How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's BooksOver forty years ago, Joan Bodger, her husband, and two children went to Britain on a very special family quest. They were seeking the world that they knew and loved through children’s books. In Winnie-the-Pooh Country, Mrs. Milne showed them the way to “that enchanted place on the top of the Forest [where] a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.” In Edinburgh they stood outside Robert Louis Stevenson’s childhood home, tilting their heads to talk to a lamplighter who was doing his job. In the Lake District they visited Jemima Puddle-Duck’s farm, and Joan sought out crusty Arthur Ransome to talk to him about Swallows and Amazons. They spent several days “messing about in boats” on the River Thames, looking for Toad Hall and other places described by Kenneth Grahame in The Wind in the Willows. Mud and flood kept them from attaining the slopes of Pook’s Hill (on Rudyard Kipling’s farm), but they scaled the heights of Tintagel. As in all good fairy tales, there were unanswered questions. Did they really find Camelot? Robin Hood, as always, remains elusive. One thing is certain. Joan Bodger brings alive again the magic of the stories we love to remember. She persuades us that, like Emily Dickinson, even if we “have never seen a moor,” we can imagine “how the heather looks.” First published in 1965 by Viking in New York, How the Heather Looks has become a prized favorite among knowledgeable lovers of children’s literature. Precious, well-thumbed copies have been lent out with caution and reluctance, while new admirers have gone searching in vain for copies to buy second-hand. This handsome reprint, with a new Afterword by Joan Bodger, makes a unique and delightful classic available once more. |
Contents
The Open Road | 15 |
A Peak in Narnia | 32 |
In Quest of Arthur | 52 |
Down to Camelot | 67 |
The River Bank | 81 |
Johnny Crows Garden | 107 |
Looking at History | 128 |
Little Countries of the Mind | 148 |
Forests Moors and Gardens | 171 |
Beyond the Door | 205 |
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Common terms and phrases
A. A. Milne Albury Albury Heath Arthur Ransome asked bank Beatrix Potter Blewbury boat bridge Britain Brontë brought Caldecott caravan castle cave chapel child Childe Rowland climb Cornwall countryside decided door drove enchanted England English explore Forest garden gate gazed Geoffrey Ashe girl Glastonbury green guidebook gypsy hill illustrations island John and Ian Kenneth Grahame King knew lake landscape Leslie Brooke lived London Lucy Mapledurham Mapledurham House miles Milne Miss Potter moors never night Number ourselves Pangbourne peered Perhaps Pevensey picture play Pooh Puck remember river road Robin Hood Roman Rosemary Sutcliffe seemed stone stood stopped story street T. H. White Thames thought Tiggy-Winkle tiny Toad told took town trees turned village walked wall watching Whitchurch wild Willows window wonder young