It is not possible for me to exaggerate how much I loved this book as a child, and how much it influenced my imagination for at least five years of my life. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. I spent so many years writing stories and making up plots in my head, and they all involved kids going into the woods and finding a magic/hidden lair where they hid out and lived. For years, I remembered certain details of the book so well, like how they put their milk in a "refrigerator" behind the waterfall and how they built a dam out of rocks in the stream so they could swim. Oh, I LOVED IT. And I just read it with Dane, and it made me so happy to see him love it too. It's funny reading it now, because you can totally see how it was written a long time ago with the wording and the events, and how some things don't really add up. Like, how did Jessie know how to make a stew? I feel like I wouldn't even know how to make a stew out of random ingredients someone brought me, but that maybe is just a difference of the era. But other ones are bigger questions, like: How come they didn't bring any of their old things with them when they ran away from home, not even Benny's old teddy bear or a change of clothes, but they did think to bring soap and a sewing bag? How were they always so well-behaved and perfect, even when they were up all night running away? Benny is too young to read but he never throws tantrums? But most of all, I am dying to know: how did their parents die, and if their grandfather is so nice, why did they not see him their whole lives? Were their parents keeping him away for some reason? What was the problem? I feel like this could have been answered with one small throw-away sentence in the book, but it definitely wasn't. I wonder if any of the later books address this, because I don't remember. Anyways, I bought a few of these online at Amazon and I am going to read some of the mysteries with Dane and see if he loves them too.
No comments:
Post a Comment