must have read/looked at these books so much because as an adult they still look so familiar to me its amazing. My kids have their own library card too, i encourage and love reading!
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