I'm am thrilled to bits at my 11 y.o.'s latest reading fetish.
This child breathes-in books. His reading speed is tremendous, perhaps he doesn't stop and smell the details on the miniature roses, but he sure does love to read. Reading is one of my passions too and it is so exciting to see that passed on to my children.
Our eldest was a terror from the time he could move about. He drove us crazy with needing to move and the older he got the more it took to satisfy that craving to move. I still remember how satisfying it was to watch him exhaust himself sledding on snow in our second winter in Japan. Just the sheer act of tiring himself out without me needing to do it by his side. He still doesn't sit still for long unless you rub his back. And now he's running two mile cross-country races, with not much sign of diminishing energy!
However, our lives significantly slowed down once our son learned to read. Then there were periods in the day when we could stop too! And now, after eleven years of little kids around, we can say after lunch, let's all have some quiet time. Most of us read and the two younger ones generally play quietly, though books do feature at times. Phew!
But back to what my eldest is reading now. He's picked up the Billabong Series by Mary Grant Bruce (written between 1910 and 1942). It is a series that was given to me by my grandparents during my tween and teenager years (usually one for my birthday and one for Christmas). I brought all 15 books with me to Japan. They probably hold the status of being the books I've read the most number of times. Every time I received a new one, I'd re-read all the books I'd previously received. It is good writing. I re-read it again last year before we went back to Australia. It had me in tears a number of times!
I don't think it means too much to my son that he is reading books that his great-grandparents gave to me, but it does to me. Add to that how precious these books are to me and how Australian they are, and I am stoked (translation - elated).
I never knew you were a Billabong fan! I love them, and have them all too. Even thinking about Bobs brings a tear to my eye, and as for Wally (I secretly loved him)when Jim is presumed dead...MGB was a brilliant writer - one phrase really sticks in my head, when Jim is first in uniform, and an older lady wishes him luck, and then "the mother who had no son" went on. Amazing writing. I'm so jealous that your son likes them - the Gig has no interest at all.
ReplyDeleteI love them too, but sadly mine are packed away in boxes in Australia, so enjoy them for me occasionally please! My other favorites were Chalet School and Abbey Girls. I still love reading both series.
ReplyDeleteKaren, I love the Chalet and Abbeys too - have just re-read a couple of Abbeys, actually :), and have most of the Chalets.
ReplyDeleteIs it bad to admit I haven't even heard of those two series?
ReplyDeleteLove the Billabong books. Lovely people and great stories. I still read them, too (although I don't have the first three in the series)
ReplyDeleteHey, that book is on my shelf. I also have Jim and Wally. "The trench wound a sinuous way through the sodden Flanders mud." Very Boys Own!
ReplyDeleteI wonder that young people make of it today? It is a time so far away in social change that it is a different time to those on this side of it.
For myself, I am old enough to remember celebrating Empire Day before it became Cracker Night. I still have a soft spot for the old Commonwealth. I even watched a few of the events of the Games last week. But the nations are lined up differently these days.