Childhood Favourites #5: A Watcher in the Woods

A Watcher in the Woods

Florence Engel Randall

First Hardcover Printing: 1976

New York: Atheneum Publishers

Jan Carstairs is 15 (almost 16) when she and her family move into the old Aylwood place. Jan wasn't happy about the move in the first place, she's used to the city; not the isolation of this country estate. But there is something else, something more unsettling that has Jan so upset. She felt it that first day, a presence in the woods. The old woman knew it was there too and after talking to Jan, decides to "take a chance" on the Carstairs, reluctantly leaving her home and the Watcher behind.

It isn't long before odd occurrences have the entire Carstairs family upset. Mirrors are mysteriously broken, always in the same X pattern. 10-year-old Ellie begins to "hear" things and relate messages in mirror writing. The TV becomes a bridge of communication when strange programs are transmitted late at night. With help from their nearest neighbour and Jan's new friend 19-year-old Mark, the Carstairs race against time to piece together the identity of the Watcher in the Woods!

I was 11-years-old in grade six when I first read A Watcher in the Woods. I've always considered this one my crossover book; my first step onto the bridge between children's literature and the world of adult books. Skip ahead thirty years and though I remember the thrill of reading this book, some of the details were sketchy. Revisiting this childhood favourite became great fun with all the "oh yeah, now I remember!" moments because try a I might, the ending would not come back to me 'til the end!

In 1980 Scholastic released a paperback edition with the slightly altered title The Watcher in the Woods to coincide with the Disney film version in theatres the same year. To complete The Childhood Favourites Challenge, this 1980 edition is the one I had to borrow on an inter-library loan.

Childhood Favourites #4

Mary of Mile 18

Story and Pictures by Ann Blades

1971 First Hardcover Printing,
Montreal: Tundra Books

It seems I've always known the story of Mary Fehr, a young girl living in northern British Columbia. Indeed this book was a favourite of all my elementary school teachers and came home with me many times from the school library. It's true that we saw harsh yet, beautiful winters here in Nova Scotia but Mary lived through the winter with much less comfort and way more responsibility than either I or most other children I knew at the time.

Though this book touches on the hardships of enduring a cold Canadian winter without such comforts as running water, electricity and indoor plumbing, it does so in such a quiet and understated way. The beauty of growing up with a strong sense of hardworking values in a large and loving family, shines through in this book.

I can't imagine any child not feeling the pull of wanting a puppy when Mary finds a stray half wolf-pup and wants to keep him. Her father though, is quick to remind her that animals must earn their keep on a farm and wolf-pups are useless.

Sadly Mary goes off with the pup while the others go about their jobs ... The pup snuggles in Mary's arms as she carries him into the woods. How she wishes she could keep him!

Still tugs at my heart!

Ann Blades gentle watercolours perfectly capture the cold and lonesome beauty of a northern Canadian winter. The bare limbs of trees, the soft and ever present snow, the wonder and magic of Northern Lights and one stealthy and snarling coyote, illustrate and contribute to the enduring charm of Mary of Mile 18.

A Canadian classic to be enjoyed by all ages, everywhere!

** Ann Blades was just twenty years old and working as a teacher at a tiny country schoolhouse in the northern village of Mile 18 when she created what would become a childrens book sensation. Unable to find books for her students that represented their lives, she decided to write and illustrate her own stories. Mary of Mile 18 was her first book and included the students she taught that year. The Vancouver Art Gallery exhibited the tender naive paintings, and the Canadian Association of Children's Librarians in 1972 chose it the BOOK OF THE YEAR in the largest and most enthusiastic vote ever given a book. Translated into many languages including Swedish, Danish and German, Mary of Mile 18 celebrated it's 30th printing in 2001.

A Boy of Tache and A Salmon for Simon are among Ann Blade's other award winning books. **

The Rescuers ~ Margery Sharp

Childhood Favourites # 3:


The Rescuers ~ Margery Sharp

with drawings by Judith Brook

London: Collins, 1959

158 pages

I was ten years old when Disney's The Rescuers came to the big screen. It was quite a treat for my sisters and I to go to the movie theatre and see it. Soon thereafter, I was delighted to learn that the movie was actually based on books. The Rescuers, Miss Bianca a fantasy & Miss Bianca in the Salt Mines soon made their way into my heart and home!

