Saturday, September 29, 2007

The Picnic



Did you have a favorite story as a child? I'd like to share one of mine with you. It's quite old-fashioned and so very quaint. Stories have always been common for teaching children values and character development. My parents were no exception when it came to instructing my sister and me in the way we should grow. One of the books my mother had as a child was an first edition copy of a book called Bedtime Stories by Arthur Maxwell. He was an English writer, so his stories not only taught character development but reflected British culture and family life. I suspect that my parents thought they were teaching me how to get along with my sister when they read this story to me, but an incidental affect was the love it created in me for picnics and tea parties! I think you'll see what I mean when you read this story. Note the words 'kettle' and and 'picnic' inserted into the text to create a word picture for the reader. Unfortunately the very first page of the story has been torn out of the book. . .but I remember how it went. Doris and Kathleen were dear friends who got into a dispute and were not speaking to one another. They made-up and decided they wanted to go on a picnic. The story picks up from there. . .

4 comments:

  1. What a sweet story and the pictures are darling too! I love old books like that.
    I hope you are able to find the miniature cookstove that is packed away!
    Kelli

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  2. I remember this story! I enjoyed this story as a child too. The 1st edition illustrations are just lovely. I'm off to find it in our set of Bedtime stories!

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  3. What an adorable story. I love it when books not only tell a story but also when there's a message in it...and to include tea! How lovely :) too too sweet.

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  4. I enjoyed this story, and the pictures are so cute! I don't have any books from my childhood, I think I got most of them from the library. I'm trying to remember the name of one of my favorite books. I think it was "Blue Willow" have you ever heard of that one?

    Katherine

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