Friday Follies - Treasured Tales and Winnie Wisdom



In our family,  reading is just a natural part of everyday life.  Our parents read to us from an early age, we watched our parents read every day and as we got older, we read before falling asleep every night.  As we got even older, we read under the covers with a flashlight until the wee hours or until we sternly got told to go to sleep.  As we got even older than that, we would still read after a night out on the town, only to have to re-read it the next night.  It seems that hours of ingesting alcohol aren't conducive to retaining what your read.

THE Dress!

One of my favourite books was Dean's Gift Book of Fairy Tales.  I'm not really sure who Dean was, but I loved this book - I think I loved the illustrations even more.  I used to stare at the pictures, thinking them endlessly beautiful.  In fact, I was pretty sure that Cinderella's dress at the ball was the dress I would wear to my wedding one day.  Unfortunately for me, this style of dress really didn't suit the beach wedding that we had.  I did see something vaguely similar in a wedding magazine though, but it was well out of my budget and a ridiculous amount to pay for something to wear for one part of one day.

The other thing that used to fascinate me was the depiction of the men in this book.  They were all very 'pretty', with flowing locks, feminine features and stunning clothes.  I think Dean was on top of the transgender revolution well before his time.



Beauty & The Beast .... The Beast that
looked like a girl

 

If you grew up in Australia, The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay was required reading.   Frankly, I found some of the characters to be a bit scary, particularly the pudding.  He was very angry, but I guess if everyone is trying to eat you and steal you, you'd get cranky too.  It's obvious that I had aspirations of being an artist like Norman Lindsay and added to his published illustrations....not bad if I do say so myself.  I'm not sure if that was meant to be a pudding, but it is a bit happier.



My contribution to the art

Another favourite is anything by A.A. Milne, most famously Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.  I had a book of verse by A.A. Milne that featured both of those characters.  As you can see by the cover, I enjoyed colouring.  This book also has the most beautiful illustrations. 

Most people know this, but you can't go past Winnie the Pooh for a bit of down to earth advice, such as:

"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think" Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh.

"You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you.  You have to go to them sometimes."

"A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside."

"The things that make me different are the things that make me."

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them."

"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all things you can't hear, and not bothering."

More art
on the A.A. Milne Cover

The values that Winnie the Pooh held tight in his heart are a great gift to little humans.  He was just a big sincere, cuddly bear with a massive heart and more kindness than you could ever hope for.  Although A.A. Milne felt considerable annoyance at the success of  his Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh books (despite many works of adult fiction and non-fiction, plays, screenplays and news articles), I hope parents continue to read the words of A.A. Milne to their children forever.  The messages are timeless and accessible.

For more Winnie the Pooh quotes, click here.

The original