What were your favorite chapter books as a child? My hero when I was growing up was the original cool red-head, Pippi Longstocking. Her dad was out at sea. He had left her at the Villa Villekulla with a chest full of gold, a monkey and a horse. She made her own rules and had incredible adventures with the traditional kids next store...Tommy and Annika. And then there were those three miniature drifters; Pod, the dad, Homily, the mom, and their daughter Arriety; the stars of the "Borrowers" series. The tiny Victorian family made clever use of all sorts of discarded human objects. You could call them the original recyclers! They traveled afield, aloft and a- float, adapting to many perilous situations and harrowing close calls. Way before he was discovered by Hollywood, I also had "Stuart Little", that dignified and confident little mouse. I never questioned the fact that his parents were human. The end of his story was not tied up with a neat little bow. Stuart bravely set out in search of his beloved friend, the bird, Margalo. "As he peered ahead into the great land that stretched before him, the way seemed long. But the sky was bright, and he somehow felt he was headed in the right direction." Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle was another great read. The magical old lady was once married to a pirate. Perhaps it was Pippi's father. The illustrations by Hilary Knight, who also did the fantastic "Eloise", are full of life. In fact, the pen and ink illustrations by Edward Ardizzone were what drew me to "The Witch Family" by Eleanor Estes. Upon scanning through the facts for this post, I learned that Ms. Estes is said to have begun her writing career while bedridden with tuberculosis. Pippi L. was created by Astrid Lindgren to entertain her daughter who was recovering from pneumonia. Many a great writer and artist has started their journeys of the imagination while bedridden. Still, I'm wishing good health to all my followers, with a healthy dose of magic and rule breaking thrown in for the artist in you.
