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How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books
Over 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.
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.
249 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
79 people are currently reading
1334 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
January 22, 2015
Poorly written in places, intensely poignant in places, How the Heather Looks is a strange book which, in a way, taught me more about my attitude towards children's literature rather than teaching me about it. I am, at present, engaged in a bit of a project to try and find a book for every for every county in the UK and so How The Heather Looks has a curious relevance for me right now. I'm becoming fascinated with the roots of story, in the points where the imaginary and the real world connect, and how they spiral into different and yet somehow weirdly familiar locations. And I'm fascinated with how, sometimes, when you visit the real world settings of these books, when you sit on Lyra and Will's bench or catch sight of Ratty's Thames out of the window, that it feels a little like you're falling from one world into the next. That if you close your eyes, that if you hold your breath, you're in Narnia or at Flambards or in the kitchen at the Fossils house. That's magic to me, pure and effortless magic, and it's a sort of intoxicating magic. It's powerful and when you feel it, you want more of it. You just do. You can't even help it any more.
And this book is full of magic. Bodger's references have perhaps dated a little and her fixed (forced?) outsider perspective may occasionally grate but there are moments when you just forget all that because she gets you. She gets you in that sort of breathless way every fan of something understands, that moment when you see the thing you love in real life, that moment when you see the makers and creators and you realise that you just admire them and love them, really, that you can't quite speak and you can't quite exist in the real world any more. You've fallen through the gaps, you're in the imaginary and there's no way you're going back.
Bodger's family journey, occasionally blindly and perhaps naively, through the United Kingdom with this sort of intense wonder throughout. There are chapters which are easy to skim through, lightly, but then she falls into somehow interviewing Arthur Ransome ("What's this?" he asked. "What's this?") or Mrs Milne (who, rather marvellously, berates them about the incorrect size over their teddy Piglet).
Bodger is not the best writer. But she is, at heart, a fan. A loving, obsessed, foolish, impressionable fan. And I have walked and I am walking in those shoes. This is a lovely book, (and, if I am being honest, it is one that is ripe for a modern day version).
And this book is full of magic. Bodger's references have perhaps dated a little and her fixed (forced?) outsider perspective may occasionally grate but there are moments when you just forget all that because she gets you. She gets you in that sort of breathless way every fan of something understands, that moment when you see the thing you love in real life, that moment when you see the makers and creators and you realise that you just admire them and love them, really, that you can't quite speak and you can't quite exist in the real world any more. You've fallen through the gaps, you're in the imaginary and there's no way you're going back.
Bodger's family journey, occasionally blindly and perhaps naively, through the United Kingdom with this sort of intense wonder throughout. There are chapters which are easy to skim through, lightly, but then she falls into somehow interviewing Arthur Ransome ("What's this?" he asked. "What's this?") or Mrs Milne (who, rather marvellously, berates them about the incorrect size over their teddy Piglet).
Bodger is not the best writer. But she is, at heart, a fan. A loving, obsessed, foolish, impressionable fan. And I have walked and I am walking in those shoes. This is a lovely book, (and, if I am being honest, it is one that is ripe for a modern day version).
May 8, 2021
My children read this book, and narrated it back to me during our homeschool years. I made a mental note to read it myself someday, and I finally got to it. So glad I did! I am a bit of an anglophile, and this travel book was so satisfying.
Joan Bodger and her historian husband traveled to England in the 1950s with their 8 year old son Ian, and 2 year old daughter Lucy. The purpose of their trip was to scout out the actual landscape pictured in all of their beloved British literary reads: books such as Caldecott's Nursery Rhymes, The Wind in the Willows, Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh, King Arthur, Swallows and Amazons, and many more.
Being pre-internet era, they had to rely a lot on local lore and word-of-mouth tips, and amazingly many times the locals had no knowledge of their literary heritage. But in nearly every case they eventually found their desired landmarks and fully immersed themselves in the culture. What made it so much fun was that the children were conversant with the background stories, making the experience go way beyond mere sightseeing. They would spend hours and hours reenacting battles and role play parts. As an example, finding the place where King Arthur traversed, "[Ian's] face was aglow and he was chattering away to his father. Somehow he had been able to reconcile his old concept of Arthur with something vital he found at Cadbury. I thought of T.H. White's contention that the Matter of Britain must be looked at through the innocent eyes of the young, the 'pure eyes of absolute truth.'" pg. 103
The Bodgers had the great fortune to meet Mrs. A.A. Milne and Arthur Ransom. They were privileged to peek into famous gardens and ride the waterway where Toad disguised himself as a washer woman. They attended country fairs and lived like the gypsies. It was a literary dream trip, interspersed with wonderful quotes and book connections. Glad I was that our Ambleside homeschool curriculum had steeped us in the British stories and poems and literature; I don't think the book would have been nearly so interesting had I not known most of the colorful background books. Even so, I wrote down some more books to scout out and read in the future.
