I had too much to nap today.

[substitute]

I'm all zingy, zappy, and fizzy. I think I'll be reading late into the night.

Blueberries in nonfat yogurt make me happy.

Question of the day, following a discussion at D's about childhood reading: What book or books in childhood did you particularly love? Which one or ones did you reread multiple times? Which one would you go back and read now, as an adult?

Comments

[mcbrennan.livejournal.com]

Depends on what you mean by childhood. Very young: the Monster At The End Of This Book, Horton Hears A Who, Tootle, Poky Little Puppy, Hop On Pop, Old Hat New Hat. I have 'em all still, most recently reread Horton, which through the bleary eyes of adulthood seems like a political statement on one elephant's steadfast refusal to bow to the madness of crowds. A Swiftian statement on society's intolerance of dissent. Like "The Prisoner" with a pachyderm.

Middle years: Podkayne of Mars by Heinlein was the first SF book I ever read with a female protagonist. Up till that point I didn't think girls could do anything but mope about on the prairie in awful gingham dresses waiting to be mercifully run down by a rabid heifer, or solve really, really stupid crimes when the Hardy Boys were off doing whatever Hardy Boys do when they're unsupervised. Disobedient, crafty girls in space! I read Podkayne, probably 9 times, but none in adulthood. I should have a look at it, actually.

Slightly before teenage years: Little Women, and To Kill A Mockingbird. (beaten that topic to death lately, I know.) I read the latter once a year, pretty much.

After that I got all punky and weird and started reading crazy, forbidden things. Like Judy Blume!