A poem recently popped into my mind, and I realized it was from a Christmas present I received when I was 3. If ever you doubt the importance and magic of poetry, consider that I still remember bits of a poem that came to me almost... well... let's just say many years ago. My copy looked like the one to the left, but the background was blue instead of green.
The poem was from this beloved Giant Golden Book which, believe it or not, I've kept it all these years. Recently I've seen updated versions of this same book, but mine has something these newer versions do not. Open the cover and... Ta DAAA! Up pops Santa... still intact!
The poem I loved, and still love, tells about Grandfather Monkey, (who lived on the isthmus), who is winking and thinking and dreaming of Christmas. Too fun, yes?
This poem is probably still copyrighted, so I won't quote it, but I still love the rhyme of isthmus with Christmas, and I love the arc of this poem, which begins with the grandfather thinking of all the good things he would like to get for Christmas, and ends with all the good gifts he gave his grandmonkeys... as well as the gifts he received.
This was one of my favorite books as a child, and is still a treasure today.
I commend it to you, if you should see it in the stores. At the time it was quite special to find gold paint on certain pages. I thought that was truly luxurious!
I hope my favorite story is still included: The Goat Who Played Santa Claus! Something about that story seemed so warm and wonderful to me.
I hope you included some poetry in your holidays this year, and that your new year will be full of rhythm, rhyme and wordplay!
How wonderful! Such a memory. I have some books that if I can find them--am going to get just because of the memory of them. There is a golden book about kittens -- not The Three Little Kittens that had an illustration of a very tired Mama cat on the last page that made my mother laugh so hard that the memory of it is precious to me. Someday, I will find it!
ReplyDeleteI will look for this one, Karen, but it hasn't come into our store yet. It's wonderful that you do still remember your favorite Christmas stories from the age of three. I'm glad you shared!
ReplyDeleteSo cool that you have managed to preserve this special treasure from your childhood, even the pop-up Santa! What a special, special treasure!
ReplyDeleteI love that you still have this book and that its poetry still resonates in your life. What a treasure! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I'm pretty sure I had that book, too. How fun!
ReplyDeleteI still have a few books from my childhood. The memories they hold, and which I hold when I page through them, are precious.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! This poem made me think of the Monkey King stories. Books from my childhood still sit heavy in my mind. I remember the Choose Your Own Adventure stories and have to say, those stories had major impact on not only my writing but how I approach things from brainstorming to my own storytelling.
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ReplyDeleteAsk your grandkids if they remember any poems from the children's
poetry book I gave to Claire ten years ago. A CD with each of the poets reading their poems was included. My favorite poem from that collection featured the poet gleefully jumping onto jelly doughnuts!