"In order to understand the English classics as adults, we must build up a sort of visual vocabulary from the books we read as children. Children's literature is, in some ways more important to us than it is to the English child. I contend that a child brought up on the nursery rhymes and Jacobs' English Fairy Tales can better understand Shakespeare; that a child who has pored over Beatrix Potter can respond to Wordsworth. Of course it is best if one can find for himself a bank where the wild thyme grows, or discover daffodils growing wild. Failing that, the American child must feed the "inward eye" with the images in the books he reads when young so that he can enter a larger realm when he is older." pg 220
Speaking of larger and smaller realms, I will close with one more quote I loved:
". . . English folklore and literature abound with little people: fairies, pixies, goblins, elves, dwarfs, sprites, sprigging, Lilliputians, Hobbits, Borrowers. There must be something about an island nation that engenders a genius for the miniature. . . the British excel in literary microtomy. It's almost as though everyone on 'this little isle' has a private world into which he can withdraw and explore--- himself, perhaps?" pg 202
I would have loved to have had a map and some pictures to accompany the reading, but for anyone with an "inner eye," there's much beauty to see and much joy in this romp through Britain and British children's literature.
4.5 stars
Joan Bodger and her historian husband traveled to England in the 1950s with their 8 year old son Ian, and 2 year old daughter Lucy. The purpose of their trip was to scout out the actual landscape pictured in all of their beloved British literary reads: books such as Caldecott's Nursery Rhymes, The Wind in the Willows, Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh, King Arthur, Swallows and Amazons, and many more.
Being pre-internet era, they had to rely a lot on local lore and word-of-mouth tips, and amazingly many times the locals had no knowledge of their literary heritage. But in nearly every case they eventually found their desired landmarks and fully immersed themselves in the culture. What made it so much fun was that the children were conversant with the background stories, making the experience go way beyond mere sightseeing. They would spend hours and hours reenacting battles and role play parts. As an example, finding the place where King Arthur traversed, "[Ian's] face was aglow and he was chattering away to his father. Somehow he had been able to reconcile his old concept of Arthur with something vital he found at Cadbury. I thought of T.H. White's contention that the Matter of Britain must be looked at through the innocent eyes of the young, the 'pure eyes of absolute truth.'" pg. 103
The Bodgers had the great fortune to meet Mrs. A.A. Milne and Arthur Ransom. They were privileged to peek into famous gardens and ride the waterway where Toad disguised himself as a washer woman. They attended country fairs and lived like the gypsies. It was a literary dream trip, interspersed with wonderful quotes and book connections. Glad I was that our Ambleside homeschool curriculum had steeped us in the British stories and poems and literature; I don't think the book would have been nearly so interesting had I not known most of the colorful background books. Even so, I wrote down some more books to scout out and read in the future.
"In order to understand the English classics as adults, we must build up a sort of visual vocabulary from the books we read as children. Children's literature is, in some ways more important to us than it is to the English child. I contend that a child brought up on the nursery rhymes and Jacobs' English Fairy Tales can better understand Shakespeare; that a child who has pored over Beatrix Potter can respond to Wordsworth. Of course it is best if one can find for himself a bank where the wild thyme grows, or discover daffodils growing wild. Failing that, the American child must feed the "inward eye" with the images in the books he reads when young so that he can enter a larger realm when he is older." pg 220
Speaking of larger and smaller realms, I will close with one more quote I loved:
". . . English folklore and literature abound with little people: fairies, pixies, goblins, elves, dwarfs, sprites, sprigging, Lilliputians, Hobbits, Borrowers. There must be something about an island nation that engenders a genius for the miniature. . . the British excel in literary microtomy. It's almost as though everyone on 'this little isle' has a private world into which he can withdraw and explore--- himself, perhaps?" pg 202
I would have loved to have had a map and some pictures to accompany the reading, but for anyone with an "inner eye," there's much beauty to see and much joy in this romp through Britain and British children's literature.
4.5 stars
August 26, 2021
For those of us that love English literature and have steeped our children in it, this book is like a cozy blanket. Between this book and The Duchess of Bloomsbury street (and all the Potter, Pyle, Lewis, Burnett, Austen, and Bronte in between), my Anglophile heart is longing pretty hard to visit these places!!
May 10, 2025
The travelogue of a family visiting Britain in the 1960s in search of the original settings for all their favorite children’s stories.
I’m not familiar with many of the stories they reference, but if you are, this book will be quite the find.
(There’s one non-children’s-book pilgrimage included… my beloved Haworth! And I did love the observation that The Secret Garden, also set in Yorkshire, owes a lot to Jane Eyre.)
Also includes forays to Pooh country and The Wind in the Willows, besides many many more stories.
I’m not familiar with many of the stories they reference, but if you are, this book will be quite the find.
(There’s one non-children’s-book pilgrimage included… my beloved Haworth! And I did love the observation that The Secret Garden, also set in Yorkshire, owes a lot to Jane Eyre.)
Also includes forays to Pooh country and The Wind in the Willows, besides many many more stories.
March 11, 2020
A sparkling literary travelogue of the sites of British children's books. Written in the late 1950s, it doesn't quite have everything we'd think of now as classic British children's literature. Paddington, Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and other '50s publications get a few mentions, but Joan Bodger had not read them as a child, and they were fresh off the presses. (Wouldn't it have been lovely if they had met grumpy Lewis [already on faculty at Cambridge by their time] and family man Tolkien?)
Personally, I relished the passages about Frances Hodgson Burnett, the tales of Robin Hood, the speculation Arthur and his history, all the bits about Kenneth Grahame, and of course everything about Potter and the Lake District. Having recently come home from a literary pilgrimage to Hill Top Farm myself, I found her recounting of traipsing over the countryside wonderful. Travel has certainly changed since the 1950s. Bodger's self-consciousness about her American ways was quite funny.
