THE NEW DOMESTICITY
the
NEW DOMESTICITY
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By Julianna Lawson
As I write,
a well-worn copy of “Little Women” sits on my nightstand. A bookmark is tucked within its familiar pages, many of which are marked with light pencil checks or brief notes (I’ve found it helpful to translate a stray Latin phrase or two along the way!). I first read this beloved classic as a teenager and immediately felt a kinship with Jo March, that lovable heroine who is at once wildly tempestuous and deeply tender. It wasn’t long before I felt the urge to revisit this endearing story, and it eventually became my habit to pull out “Little Women” during the Christmas season. Sometimes I’d read the whole book, and other times I’d revisit the first half (the original text was divided into two books: “Little Women” and “Good Wives”); the first half happens to be nicely sandwiched between two March family Christmases. Several years ago, while rereading “Little Women,” I became aware of a sudden shift in my focus. No longer was I breathless with anticipation over Jo’s antics, Meg’s attempts at housekeeping, Beth’s hunger for homelife, or Amy’s artistic endeavors. Rather, I had started to pay attention to their mother; Marmee had become my hero. Her words inspired me as a young mother, and the pencil marks in my book reflected my desire to guide my own little women (and little men) with the same tenderness, wisdom, and grace. It was a watershed moment. I was reading the same book . . . but I was no longer the same person. My experiences as a wife and mother had changed who I was, and it was this dawning that caused me to see the great value in re-reading well-chosen books. Gladys Taber, in her “Stillmeadow Daybook,” suggests a good test for whether or not a book is worth re-reading. She writes, “For me, the test is, can I bear not to read this again? A fine book is like a mine. You get down strata after strata until the very deep lode is reached. This takes time and thought and isn’t a business of skipping through once.” I find that January is an excellent month for selecting those literary “mines,” both for ourselves and for our
children. One way to guide that selection is to choose according to season. Let’s look through the seasons (and age groups, too) and visit some beloved classics that are well worth reading . . . and well worth re-reading. For, as C.S. Lewis said, “Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
Winter
Preschool age children will delight in the colorful pages of wintertime books such as Jan Brett’s “The Mitten,” Ezra Jack Keats’ award winning, “The Snowy Day,” and Virginia Lee Burton’s charming, “Katy and the Big Snow.” Middle readers enjoy classics such as Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House in the Big Woods,” C.S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia,” and Richard and Florence Atwater’s “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.” Older readers—including adults!—can cozy up with a steaming mug of tea and get lost in the pages of Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina,” or Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield.”
Spring
As the world blossoms anew, pull out the favorite stories that brim with life. Preschool choices include Robert McCloskey’s “Make Way for Ducklings,” Beatrix Potter’s “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” and Jill Barklem’s “Brambly Hedge: Spring Story.” A wealth of classics is available to middle readers, such as Kenneth Grahame’s “The Wind in the Willows,” Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden,” and Johanna Spyri’s “Heidi.” Although originally written for younger audiences, older readers will enjoy the hauntingly beautiful nature classics: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ “The Yearling,” Mary O’Hara’s “My Friend Flicka,” and Enid Bagnold’s “National Velvet.”
Summer
Hot and sultry days are ideal for revisiting Robert McCloskey’s “Blueberries for Sal,” A.A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh,” and Alice continued on next page
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Vancouver Family Magazine • www.vancouverfamilymagazine.com • January 2019