Wonderful Wednesdays #1 (Childhood Books).

So here it is, my first attempt at creating a meme.  Bear with me and please join in! :)

The meme is called Wonderful Wednesdays and it's all about spotlighting and recommending some of our most loved books, even if we haven't read them recently.  Each week will have a different theme or genre of book to focus on.

This week's theme: a book you loved as a child.
 We all have a book that we read over and over again as a child and still think of fondly as an adult.

 One of my favourite books as a child was A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  I remember my parents got it for me one Christmas when I was about 10 or 11 and I have read it over and over again since.  For those not familiar with story, it centres around Sara Crewe who comes to England from India.  Her father finds her a place at an exclusive boarding school and lavishes her with gifts, turning her into a show pupil.  On her eleventh birthday news arrives that her father has died and Sara is transformed from show pupil into low class servant.  She isn't given enough food, forced to work all hours of the day and has to wait on the very pupils that once looked up to her.  Sara retreats to her imagination in order to survive.

The main reason I love this book is that it was the first one I read that showed me it was OK and indeed a good thing to have an imagination.  I was a daydreamer as a child and always felt that this was a bit of a bad thing, that reality should be preferred to fantasies.  A Little Princess and Sara Crewe taught me that it could be a strength, and that there is something to be said for having an active imagination.  I also enjoyed how Sara was a bit flawed - she flew into a temper easily and thought a bit too much of herself.  It made her much more real and relatable.  All of the characters were well developed and I also loved the historical feel of the book.

I went on to read all of Frances Hodgson Burnett's books and whilst I liked them all, A Little Princess always remained my favourite.

How about you?
I want to hear all about your childhood favourites!  If you want to take part, grab the button above and make a post in your blog.  Then link up your blog below, so I can come, read and comment on all of your entries.




I would love to have lots of participants :)