Recommended to those who enjoy the connection between books and their places, particularly of children's literature. Having grown up with the privilege of visiting Laura Ingalls Wilder's homes and Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, I loved hearing about Bodger's children experiencing similar reveries.
"Now I see more clearly how a truth, too big to be expressed except in art or poetry, can hitch itself to a landscape. The process of attachment engenders another dimension to the idea, enlarges it and makes it visible through time as myth incarnate (if you consider the planet a living being). The myth may fade, the place may lose significance, but like a sleeping hero, like a recumbent goddess, the truth will remain. When the time is right it will emerge to support what needs to be expressed. Then the landscape will be rediscovered, the story told again, the truth revealed for a new age." (232)
Personally, I relished the passages about Frances Hodgson Burnett, the tales of Robin Hood, the speculation Arthur and his history, all the bits about Kenneth Grahame, and of course everything about Potter and the Lake District. Having recently come home from a literary pilgrimage to Hill Top Farm myself, I found her recounting of traipsing over the countryside wonderful. Travel has certainly changed since the 1950s. Bodger's self-consciousness about her American ways was quite funny.
Recommended to those who enjoy the connection between books and their places, particularly of children's literature. Having grown up with the privilege of visiting Laura Ingalls Wilder's homes and Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, I loved hearing about Bodger's children experiencing similar reveries.
"Now I see more clearly how a truth, too big to be expressed except in art or poetry, can hitch itself to a landscape. The process of attachment engenders another dimension to the idea, enlarges it and makes it visible through time as myth incarnate (if you consider the planet a living being). The myth may fade, the place may lose significance, but like a sleeping hero, like a recumbent goddess, the truth will remain. When the time is right it will emerge to support what needs to be expressed. Then the landscape will be rediscovered, the story told again, the truth revealed for a new age." (232)
April 1, 2021
This might be the book I am most devastated to find is out of print. I was able to get my hands on a copy (thank you interlibrary loan!) and, as I turned the last page, couldn't decide if I was more thrilled to have had the opportunity to read it or heartbroken that I couldn't immediately go and buy copies for all my Brit-lit loving friends. (BUT it is available on Kindle, so if that's your jam, go and buy it immediately.)
How the Heather Looks shares some delightful similarities with Duchess of Bloomsbury Street--American book lovers documenting finally getting to visit England and walk the places where their favorite authors have trod and see the landscapes that inspired their favorite stories. While Hanff's book is a grown-up take, Bodger sees England through the illustrations of Caldecott, the poetry of Stevenson, the legends of Arthur and Robin Hood, and adventures of the Swallows and the Amazons, Toad and Rat, Pooh and Piglet, Peter Rabbit.
How the Heather Looks is beautifully written, envy-inspiring ("Why yes, why don't you and the family come for a visit?" says A.A. Milne's widow. "I don't like Americans and I don't like interviews, but sure, come and have a chat and I'll tell you things no one knows about my books," says Arthur Ransome. WHAT.) and makes me want to take a month and do nothing but burrow into a cozy chair and revisit all of the classic British children's books.
Highly recommended. If you ever come across a copy in the wild, buy it without hesitation. Just be warned that it's the expensive sort of book that makes you want to buy dozens of other books, most of which are out of print.
How the Heather Looks shares some delightful similarities with Duchess of Bloomsbury Street--American book lovers documenting finally getting to visit England and walk the places where their favorite authors have trod and see the landscapes that inspired their favorite stories. While Hanff's book is a grown-up take, Bodger sees England through the illustrations of Caldecott, the poetry of Stevenson, the legends of Arthur and Robin Hood, and adventures of the Swallows and the Amazons, Toad and Rat, Pooh and Piglet, Peter Rabbit.
How the Heather Looks is beautifully written, envy-inspiring ("Why yes, why don't you and the family come for a visit?" says A.A. Milne's widow. "I don't like Americans and I don't like interviews, but sure, come and have a chat and I'll tell you things no one knows about my books," says Arthur Ransome. WHAT.) and makes me want to take a month and do nothing but burrow into a cozy chair and revisit all of the classic British children's books.
Highly recommended. If you ever come across a copy in the wild, buy it without hesitation. Just be warned that it's the expensive sort of book that makes you want to buy dozens of other books, most of which are out of print.
November 18, 2014
If you like the English countryside and you like certain classics of English literature for children, you must read this. Chapters vary in their appeal to me; I did not get much into the search for King Arthur's country, much more nebulous than (say) trying to explore The River in Kenneth Grahame-land or walk the Hundred Acre Wood. A daring call on Arthur Ransome Swallows and Amazons, reputed to be a grouch and a misanthrope, gave a nice surprise.
This was written too early for Watership Down, one of the great novels of place, to be visited. My daughter and I had the delightful experience of getting a letter from Richard Adams in which he told us what topo map of Berkshire covers the region. I don't know how much public access there would be to that area now.
This was written too early for Watership Down, one of the great novels of place, to be visited. My daughter and I had the delightful experience of getting a letter from Richard Adams in which he told us what topo map of Berkshire covers the region. I don't know how much public access there would be to that area now.
April 13, 2025
A lovely novel about a family traveling to the UK to find where their favorite children’s books were written. It’s a meandering text and it was a bit difficult to hold attention at times. However, I really enjoyed reading about all the landmarks and landscape that shaped so many wonderful stories.
