I’ve decided to spend time in 2016 rereading books I loved as a kid.

Maybe it’s having a Little that’s got me feeling nostalgic, or how sometimes dark and dreary the adult world seems (especially lately). Maybe I’m longing for the ability to be transported to a fantasy land seems simpler, where good and evil are clearly defined (at least in my imagination). Maybe I remember how easy it was to peel through a book an afternoon, or late when I was supposed to be in bed and sleeping.

It will be interesting to see what 25 years (give or take 😉) does to my perception of these. It’s easy to think of books for kids as easier to read, or digest. But I suspect that’s the adult looking back.. When I was a kid, these plots seemed moving and ultimately meaningful I’m sure there will be some disappointments, but I’m looking forward to seeing which ones hold up, and which move me in new ways as an adult.

Many of these books set me on the path to being a writer, I remember writing what would now be called fanfic: spin offs with favorite characters.

I’ll probably hit up the library for most, though it’s a great time to start building Little’s collection, right?

My incomplete list so far includes: The Last Unicorn, Watership Down, The Black Stallion, The Egypt Game, Island of the Blue Dolphins, The People Could Fly, The Misty Books (Marguerite Henry)  and a bit of Shel Silverstein and Calvin and Hobbes for good measure. I’m interested to see what happens when I start down what I predict will be a tremendous rabbit hole: how many titles will jump off the shelf at me with tugs of memory. I’m optimistic that in the era of digital publishing, I’ll be able to find some that may have otherwise gone out of print.

But I found a lovely boxed set of the Madeline L’Engle Murry Family series, including A Wrinkle in Time, at Costco the other day and figured this would be a good place to start.