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A Childhood Built on Fairy Tales

Text: A Childhood Built on Fairy Tales

from kristin, 02.02.09

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When my parents were married they collected books. Of special interest to my father were books of myths and legends from all over the world, and also folk and fairy tales. When they separated the large collection remained with my mother, until I was considered suitably 'grown up' enough to inherit the collection.

As a child my father would spend hours at a time reading to me, and he would often continue reading long after I had fallen asleep. Sometimes his reading sessions would go on for days, and now as an adult I see what a wonderful gift this was for a child. He would also encourage me to respond creatively to the storys, getting me to draw pictures or dance around as he read. He loved the fairies I would draw, the flowers, and he especially liked the way my work became dark and twisted when he read the chapter featuring the spider Shellob in Lord of the Rings.

My favourite part of the collection are the twelve coloured fairy story books edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H.J. Ford. Dad read me every story in every book, many of them over and over. Many of the stories contained in them are the original versions of the stories subsequently sanitised today by Disney much to my repulsion, but that is another story.

Some of the books in the collection, like the very early editions of Beatrix Potter are likey to be rare and collectable, and may even have been considered valuable if my dad had not let me draw pictures all through them. The book collection is a huge catalogue of my first and early illustrations. On almost very blank page, particularly in the Lang books, my attempts at drawing witches with warts on their noses, or flower fairies have been preserved. I have coloured in the black and white illustrations. I have decorated borders with flowers. My increasing competance as an artist is documented as my art became more and more detailed.

Looking though these books with my own children now is fascinating. On one hand I cringe a little to think of the potential value of the books; what they might be worth if they were in better condition, but for the most part I love the fact that my creativity as a child was so well encouraged, and have a constant reminder of a happy childhood filled with the magic of fairy tales.

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