December 4, 2014
This book kidnapped my imagination in a way I was hardly expecting it to. Bodger narrates a trip she took with her husband and two children to the UK with one purpose in mind: finding the real geographical points/locations of their beloved children's books. This seems silly and a wild goose chase, but as they did research, they found (as do you as the reader) that many of these fictional lands are rooted in the real surroundings of the author's lives.
It was interesting to read just how willing Bodger was to see the reality of her kid's favorite stories. Sometimes they actually found the real house of such a character while other times it was just the right person/animal at the right moment that allowed them to see a story unfold. But her openness to look for the possible realness in something like Peter Rabbit, was lovely to read. Her children's love of the stories and of history was also fascinating to see as they visited different towns.
Bodger uses a great combination of background research, excerpts from the story being hunted down, and history that allows someone (like me) who is not familiar with the books enjoy their travels and discoveries just the same. For example, while looking for Sherwood Forest Bodger briefly speculates as to who Robin Hood could have actually been.
Her family's spontaneity, love of history, and ability to roll with the punches makes this a really fun book that I hated to see come to an end. I borrowed this from the library, but will be purchasing a copy for myself.
It was interesting to read just how willing Bodger was to see the reality of her kid's favorite stories. Sometimes they actually found the real house of such a character while other times it was just the right person/animal at the right moment that allowed them to see a story unfold. But her openness to look for the possible realness in something like Peter Rabbit, was lovely to read. Her children's love of the stories and of history was also fascinating to see as they visited different towns.
Bodger uses a great combination of background research, excerpts from the story being hunted down, and history that allows someone (like me) who is not familiar with the books enjoy their travels and discoveries just the same. For example, while looking for Sherwood Forest Bodger briefly speculates as to who Robin Hood could have actually been.
Her family's spontaneity, love of history, and ability to roll with the punches makes this a really fun book that I hated to see come to an end. I borrowed this from the library, but will be purchasing a copy for myself.
May 27, 2025
This engaging autobiography details Joan Bodger's trip to England with her husband, John and children Ian and Lucy. It is a summer trip, the kids are young and and the spirit of adventure animates their decisions. Although they did have a plan, they often veered off into suddenly discovered pathways. Bodger's life work was using stories to connect with people, with a particular focus on children's education, so her enthusiasm for her subject is contagious. She begins with Randolph Caldecott, and works her way through most of the major works of children's English Literature: C.S. Lewis and Narnia, the Arthur legends, Kenneth Grahame and The Wind in the Willows, Rosemary Sutcliffe's historical fiction, Robin Hood, Beatrix Potter, A.A. Milne and Winnie the Pooh, Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill and many more. It's a feast of delights to those of us who enjoy children's books, and I gorged shamelessly along with the family - John a talented researcher was a support to Joan's quest, Ian at nine was an enthusiastic scholar in the making, and Lucy at three was adorable. (I particularly liked the story of a stop at an inn where a grumpy older man was reading his paper, and Lucy popped up suddenly in front of him to ask if he was having his peace and quiet time).
The book is a joy, and the trip is a success, although further investigation of Bodger's life lends it all a melancholic tinge - family life did not end happily for Bodger. Her husband John later succumbed to mental illness, Ian lost his way (tragically, I think, as he showed so much promise), and Lucy died a few year later of a brain tumor. The book is an illumination of how stories united them and gave them joy before life dealt them a very very bad hand. In the context of her whole life, How The Heather Looks is a reminder of how precious life is and the importance of seizing the moment, and enjoying the life and light that you find as you find it: the fragility of life, made stronger by the stories that we share, the touchpoints of culture that make each of us part of the eternal whole.
The book is a joy, and the trip is a success, although further investigation of Bodger's life lends it all a melancholic tinge - family life did not end happily for Bodger. Her husband John later succumbed to mental illness, Ian lost his way (tragically, I think, as he showed so much promise), and Lucy died a few year later of a brain tumor. The book is an illumination of how stories united them and gave them joy before life dealt them a very very bad hand. In the context of her whole life, How The Heather Looks is a reminder of how precious life is and the importance of seizing the moment, and enjoying the life and light that you find as you find it: the fragility of life, made stronger by the stories that we share, the touchpoints of culture that make each of us part of the eternal whole.
April 11, 2023
Wouldn't it be fun to have a fun adventure like this! I was amazed at the Bodger's extensive knowledge of English literature.
The afterward was very sad.
"Would-be pilgrims have sometimes asked me, anxiously, whether they can make the same journey. Will it be the same? Is there anything left? They remind me of children to whom I am about to tell a story. Is it true? they ask. My stock reply is, It's truer than true. Often there is one child, determined not to be impressed, who says scornfully, I've already heard that story. I am immediately interested. You have? So have I. But since the last time I told it, and since the last time you heard it, the earth's gone 'round the sun, the rain's fallen into the brook, and the brook's run into the river. Even if you've heard the story before, even if I tell it word for word just like the first time, you've changed and I've changed and the story will change.
You can never step into the same river twice.
And yes, if you go you will see what we saw - and more. May your journey be joyful."
2023 G3 Reading Challenge - A Travel book
The afterward was very sad.
