Marie’s World in Books

Every reader has that one book that hasn’t just entertained them, but lingers through time at the back of their mind which alters the way they look at books. It could be a classic, a children’s book they read when they were younger, a fantasy, or something they stumbled upon purely by chance because they liked either the cover or the title intrigued them….

Whatever it is, that book stays with you, long after you have finished the book itself.

For me, I started to love books at a very young age, beginning with stories such as Teddy Robinson, Winnie-The-Pooh, and Paddington Bear which I got from my Grandmother. Whenever we used to go up to visit she would always find me looking at the display cabinet where my Mum’s childhood clothbound copy of Teddy Robinson used to be kept out of the reach of mischievous hands. She used to let me sit and attempt to read it while eating a couple of my Grandads’ Rich Tea biscuits while they prepared lunch. When I was able to read properly, I used to sit for hours and read the stories letting time run away with itself while the adults chatted and drank Tea and Coffee, YUCK!

Then my obsession started with Paddington Bear, which I also got from my Grandmother who adored the complete works of A.A. Milne, her favourite book was When We Were Very Young – written in the early 1920s. Her favourite poem from the book which she always told me as she had memorised it by heart was called ‘The Three Foxes’, I don’t know if you have ever heard it before but this is how it goes…

Once upon a time there were three little foxes,

Who didn’t wear stockings, and they didn’t wear sockses,

But they all had handkerchiefs to blow their noses,

And they kept their handkerchiefs in cardboard boxes.

They lived in the forest in three little houses,

And they didn’t wear coats, and they didn’t wear trousies.

They ran through the woods on their little bare tootsies,

And they played ‘touch last’ with a family of mouses.

They didn’t go shopping in the High Street shopses,

But caught what thy wanted in the woods and copses.

They all went fishing, and they caught three wormses,

They went out hunting, and they caught three wopses.

They went to a fair, and they all won prizes,

Three plum puddingses, and three mince pieses.

They rode on elephants and swung on swingses,

And hit three coco-nuts and coco-nut shieses.

That’s all that i know of the three little foxes

Who kept their handkerchiefs in cardboard boxes.

They lived in the forest in three little houses,

But they didn’t wear coats and they didn’t wear trousies,

And they didn’t wear stockings and they didn’t wear sockses.

This rhyme always used to make me laugh and even to this day I still remember this memory fondly.

Then at school, I fell in love with Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five series and Secret Seven series which built my imagination as I listened to these via cassette tapes ( talk about prehistoric, hey).

Fast forward 30 years and even to this day I can still remember these stories and how they made me feel.

My grandparents bought me the Paddington Omnibus as a present when I was younger and to this day, it’s still my most prized possession.