Hi everyone!
Welcome back! I hope you guys came back. It’s hard to tell – blink twice if you’re back reading this.
Actually on second thought I really can’t see that so never mind. I’m being childish.
What? Look at that! I segued (oh, that’s how you spell it – I initially spelt it as segway – fail) nicely to today’s 30DBC: my favourite book from my childhood.
Actually, it is sad how this one is so easy, probably ’cause there was just that one book I read when I was a kid again and again and again. And back then I claimed it as my favourite book …
Molly the Brave and Me by Jane O’Connor
It makes me both cringe and feel absolutely nostalgic when I divulge this to you. Cringe because I bet there are a hundred thousand classic books that I could have mentioned like The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar, or Matilda, or The Paper Bag Princess or The Magic Faraway Tree – but no, my favourite childhood book is so nondescript it is so difficult to find a proper cover for it.
Yet at the same time, it makes me nostalgic; I’m so defensive of this one book because of how it impacted my childhood. Even looking at the cover again makes me feel so safe. It brings me back to my room as a child. The huge white desk I had that covered an entire wall, its pink edges. And the shelves which I climbed upon – and fell down from one day and remembered nothing but being up on my table and being on the floor the next moment. The double decker bed. The Playstation console and tiny black bulky television.
Molly the Brave and Me written by Jane O’Connor (who is better known for her Fancy Nancy children’s series) is the story of Beth (the girl at the bottom of the jungle gym) who admires her friend, Molly, so much because she is so daring and doesn’t seem to be scared of anything. On the other hand, Beth is a shy and self-conscious girl, who thinks she is undeserving when Molly asks her over for a sleepover. She doesn’t feel special or brave or anything. During the sleepover, the two of them get lost in the cornfield. It is here that Beth discovers her own sort of bravery and comes to the rescue.
This was honestly such an important story for me as a kid cause I identified with Beth. I never felt really special and I always felt like my friends were far more confident and in control than I was. This book comforted me. It gave me quiet confidence.
As a kid I really devoured books. My school used to have a Scholastic Book Club catalogue subscription and I would always end up buying one or two books for each one, much to the chagrin of my mum. I used to imagine that one day I would be a writer and that my books would be published by Scholastic and be sold in that catalogue and a seven-year-old would buy them the same way I bought mine.
I wouldn’t be surprised if I had gotten Molly the Brave and Me from there.
Ah, writing this post really made me smile. Head over to Rhey of Sunshine‘s blog to know which childhood book made her feel all nostalgic and happy. And I’ll catch you tomorrow for more of this challenge. We’re at the last few!
Till next time!
cumuloq ❤
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