"Would-be pilgrims have sometimes asked me, anxiously, whether they can make the same journey. Will it be the same? Is there anything left? They remind me of children to whom I am about to tell a story. Is it true? they ask. My stock reply is, It's truer than true. Often there is one child, determined not to be impressed, who says scornfully, I've already heard that story. I am immediately interested. You have? So have I. But since the last time I told it, and since the last time you heard it, the earth's gone 'round the sun, the rain's fallen into the brook, and the brook's run into the river. Even if you've heard the story before, even if I tell it word for word just like the first time, you've changed and I've changed and the story will change.
You can never step into the same river twice.
And yes, if you go you will see what we saw - and more. May your journey be joyful."
2023 G3 Reading Challenge - A Travel book
December 16, 2021
If you delight in many of the classic children's books that are set in the UK, enjoy travel tales, and you like a meandering read without much plot, this may be just the book for you. I read it very slowly, in a few fits and starts, and very much enjoyed it along the way. I think the last chapter (discussing Arthur Ransome and Swallows and Amazons) was perhaps my favorite! Either that or the camping in a caravan on the edges of the moor!
March 27, 2008
I LOVED THIS BOOK! If you've ever read Puck of Pook's Hill, Wind in the Willows, stories of King Arthur, Robin Hood, etc., you will too. Essentially, this is the story of a trip taken by the author Joan Bodger with her husband and two children to discover the "roots" of their most beloved British children's literature. So they drive through the English countryside looking for Toad Hall, or Pook's Hill, or Piglet's house...I just loved this book. The writing was beautifully lyrical in keeping with the stories it was tracing, and it was absolutely fascinating to read about all the different places that gave impetutus to some of my most beloved stories (and illustrations). And the narrative is enchanting, too...it's not dry or pedantic. One of Neil's lab buddies gave this book to me to read when I was in the hospital with Juliet (his mother, a professor of children's literature, had recommended it) and I couldn't put it down!
August 3, 2012
Lovely, enchanting book about a family retracing the roots of stories and illustrations from famous British Children's Literature. My favorite quote:
"T.H. White was all his life concerned with the clash of Might and Right, the relationship of Big and Little. One might say that this is the central them of English children's literature; indeed, of English history. It is well to remember that Anne Frank was held, and finally crushed, by men who had never known- or had lost- all sense of proportion. If such a sense -a common sense- is created through play, then we must learn to respect play's importance and give it free rein."
I've recently come across a recently-published book called Are We Nearly There Yet: A Family's 8000-Mile Car Journey Around Britain, so I'm curious to compare the experiences of a traveling family in the 50's to this one in the 21st century :-)
"T.H. White was all his life concerned with the clash of Might and Right, the relationship of Big and Little. One might say that this is the central them of English children's literature; indeed, of English history. It is well to remember that Anne Frank was held, and finally crushed, by men who had never known- or had lost- all sense of proportion. If such a sense -a common sense- is created through play, then we must learn to respect play's importance and give it free rein."
I've recently come across a recently-published book called Are We Nearly There Yet: A Family's 8000-Mile Car Journey Around Britain, so I'm curious to compare the experiences of a traveling family in the 50's to this one in the 21st century :-)
November 3, 2018
This was a delightful book about an American family in 1958 making a journey to Britain to see if they could discover different locations written about in the books they read and loved. The author, Joan Bodger, her husband John and their two children, Ian (almost 9) and Lucy (age 2) share this once-in-a-lifetime adventure—a true pilgrimage of love and literature.
As I read I spent a lot of time looking up locations up on the internet, and searching for photographs of places and information about books mentioned. One of the lovely things about a book like this is you come away with a list of books you can't wait to seek out to read or revisit. Wonderful and informative reading for anyone who loves children's literature.
As I read I spent a lot of time looking up locations up on the internet, and searching for photographs of places and information about books mentioned. One of the lovely things about a book like this is you come away with a list of books you can't wait to seek out to read or revisit. Wonderful and informative reading for anyone who loves children's literature.
November 3, 2019
There is a lot packed in these pages. It is a travel diary, a record of a special summer spent with family, a literary memoir of books read to children, and an inspiration to go as close to the source as possible to get first-hand information. The 1999 edition includes an afterword which lets you know that there was much more to this family's story and that the book in spite of everything not turning out "happily ever after," would become a cherished book for future readers. In addition to the afterword, there are notes for further reading and there is an index.
Chapter One: Caledcott Country (Whitechurch, 30 miles from Liverpool) Randolph Caldecott, (1846 - 1886) an early illustrator for children's books, had lived in Whitechurch as a young man, but its library only had his biography and none of the 16 children's books he had illustrated. As the family explored the town, they found that the name of Randolph Calecott wasn't much revered or remembered, but in the surrounding countryside, they saw some of the same landscape scenes he had captured almost 100 years previously.
Chapter Two: The Open Road (Shrewsbury to Monmouth past Tintern Abbey to Chapstow to Gloucester to Bristol to renting a caravan in the country outside of Cornwall. While on the trip, they looked at scenes from Beatrix Potter's The Tailor of Gloucester and in Bristol, the harbor where Treasure Island was set (before the Hispaniola sailed).
Chapter Three: A Peak in Narnia (two weeks in the caravan and the surrounding countryside) They rented a caravan and cooked in a "kitchen" made over in an abandoned chicken coop. Their son Ian was able to explore the surrounding moor and Lucy proclaimed she saw a mermaid. Both the children and their mother found a very special ancient chapel behind sand dunes.
