When I was in fifth grade, Miss Cushing was my teacher, and she read to the class a series of books that ignited my imagination. Many years later while wandering a bookstore, I came across those books. A wave of memories flooded me as I returned to the days when I’d sit in my desk chair with chin on my hands hanging on to every word as Miss Cushing read the books aloud.
Adventure. Fantasy. Magic.
I bought the series of books and put on them on my bookshelf with the intention of reading them as soon as possible.
The books? The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander and those books include:
Adventure. Fantasy. Magic.
I bought the series of books and put on them on my bookshelf with the intention of reading them as soon as possible.
The books? The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander and those books include:
The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron
The Castle of Llyr and Taran Wanderer and The High King
Life got in the way and the books remained on my bookshelf for years without being read, until recently. Maybe I was suddenly hungry for a bit of nostalgia or maybe I was suddenly in need of a memory to help reboot my creativity. Whatever the reason, a couple of weeks ago I took them from the shelf, dusted them off, and opened the first page of the first book, The Book of Three.
I opened it with trepidation fearing I wouldn’t relate to the story like I did back then, or worse, fearing I wouldn’t feel the excitement I felt when Miss Cushing read them aloud. Would I think of them as silly stories now that I was much older and wiser and somewhat life-jaded?
I snuggled under my electric blanket and began reading, and the magic came back, that initial joy, the childlike wonder, immersing me in the world of Taran, the Assistant Pig Keeper from Caer Dalben, and Princess Eilonwy, Prince Gwydion, Fflewddur, and Gurgi.
If I didn’t know better, I swear I was back in fifth grade sitting between Jan and Diane and behind Lisa and John hanging on to every word of every book.
The books are now back on my bookshelf where they’ll stay until the next time I feel the need to take a step back in time, to reconnect to when I wholeheartedly suspended the outside world and became part of the adventure, the fantasy, and the magic.
I felt like a kid again, and it felt wonderful.
Thank you, Miss Cushing.
I opened it with trepidation fearing I wouldn’t relate to the story like I did back then, or worse, fearing I wouldn’t feel the excitement I felt when Miss Cushing read them aloud. Would I think of them as silly stories now that I was much older and wiser and somewhat life-jaded?
I snuggled under my electric blanket and began reading, and the magic came back, that initial joy, the childlike wonder, immersing me in the world of Taran, the Assistant Pig Keeper from Caer Dalben, and Princess Eilonwy, Prince Gwydion, Fflewddur, and Gurgi.
If I didn’t know better, I swear I was back in fifth grade sitting between Jan and Diane and behind Lisa and John hanging on to every word of every book.
The books are now back on my bookshelf where they’ll stay until the next time I feel the need to take a step back in time, to reconnect to when I wholeheartedly suspended the outside world and became part of the adventure, the fantasy, and the magic.
I felt like a kid again, and it felt wonderful.
Thank you, Miss Cushing.
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