Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The Art of Reading

The Logan Art Gallery is turning 20 next year.  Okay, not much to do with writing and books... right?  Well, yeah, I know.  However, the gallery has asked past Logan artists who have had anything hung on its walls to take part in an exhibition to commemorate their time here in Logan City.  We were all giving a 20cmx20cm canvas and we could do whatever we wanted on it... yes, an open theme.

I chose to paint on mine a theme of books.  I'll be writing on it books I've read throughout my life - from childhood through my teenaged years to my adult years... and then I'll be adding on books I want to read.  There will be books that are from my collection and books that are still out there in the world which I would love to own but don't.

And this got me thinking about the amount of books I have read over this life of mine and whether you guys have read the same - or similar - books to the ones I have.  Did you laugh in the same places, enjoy them the same ways, cry when I did?  Was it the same experience for you as it was for me?  And when you grew up, and reread the book again, did the meaning change for you, or did it stay the same?

I mean, I remember reading 'Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel' and loving it!  What a book!  By the end, I wanted a steam shovel to be able to do all the great heavy living and digging around the place!  How cool would that be?  Then, there was 'The Neverending Story' by Michael Ende... oh, who didn't love Falkor?  In the book he was just the same as he was as on the big screen:  huge, white and an adorable dragon I wanted to take home with me.  Then, there was 'The 500 Hats of Batholomew Cubbins' by Dr Seus.  Mum has told me, I loved this book; but now I can't stand it.  I don't know why, but I think it looks dark in the way it's been drawn.  My favourite book of all time from my childhood is: 'Stephen's Tree' by Libby Hathorn.  This book was bought by my Mum and she has told me that when I spotted this book, I refused to leave the bookstore without it; as it was written in two languages - English and Spanish - in the same book!  English on the left page, Spanish on the right!  Very cool!  And for a book published in 1981, very unusual.  Well, there you have it, my collection of children's books which I love then and now... I'll fill you in about the books I love when I was a teenager another time.  Now it's your turn... which books did you love then, and still do now?  Or did they change for you?  Until my next post, happy reading! 

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