Chapter Four: In Quest of Arthur (Tintagel to Glastonbury) Many scenes from several authors came to mind in this chapter (Charles Kingsley's Westward Ho!, Rudyard Kipling's Stalky & Co. and Puck of Pook's Hill, Richard Blackmore's Lorna Doone, Henry Williamson's Tarka the Otter, Artur Ransome's books, and Katherine Hull and Pamela Whitlock's Oxus books); however, the family tried to let Ian see that the Athurian legend had a basis in the geography of Great Britain. He and his mother explored an ancient castle's under cove, getting separated while the tide came in. All ended well, however.
Chapter Five: Down to Camelot (Glastonbury) Although it is all wrapped in various legends; in this chapter, while little sister Lucy slept in the car, Ian and his parents explored a hillside groove to find where they felt Arthur's Palace may have been. Another book coming to mind was Rosemary Sutcliffe's The Lantern Bearers about the Romans, the British, and the Saxons.
Chapter Six The River Bank (Thames River) As they arrived in Maidenhead, they remembered Hugh Lofting was born there (Doctor Dolittle). Of course, they were hoping to see scenes from Kenneth Graham's The Wind in the Willows (illustrated by Ernest Shepard). They did find a civilized inn at which to spend several days. They remembered that the lady who had rented the caravan to them had said that Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch was Kenneth Grahame's close personal friend, and that Kenneth Grahame had spent boating time in Fowey visiting Quiller-Couch (Cornwall). So, while in Maidenhead, they rented a boat to explore the river. From the river, they decided that two stately homes may have been the models of Toad Hall: Mapledurham and Hardwick House. After the river, they explored the thatched homes of Blewbury. Spending several days and even going to a home where Kenneth Grahame had lived, they returned to picnic on the river's edge and spoke again to the gruff man who had rented them a boat earlier. As Ian quoted The Wind in the Willows without thinking ("simply messing about in boats . . . "), the boat owner remembered Kenneth Grahame walking past him and always saying "There's noting, absolutely nothing, like messing about in boats . . ."
Chapter Seven Johnny Crow's Garden (Harwell) L. Leslie Brooke (1862 - 1940) was an illustrator as well as an author, and the family went looking for scene's from his books. Lucy and her mother found a cottage and its lady of the house standing outside. They were able to go inside and see how compact and clean it was inside, as well as how amateur but solidly the house had been built. The author (Joan Bodger) decided this must have been the scene of the home of the crooked man with the crooked can and the crooked mouse. The home's lady shared that some years previously, she had hoped to move into a more up-to-date and easier to keep home. However, she had become attached to the unique properties of the home and now wanted to stay.
Chapter Eight: Looking at History (heading, the long way, to Tunbridge Wells) The family traveled to New Forest to look for scenes from Captain Marryat's Children of the New Forest, thinking of the death of William II. Then they headed to Tunbridge Wells, hoping to find more of Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, A. A. Milne's home in New Forest, and Rosemary Sutcliffe's The Lantern Bearers. For the multi-level histories contained in Puck of Pook's Hill, they visited Bateman's, Kipling's farm in Burwash. Later, they explored Roman ruins at Pevensey. Here, William of Normandy came into England.
Chapter Nine: Little Countries of the Mind (Ashdown Forest, Northampton) The family visited with Mrs. Milne at the home where Christopher Robin grew up. As Lucy presented her stuffed Piglet, Mrs. Milne exclaimed that Piglet must be much smaller, small enough to slip in a child's pocket. On the way to Pooh-stick Bridge, some large turkeys and a goose made little Lucy grasp her mother's hand tight. This brought the lines of "Us Two" to Joan and Ian's mind, so Ian shouted "Shoo!" and the birds ran off. After they left Mrs. Milne, they traveled about two miles and over a barbed wire fence to get to the Enchanted Place. Ian kept a pine cone in his pocket for the memory of that hill.
After Ashdown Forest, the family went on to look for Malplaquet in T. H. White's Mistress Masham's Repose. This led to a trip to Stowe House, a huge former home and gardens of the Buckingham. Alexander Pope had stayed there. T. H. White had taught school at Stowe School, Bucks. They were able to visit, even though things were closed due to a bank holiday. They felt like miniature people.
Although they weren't able to visit the Bedford jail where John Bunyan spent 12 years, but were able to imagine the geography of Pilgim's Progress.
Mary Norton's The Borrowers next called the family to Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. They were not able to visit Firbank Hall, Perkin's Beck, nor Mrs. May's cottage.
Chapter Ten: Forests, Moors, and Gardens (Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, Harrogate, Edinburggh) They were disappointed that the forest was now home to sheep pastures, but they did find the Major Oak and realized that men could have hidden in its branches.
In visiting Harrogate moors, Joan compared Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre with Frances Burnett's The Secret Garden. Later, after visiting circus people and an uncle of Joan's, they traveled to Scotland looking for Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. The closest they came in his city memorial was to happen on a street lamp lighter, propping his ladder against a lamp post and climbing up to clean the lamp and trim the wick. Later, when they drove out to his maternal grandparents' country home (Colinton Manse), they found the beautiful place where Robert Louis had played with his many cousins.
