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Bonding with Pippi

Faith is in love. I discovered this a few nights ago on my late night rounds. The light in the girls' room was blazing. It was nearly midnight so I reached in and snapped the switch off.

"Don't turn it off, Mama! I'm reading."

Seeing the position she was in ...
...I made a wild guess. (Well, it wasn't an incredibly wild guess because I am a connoisseur of fine children's literature.) "Are you reading Pippi Longstocking, perchance?

"Yes. And I need the light to see."

Look at her. How could I turn the light off?

I'm so excited. It's the first chapter book that she's picked up all by herself and is reading cover to cover. Pippi is the first character she has bonded with all on her own. It's my book. Finally, a child who likes to read what I liked to read in days gone by.
In spite of the late night, she greeted me early the next morning with bits of grass clinging to her hair and back. "Pippi starts her day with forty-three somersaults. I did forty-five." The somersault turning left her with a rash but, fortunately she did avoid our many doggy "landmines." I count this as a miracle.

"Now we're going to make a pancake,
Now there's going to be a pankee,
Now we're going to fry a pankye."

And the day after that, when she wasn't so grassy, Faith made us pancakes. Start to finish. Yes, she sang the song while she worked. She purposely dusted a little flour on herself, "So I look more Pippi-ish." But the flour on her face? (You'll have to supersize this to see it.) That was accidental.

And because Faith and Pippi really do have a great deal in common...

...she showed her undying love for her new favorite book by sprinkling it with flower petals and leaving it to soak up the sun in the backyard. Unfortunately, Gustav, who has been hanging out just south of us for days and days, timed his appearance perfectly with Faith's moment of forgetfulness. He swooped in and pressed wrinkles and watermarks into my childhood treasure. It's alright though. They go pretty well with my own childish smudges and scribblings.
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Comments

ocean mommy said…
That is so precious! I loved this book too...Chloe is deep into the Secrect Garden and so far doesn't like it at all...that just makes me sad, maybe she'll come around later! Emma on the other hand, has picked it up and is falling in love with it.

Have a great weekend!
steph.
September 5, 2008 at 9:05 PM
kittyhox said…
I will be so delighted if one day my daughter inherits my love of reading, and in particular, my obsession with Anne of Green Gables.

Alas, I never read the Pippi books.

LOVED the photos. Such treasures...
September 5, 2008 at 9:30 PM
Xandra@Heart-of-Service said…
If I have one wish for my children (spiritual matters aside), it's that they have a deep love for reading and that it carries over into their every day lives. When I read I get so involved in the characters, I sometimes get the lines between reality and fantasy blurred a bit!

I hope this is the same for Nathan and Grace, as it clearly is for Faith. Thanks for sharing this!

Xandra
September 6, 2008 at 9:06 AM
Melissa said…
I never bonded with Pippi. What a great thing for Faith to be so attached, though. Too cute.
September 6, 2008 at 9:05 PM
Sarah said…
I can see how Faith would relate so well to Pippi! Has she got any wild knee socks to wear around the house? I love the look of concentration on her face in the pancake photo.

sem
September 7, 2008 at 12:15 AM
Kate said…
Sarah,

Note to self:
Must get wild kneesocks.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Kate
September 7, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Mary@notbefore7 said…
How much fun to watch as she adopts the same love for herself!

Never read that series...I have a few we'll see if my own kids discover as well :)
September 7, 2008 at 3:51 PM
Jennifer@DoingTheNextThing said…
What a joy to see your child love what you love! And to see them bonding with books and characters all on their own. Faith even looks like Pippi with her pigtails! ;-) good times.
September 8, 2008 at 9:22 AM
Anonymous said…
Too funny! I loved Pippi as well...also Anne of Green Gables and Nancy Drew. Great literary heroines, all.

As long as Faith doesn't try to pick up any horses, I think she'll be all right! ;-)
September 8, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Alana said…
Oh my word! That may be the cutest thing ever. I love it!!!! And the Pippi hair? Classic!
September 10, 2008 at 3:20 PM
Etta said…
I love it!!! Pippi was one of my favs too!
September 11, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Ganeida said…
I loved Pippi as a kid & my Ditz does too. We don't often like the same books but its so nice when we do.
September 16, 2008 at 3:08 PM
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