Stoking a sweet reminiscence: My favorite children's book

To me, children's books were the Disney classics I loved to pore over repeatedly when I was a kid. I was fortunate in my childhood to have reached that era when most cartoons in celluloid were still lovingly drawn by hand, frame by frame. Apart from the animations, they were always captured in those little hardcover storybooks published by Ladybird. My dad would collect these, starting from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". I looked forward to receiving a new book, in every trip we made to the bookstore. It didn't take long to compel us into reserving a permanent shelf space in our small library. Part of the beauty of my fortysomething children's books collection was that they were wonderfully illustrated, the text large enough and easy to understand, and were told just like what you saw in the moving pictures, only it gave you a more lasting impression. My appreciation for Disney was cemented through reading these. The last Disney movie that we had an complementing storybook of was "Hercules". I don't think Ladybird makes these illustrated hardcovers anymore, as much as Disney animations have relinquished over to computer-generated graphics.

And if I were asked to name my favorite "real" children's book, I'd gladly refer to the same collection. For a while Ladybird produced titles from their Ladybird Children's Classics series, well-loved enduring stories articulated and drawn vividly for a child's comprehension. Included were Dicken's "Oliver Twist" and "Tale of Two Cities", and Alcott's "Little Women". I've always liked "A Little Princess" and "The Secret Garden", which were stories fitting for little girls. But from recollections, the one book that fondly kindled my young affections the most was Johanna Spyri's "Heidi", retold by Alison Ainsworth, and illustrated by Pat Tourret. It is a famous product of Swiss literature, yet remains to be one of the most heartfelt, encompassing stories I have ever read.

Whose heart wouldn't melt for a young orphan girl who brought happiness to everyone she meets? Heidi's bright innocence radiates from every page. Dotted with tender sketches of unforgettable characters; speckled with imaginative sceneries of the Swiss countryside and a German interlude. And while the book charms you, it leaves many enduring lessons and traits as well. "Heidi" exemplifies humility, kindness, honesty, perseverance, and the most personal of all -- unbridled optimism. It is one characteristic I am slowly running on empty of as I grow older and more stubborn. But when I am reminded of the little orphan girl from Alm Mountain, a smile instantly plays on my lips and my petty troubles, for a while, fade into the "flames of rose-coloured snowfields".

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Note: This essay was originally a reaction piece on Nicholas D. Kristof's article "The Best Kids' Books Ever".