In this first book, three mice set out to rescue an imprisoned poet from the Black Castle. The story of how Bernard, Miss Bianca and Nils come together as part of the Prisoner's Aid Society and then set out on their long and perilous journey is quite an adventure. When finally they reach the Black Castle, more obstacles stand in their way including Mamelouk, the Head Jailer's cat. Months of waiting and careful planning go by before the three brave mice can even attempt their rescue, their timing must be perfect.

It was wonderful to re-discover these books again and share them with my 8 y.o. daughter. She didn't ask why this first book wasn't anything like the movie she knows so well; I had to laugh though, when she asked why the mice "talk funny". As most readers well know and as I explained to my daughter, Miss Bianca is of a certain social class, a rather high society mouse. Being unaccustomed to older, "proper" English prose, the narration felt a little off to her young ears but she soon adjusted and picked up some new vocabulary along the way.

Something else she found terribly funny comes from the part of the story where Miss Bianca is in search of a brave Norwegian mouse,

"In the Embassy cellar there was evidently some kind of bachelor-party going on. At least fifty Norwegian mice were gathered there—singing and shouting and drinking beer."

That's right, beer drinking mice and they are swigging it back in the illustration on the opposite page which includes a floor littered with empties and spilled tankards! It's actually quite cute but not something I would expect to find in more recent editions of this classic tale. Thankfully, our library has all nine of the original titles for my daughter and I to enjoy reading together!

Chilhood Favourites #2

Thumbelina by Hans Christian Anderson
Illustrated by Adrienne Adams
Translation: R.P. Keigwin
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1961


A lovely version of the classic tale, this book was one of my favourites! As a young girl, I was enchanted with the idea of a child no bigger than your thumb growing inside a magic flower. Apparently the narcissus and tulips that grew in our yard, though very pretty, were not of the magic variety. Try as I might, no small girl or guardian flower sprites were ever found.

Stolen from her mother, Thumbelina escapes the clutches of an ugly toad and a tiresome tedious mole, both of whom want to claim her for their wife. A swallow that she nursed back from the brink of death carries her off to warmer lands and a kinder fate.

Exquisite illustrations enhance the experience of returning to a childhood favourite, they just don't make them like this anymore. To see more of Adrienne Adams work in this book, click here for a real treat.


** cross-posted at A Season to Read **

The Tawny Scrawny Lion

Childhood Favourites # 1




Tawny Scrawny Lion
Author~ Kathryn Jackson
Illustrator ~ Gustaf Tenggren
New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.
First Published: 1952

Little Golden Books were among the few I remember having around the house as a small child. Tossed in the toybox with wooden blocks, Pebbles and Bam Bam dolls, Slinkys and pull toys you could find The Poky Little Puppy, The Little Red Hen, The Happy Whale, The Shy Little Kitten and The Little Red Caboose. What you wouldn't have found was The Tawny Scrawny Lion. Tawny Scrawny was mine! You see, I was the oldest of four little girls and in order to protect my book from the ravages of crayons and the carelessness of mud-pie hands, I kept Tawny Scrawny at my Grandmother's house. Mixed in with this great story that teaches children the days of the week and the virtues of vegetables are all the wonderful smells, sounds and memories (not to mention the individual attention!) that I treasure from my childhood.

Tawny Scrawny chases (and eats) the jungle animals but remains skinny with so much running around. Sitting with some distance between them to talk things over with the lion, the nervous animals think their problems are solved when a fat little rabbit comes hopping on the scene. Enticing the lion with the thoughts of his five fat sisters and four fat brothers more so than the carrot stew bubbling back at his house, the rabbit is spared by the lion. Picking berries and catching a few fish along the way, the two finally make it to the rabbit's house and there it is: a big pot of delicious smelling carrot stew! All those fine rabbits move fast to fill the lion with bowl after bowl of stew then top him up with berries. Alas, Tawny Scrawny is now "fat as butter and sleek as satin". Hooray! The little rabbit saved the day and left the lion with an affinity for carrot stew.

Is it any wonder my love of reading (and stew) began with this book!