Chapter Eleven: Beyond the Door (the Lake District) Looking for Arthur Ransome's Swallowdale and Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Joan was actually able to sit down with Arthur Ransome and his wife for an evening interview! How it came about and what she was told are interesting to read. Later, as Lucy and Joan and Ian went looking for Little-town, they found a farm with the same name. Speaking with the lady of the house, she wondered why they were asking about Mrs. Tiggy-Winkles. However, her farming husband knew what they meant. His mother had been a friend of Mrs. Heelis (Beatrix Potter) and had a memento of his mother's to show them. Joan asked him to be sure to show his own children the wonderful treasure. As he got busy sawing the horns off of a protesting ram, the whole family decided to follow a mountainside path away from the farm. It seemed to be taking them up to the clouds. Lucy started looking for Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle's door in the mountain terrain. She didn't find it, but Ian looked down the valley and saw the forest of bronze and purple heather. It's at this point that he shouted, "Now I know how the heather looks!"
Chapter One: Caledcott Country (Whitechurch, 30 miles from Liverpool) Randolph Caldecott, (1846 - 1886) an early illustrator for children's books, had lived in Whitechurch as a young man, but its library only had his biography and none of the 16 children's books he had illustrated. As the family explored the town, they found that the name of Randolph Calecott wasn't much revered or remembered, but in the surrounding countryside, they saw some of the same landscape scenes he had captured almost 100 years previously.
Chapter Two: The Open Road (Shrewsbury to Monmouth past Tintern Abbey to Chapstow to Gloucester to Bristol to renting a caravan in the country outside of Cornwall. While on the trip, they looked at scenes from Beatrix Potter's The Tailor of Gloucester and in Bristol, the harbor where Treasure Island was set (before the Hispaniola sailed).
Chapter Three: A Peak in Narnia (two weeks in the caravan and the surrounding countryside) They rented a caravan and cooked in a "kitchen" made over in an abandoned chicken coop. Their son Ian was able to explore the surrounding moor and Lucy proclaimed she saw a mermaid. Both the children and their mother found a very special ancient chapel behind sand dunes.
Chapter Four: In Quest of Arthur (Tintagel to Glastonbury) Many scenes from several authors came to mind in this chapter (Charles Kingsley's Westward Ho!, Rudyard Kipling's Stalky & Co. and Puck of Pook's Hill, Richard Blackmore's Lorna Doone, Henry Williamson's Tarka the Otter, Artur Ransome's books, and Katherine Hull and Pamela Whitlock's Oxus books); however, the family tried to let Ian see that the Athurian legend had a basis in the geography of Great Britain. He and his mother explored an ancient castle's under cove, getting separated while the tide came in. All ended well, however.
Chapter Five: Down to Camelot (Glastonbury) Although it is all wrapped in various legends; in this chapter, while little sister Lucy slept in the car, Ian and his parents explored a hillside groove to find where they felt Arthur's Palace may have been. Another book coming to mind was Rosemary Sutcliffe's The Lantern Bearers about the Romans, the British, and the Saxons.
Chapter Six The River Bank (Thames River) As they arrived in Maidenhead, they remembered Hugh Lofting was born there (Doctor Dolittle). Of course, they were hoping to see scenes from Kenneth Graham's The Wind in the Willows (illustrated by Ernest Shepard). They did find a civilized inn at which to spend several days. They remembered that the lady who had rented the caravan to them had said that Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch was Kenneth Grahame's close personal friend, and that Kenneth Grahame had spent boating time in Fowey visiting Quiller-Couch (Cornwall). So, while in Maidenhead, they rented a boat to explore the river. From the river, they decided that two stately homes may have been the models of Toad Hall: Mapledurham and Hardwick House. After the river, they explored the thatched homes of Blewbury. Spending several days and even going to a home where Kenneth Grahame had lived, they returned to picnic on the river's edge and spoke again to the gruff man who had rented them a boat earlier. As Ian quoted The Wind in the Willows without thinking ("simply messing about in boats . . . "), the boat owner remembered Kenneth Grahame walking past him and always saying "There's noting, absolutely nothing, like messing about in boats . . ."
Chapter Seven Johnny Crow's Garden (Harwell) L. Leslie Brooke (1862 - 1940) was an illustrator as well as an author, and the family went looking for scene's from his books. Lucy and her mother found a cottage and its lady of the house standing outside. They were able to go inside and see how compact and clean it was inside, as well as how amateur but solidly the house had been built. The author (Joan Bodger) decided this must have been the scene of the home of the crooked man with the crooked can and the crooked mouse. The home's lady shared that some years previously, she had hoped to move into a more up-to-date and easier to keep home. However, she had become attached to the unique properties of the home and now wanted to stay.
Chapter Eight: Looking at History (heading, the long way, to Tunbridge Wells) The family traveled to New Forest to look for scenes from Captain Marryat's Children of the New Forest, thinking of the death of William II. Then they headed to Tunbridge Wells, hoping to find more of Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, A. A. Milne's home in New Forest, and Rosemary Sutcliffe's The Lantern Bearers. For the multi-level histories contained in Puck of Pook's Hill, they visited Bateman's, Kipling's farm in Burwash. Later, they explored Roman ruins at Pevensey. Here, William of Normandy came into England.
