Stories about little creatures

Just before Christmas, we went to our lovely friends for a wonderful dinner, and of course, the subject of books came up, and I admitted that I had never read "The Wind in the Willows" (well I had, but in school, where you go round the class with everyone reading one paragraph at a time...tortuous!). Our hosts urged me to give it a try, and I am so delighted that I did. What a wonderful book, written by Kenneth Graham, and illustrated by Arthur Rackham (whose work I adore). I also like EH Shepherd who illustrated Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh. AA Milne wrote the foreword to the The Wind in the Willows, and it was beautiful! The stories in this book are marvellous, such a delight to read, and with such fantastic adventures! The image of Toad in a dress was one of my favourites! I love this book, and it has been added to my treasure list. I loved all the descriptions of each of their homes, and couldn't decide which one I would want to stay in. They all had some magic to them. The characters were wonderful; again, I don't know who is my favourite - kindly Ratty, wise Badger, bold Toad, or curious Mole. But it is a book, I shall keep on going back to, and I am so happy I was encouraged to try again.

It actually prompted me to read another children's book, one which I adored, but sadly lost my first copy, but amazingly found another copy in my adult years! The book is "The Forest of Boland Light Railway", written by BB, also known as Denys Watkins-Pitchford, who was an English naturalist and artist, who not only wrote his books, but also drew the illustrations, which are gorgeous! So, this book is about a clever gnome who invents the steam engine to help the other gnomes get to and from the mines where they work, and have day trips. There is so much detail about the flowers and the lives of these little people. It is magical, and I am so happy that I have come back to it again. (it is now out of print, which is why I don't have a link for it - you can get it, but it is very expensive). Keep an eye out though.

If you can't get that one, you can still get some of BB's other books, so I also read "The Little Grey Men", which was about two gnomes who decide to sail up the river to look for their brother who never came home after sailing away on an adventure. In both of these books, the names of the gnomes are brilliant: Cloudberry, Dodder, Sneezewort....so creative! With the help of their animal and bird friends, they sail off in a paddle boat of their own ingenious creation, and have lots of adventures. It gets a little bit dark in places, but it all ends up right in the end. This book is easily available, and a really wonderful, and creative read. I am just reading an Agatha Christie at the moment, and then I have the sequel to this book lined up to follow! I am loving my evenings reading in front of the fire, with my cat sitting on my lap!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Ian Fleming

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is realistic in places.  It concerns a family, the Potts, who have a much-loved car that makes an unusual sound Chitty, Chitty - Bang! - Bang!; so they name the car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  After this moment of realism the novel becomes quite bizarre.  I am reminded firstly of the Famous Five - they say 'Golly' a lot, and they are frightfully hungry after life-threatening adventures.  Then, as might be expected from Ian Fleming, there are clear hints of James Bond narrative-types - taking on a gang of international criminals and maybe escaping (I don't want to give the plot away) at the point of greatest peril.  Only, to complete this reference to James Bond, having defeated (or maybe defeated) a criminal mastermind - casually risking the lives of his wife and two children along the way - James Bond is jolly pleased with himself and sets off on a new adventure - 'the children aren't scared', he explains to his wife, 'so it must be alright.'  The novel is written for children, of course - though I can't imagine children reading it.  The story is just too something - I can't quite put my finger on it - to suit the child audience that I imagine.  What I love, however, is its period-pieceness.  It comes from an age when driving at 100mph (or flying, or speed-boating) with your simply adorable children sitting in an armchair seat behind - no seat belts - is an example of ordinary, if quirky family fun; and where the everyday maternal care of Mum (Mimsie) is demonstrated by her cautioning of her children to be careful when examining the crates of dynamite they have just discovered.  (Fleming then endorses this by reminding his child-readers that they should listen to the cautions of their mothers; but worthy of note is the fact that he doesn't seem to have his tongue anywhere near his cheek when offering this writerly advice - he means it.)  Anyway, for most of this novel I didn't know whether to laugh or exclaim in a 'what!'-like manner; so if you would like to experience a similar reader-response this might be the book for you.  If not, try the film - much more straightforward and 'truly scrumptious'.