Eight Cousins

By Louisa May Alcott

First published 1865

This edition published 1955

Last week, I took a train ride into Chicago with my youngest daughter.  While deciding exactly what to do on our day in the city, I rattled off a few ideas.  One of those ideas was a walk to a used book store, and I’m sure I didn’t let on by the tone of my voice that I really wanted to go there.  Anyway, Michelle agreed to go to Open Books if I promised to carry my purchases all by myself the whole 1 ½ miles back to Union Station.  I agreed!

Open Books is a unique socially conscious non-profit used book store.  They rely on donations of books and a strong team of volunteers, with the proceeds going to support literacy programs within the city.  So of course, I had to buy something – not at all because I want more old books – but only because I needed to support such a worthwhile cause.  

My favorite purchase from our outing is this copy of Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott. 

Rose, a delicate and sickly recently orphaned thirteen year old, is sent to live with her aunts and bachelor uncle in a rambling house.  Nearby live her seven boisterous boy cousins.  Uncle Alec, her newly appointed guardian takes charge of Rose’s upbringing.  Uncle Alec encourages fresh air, exercise, and play with the noisy cousins.  Contrary to public opinion of the day, he also discourages restricting corsets and traditional girl’s dresses for loose, comfortable clothing.  Alcott uses this book to voice some of her revolutionary feminist ideas.  

This charming although somewhat preachy book follows Rose over the course of a year as she joins her cousins in their antics and grows closer to her aunts and uncle.  The freedom to be herself is just what she needed to grow and blossom. 

 

Here’s my favorite quote from Uncle Alec which is also a lesson of utmost importance today.

“If you dear little girls would only learn what real beauty is, and not pinch and starve and bleach yourselves out so, you’d save an immense deal of time and money and pain.  A happy soul in a healthy body makes the best sort of beauty for man or woman.”

Anyway, I did carry the bag of books back to the train all by myself as agreed upon even though the heaviest book in the bag was the one that Michelle picked out for herself.   Funny how that worked out.

Now We Are Six

By A.A. Milne

Illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard

Original copyright 1927

I’m not sure what it was about turning six, but I remember I thought it was the best year ever.  I was a little disappointed when I turned seven because seven just wasn’t as nice a number.  And six was so much better than ten, when I fell asleep crying because I had hit double-digits.

Six is when a child can live in a make-believe world and the real world at the same time.  At six, I know I was old enough to tell the difference between fiction and truth, but I was still young enough to become fully immersed in make-believe.  I knew my dear stuffed dog Freddy was stuffed with cotton fluff, but I could pretend he was real and no one would think it strange. 

A. A. Milne captures this paradox wonderfully in his book of poems for young children.  Christopher Robin and Pooh are featured in several of the poems, but not all.  As Milne states of Pooh in his introduction, “he walked through it one day, looking for his friend Piglet, and sat down on some of the pages by mistake.”  The familiar characters are featured enough to keep the Pooh fan interested. 

The book’s title is taken from the last poem, aptly named, The End.

When I was One,

I had just begun.

When I was Two,

I was nearly new,

When I was Three,

I was hardly Me.

When I was Four,

I was not much more.

When I was Five,

I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I’m as clever as clever.

So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.

That sounds like a great idea to me!

A Hole is to Dig

A first book of definitions

By Ruth Krauss

Pictures by Maurice Sendak

Copyright 1952 - this edition 1989

This book has no plot, nor does it rhyme.  The illustrations are simple black and white line drawings.  While it was written by Ruth Krauss (who also wrote The Carrot Seed), young children were consulted for the actual definitions.  Still, this little picture book is quite profound.

What is a floor?

                “A floor is so you don’t fall in the hole your house is in.”

What is mud?

                “Mud is to jump in and slide in and yell doodleedoodledoo.”

The thought processes of a child – the innocence and sincerity – call to mind some basic truths.  Truths that all children know instinctively yet many adults have forgotten.

What is a brother?

                “A brother is to help you.”

This book is a reminder to once in a while, take a look at the world from a child’s point of view.  What is the true purpose of the things in our world and the people in our lives?  

What is a book?

                "A book is to look at."

                

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

By Roald Dahl

Copyright 1964

Charlie Bucket is fascinated by his Grandpa’s tales of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.  When the story gets out that Wonka has hidden five golden tickets inside individual chocolate bars, Charlie is doubtful that he can win.  His family is dirt poor and can’t afford such indulgences as candy.  Charlie does find a ticket of his own, though, and along with his Grandpa Joe enters the magical world of the chocolate factory.  The greed of the other four children leaves honest Charlie as the last child, and the one who eventually inherits Wonka’s incredible factory.  

Several important life lessons can be taken from this story.  The dangers of greed and the importance of honesty are key themes here.  However, a personal lesson I’ve learned from this story is gratefulness.  The likelihood of winning the big prize that Charlie won is slim – one in millions.  

But what about the chocolate bar?  Isn’t that a prize in itself?

I remember one day, way back in the early 70’s, I was dropped off, along with my sister Amy and my brother Adam, at our neighborhood library for a program.  It was a viewing of the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  All attendees, at the end of the movie, were given a chocolate bar.  Inside a few bars would be a golden ticket.  I don’t recall for sure what the prize was, but I’m guessing it was a copy of the book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I didn’t win, and neither did Adam or Amy, but I don’t remember being terribly disappointed. 

After all, I got a chocolate bar!  

You may dream big – but sometimes you just have to enjoy the chocolate.  Don’t overlook the gift you have in front of you for something unreachable or unlikely.