Friday 8 June 2012

Vintage Children's Books


When I was a little girl,

if there was a book in sight, then I was very far away from it.

I looooved a good book !
Still do too !

In the early years it was Golden Books that caught my eye.
I remember begging my Mother to buy me a new one each week when she would go grocery shopping.
I remember being so young, in fact I think possibly 3 years old and reaching up into the tall wire rotating stand of Golden Books at the supermarket trying to pull down a copy of 'The Little Billy Goats Gruff'.
Lucky for me that day, my Mother agreed or I imagine there would have been a flood way of tears down my little cheeks.

Books of nursery rhymes, pop-up books and picture books also took my fancy.
I remember sitting on the floor of my little pink bedroom with the flouncy white curtains and white blinds that I 'accidently' pulled the tassells off, reading my Mother's childhood books.
There was something fascinating about the names of the children in the books. Mary, Susie, Peaches and Candy became  my 'lets pretend' names when I would play role and recreate these wonderful stories.

Fairies and all things magical filled my mind with wonder and I wished for magical carpets to come and sail by my window and take me on mystical journeys.

Years later I discovered Secret Seven books.
Tales of secret passwords and cubby houses took me to another world. A place where 10 year old children saved the day and caught the baddies !

and then came my very favourite of them all.
(Yes Mum....I am going to make you laugh)

Nancy Drew !

Nancy Drew and her friends George and Bess captivated my mind.
I became obsessed with reading every single book that I could get my hands on.
Every mystery that Nancy embarked on had me secretly reading under the covers long after bed time.
A small torch safely hidden under my bed saw me enjoying these wonderful stories while the rest of the house slept.

Every now and again I find a
'Nancy' in my travels and I always snap it up and have a read.
The stories are not violent. There is no swearing in these books, there is hardly any hardly any violence, the fashions are very outdated and the grammer is seemingly ancient, but there is something clean, honest and entertaining about these lovely books.

Enid Blyton was another favourite.
Amelia Jane was always naughty,
Wishing trees had me floating off into magical lands
and fairies had tea parties under spotty red mushrooms.

Oh to be a child again !
BLISS



I hope that you have enjoyed my little trip down memory lane this week with my 'Children's Week Special'.

I have enjoyed bringing you all these lovely treasured memories and beautiful vintage goodies.
I would like to thank Ambleside Cottage in Islington, NSW Australia for allowing me to photograph her gorgeous antique store.
(I have a lot more to show you from her lovely abode)

I wish you all a beautiful weekend.
I am in search for blue skies and all things pink and blue !

Melanie
x


5 comments:

  1. Wow, I just love all of your sweet books! I loved books when I was a girl too and still do! Enid Blyton was my absolute favorite, especially the Adventure Series that are so hard to find now...Valley of Adventure, Castle of Adventure, etc. and I loved the Famous Five books too. I also have all of my Mom's old Nancy Drew books...the ones with the antique looking blueish covers. So fun!

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  2. Melanie - I love the vintage children's books! Though it's not exactly vintage, I remember curling up with the Little House on the Prarie books as a kid. I have such fond memories with them. This post brought it all back. ; )

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  3. Sweet Melanie, What a delightful post dearest! I enjoyed reading your wonderful childhood memories. The books are so cheerful and sweet! I wish we could go shopping together at the Ambleside Cottage. It sounds like a lovely place. I look forward to seeing more! I wish you a beautiful weekend too, sweet friend! Much love, Paula xo~ I loved your floral arrangement in your previous post! Very stunning dear heart!

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  4. Vintage children´s books are just the best...I was actually going to blog about my favorite childhood book of all times soon and this post made me want to do so even more! :-) It really was a great time of our lives!

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  5. I live the pictures! :)

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