we're off to see the tin man

Last week when we were walking back from swimming to catch the train home J spotted a 'tin man' in a garden.  She called him a 'metal man' and asked me to tell her a story about him... so, inspired by The Wizard of Oz I made up a quick tale about a tin man who rusted in a garden because of the rain.  She was very captivated by this, so when we got home a pulled out my copy of The Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum .  My copy has lovely illustrations every few pages so I used the illustrations to tell her the whole story. 
After nursery yesterday she asked to go to the bookshop to get a copy of The Wizard of Oz "with not so much words in it" as Mummy's one.  I'll never refuse to buy her a book... so we went in and found this one which is just the right length for her.  The pictures are lovely too:

I am sure there is a picture book version out there somewhere too (which Santa might be able to advise me about).

I have really enjoyed being able to share one of my own childhood favourites with J this week.  Who would have thought that an ordinary day trip would take us all the way to OZ.

Fairytales in psychological order...

 There are whole theories on the psychology of fairytales; it is all extraordinarily interesting...  honestly.

Lately  J seems to be reading fairytales in psychological order!

I saw this quote on a leaflet from the library this week:

“If you want your children to be intelligent read them fairytales, if you want your children to be more intelligent read them more fairytales” (Albert Einstein)

If this is true then it’s possibly because life itself is a story.  Your story, their story. It’s all been said before but, children learn how to live life  by playing, play acting, role playing, imagining themselves to be someone or something else, reading about someone  else and having empathy with that character.  This is why books, (and therefore fairytales) are the most important thing  in a child’s life.  Well I think so anyway.  Me and Einstein; great minds think alike. Ha.

J’s first fairytale fascination was Goldilocks and the 3 bears.  This makes sense; young girl’s first venture out alone, her curiosity gets the better of her, then its ‘best run home it’s safer there’.  It’s a tale with no real resolution, things are tried out, and things get broken, nothing else is said.  For a toddler this tale is just like dipping your toe in the water of the world but nothing else. 

There are a few family stories about J. applying the Goldilocks story to life...  the best one was when we took J. to choose her first potty.  It was in Mothercare.  I lifted down a selection of 3 potties and asked her to choose one.  With a grin on her face she sat on the first potty and said no, sat on the second potty and said no, then sat on the third (at this point I realised what she was doing) and said ‘just right’.  Hilarious .

She is currently moving cautiously towards  Little Red Riding Hood.  Little Red is similar to Goldilocks, but she has a bit more of an adventure doesn’t she?  We love these versions:  

"One day you will be old enough to read fairytales again" (C S Lewis)

The Dolls' House Fairy by Jane Ray

I recently bought 3 Jane Ray picture books for J.  I have been fascinated by Jane Ray’s artwork for years.  When I worked in bookselling, I purchased all of the Berlie Doherty Fairy Tales, having been drawn in by the wonderful pictures that decorated the pages and brought the words to life.  I only wished there were more drawings...  How could I resist then The Doll’s House Fairy, Can you Catch a Mermaid? And The Apple Pip Princess. 

Our favourite of these titles and the best one for J’s age group is The Doll’s House Fairy. 

The story goes like this... Every Saturday morning Rosy and her Dad work on decorating her doll’s house together but when he suddenly becomes ill Rosy is surprised to find a little fairy in the doll’s house.  A messy, cheeky, quite unconventional little fairy...

This book is exquisite both in the simplicity of its story and the detailed, satisfying interpretation of the story in the illustrations.  Each page is full of colour, childhood wonder, nostalgia and tiny details which little girls just love to spot and point out to you... A miniature toy deer, and another one and another one, the cat sneaking a taste of the Saturday morning hot chocolate, the fairy peeking out from the doll’s house bedclothes...  Scenes are built as the reader either looks into the doll’s house or cleverly into the real house where the little girl, Rosy, lives with her family.

I love real doll’s houses for their tininess and this book captures the love of ‘tiny’ perfectly, right to the very last page and right to the very sweet happy ending. 

This book is such a pleasure to read to J, a pleasure to look at and a pleasure to hold in my hands... thank you Jane Ray.