Chapter Nine: Little Countries of the Mind (Ashdown Forest, Northampton) The family visited with Mrs. Milne at the home where Christopher Robin grew up. As Lucy presented her stuffed Piglet, Mrs. Milne exclaimed that Piglet must be much smaller, small enough to slip in a child's pocket. On the way to Pooh-stick Bridge, some large turkeys and a goose made little Lucy grasp her mother's hand tight. This brought the lines of "Us Two" to Joan and Ian's mind, so Ian shouted "Shoo!" and the birds ran off. After they left Mrs. Milne, they traveled about two miles and over a barbed wire fence to get to the Enchanted Place. Ian kept a pine cone in his pocket for the memory of that hill.
After Ashdown Forest, the family went on to look for Malplaquet in T. H. White's Mistress Masham's Repose. This led to a trip to Stowe House, a huge former home and gardens of the Buckingham. Alexander Pope had stayed there. T. H. White had taught school at Stowe School, Bucks. They were able to visit, even though things were closed due to a bank holiday. They felt like miniature people.
Although they weren't able to visit the Bedford jail where John Bunyan spent 12 years, but were able to imagine the geography of Pilgim's Progress.
Mary Norton's The Borrowers next called the family to Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. They were not able to visit Firbank Hall, Perkin's Beck, nor Mrs. May's cottage.
Chapter Ten: Forests, Moors, and Gardens (Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, Harrogate, Edinburggh) They were disappointed that the forest was now home to sheep pastures, but they did find the Major Oak and realized that men could have hidden in its branches.
In visiting Harrogate moors, Joan compared Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre with Frances Burnett's The Secret Garden. Later, after visiting circus people and an uncle of Joan's, they traveled to Scotland looking for Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. The closest they came in his city memorial was to happen on a street lamp lighter, propping his ladder against a lamp post and climbing up to clean the lamp and trim the wick. Later, when they drove out to his maternal grandparents' country home (Colinton Manse), they found the beautiful place where Robert Louis had played with his many cousins.
Chapter Eleven: Beyond the Door (the Lake District) Looking for Arthur Ransome's Swallowdale and Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Joan was actually able to sit down with Arthur Ransome and his wife for an evening interview! How it came about and what she was told are interesting to read. Later, as Lucy and Joan and Ian went looking for Little-town, they found a farm with the same name. Speaking with the lady of the house, she wondered why they were asking about Mrs. Tiggy-Winkles. However, her farming husband knew what they meant. His mother had been a friend of Mrs. Heelis (Beatrix Potter) and had a memento of his mother's to show them. Joan asked him to be sure to show his own children the wonderful treasure. As he got busy sawing the horns off of a protesting ram, the whole family decided to follow a mountainside path away from the farm. It seemed to be taking them up to the clouds. Lucy started looking for Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle's door in the mountain terrain. She didn't find it, but Ian looked down the valley and saw the forest of bronze and purple heather. It's at this point that he shouted, "Now I know how the heather looks!"
March 17, 2023
"How the Heather Looks" - written by Joan Bodger and published in 1965 by McClelland & Stewart. Bodger penned this travelogue after her family - husband, son and daughter - travelled to England in 1958 to track down the locations where their favorite English authors and characters told their tales. It was a seat-of-your-pants trip, never knowing where they would stay and what they would find opening a gate. The family had a firm knowledge of English children's literature and were keen to match portions of the stories they had read, memorized and loved with actual places and they were very successful. "I cannot give a clear account of our wanderings there because we seemed to spend most of our time being lost, but no matter, since the countryside was wild and beautiful." I very much enjoyed all the literary references (on almost every page), especially a brief one of "Tarka the Otter," an obscure story that I still retain my childhood copy of. "English folklore and literature abound with little people: fairies, pixies, goblins, elves, dwarfs, sprites, spriggins, Lilliputians, Hobbits, Borrowers." Their enthusiasm was neverending, and I was very sorry to read that the family unit dissolved soon after the trip although Bodger continued her life of literary adventure. What a wonderful book.
January 2, 2022
Dated (written in 1959), but delightful travel memoir of a family seeking the real life places and inspirations of their favorite stories from Britain. I loved the chapter in Pooh.
July 18, 2014
"Over fifty years ago, Joan Bodger, her husband, and two children went to Britain on a family quest. They were seeking the world that they knew and loved through children's books. As Bodger recounts their adventures through Winnie-the-Pooh Country, Jemima Puddle-Duck's farm, and many more beloved fairy tale locations, she brings alive 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, How the Heather Looks, has become a prized favorite among lovers of children's literature."
~~back cover
Oh dear. I feel like the Ugly American, as this book wasn't one of my favorites. Their travels seemed disjointed and poorly planned -- even though that wasn't the case at all, and since they traveled in 1958 (I was in high school in 1958! Impossibly long ago!), they didn't have the benefit of the Internet to help with their research.
I think my tepid reception is down to two causes:
1. I hadn't read most of the books they talked about and so had no fond childhood memories to hook me into the book. Although I've lately become a Swallows and Amazons fan and hugely enjoyed Joan's meeting with Arthur Ransome.
I also enjoyed the bit about the Lake District, having been there, and especially their travels to Near and Far Sawrey, since I enjoy Beatrix Potter so much.
2. There was so little interaction, really, with the English people other than innkeepers and proprietors of bed-and-breakfasts, which is always what I enjoy in a book about England. Aside from those few people, they seemed to be traveling in their own American bubble, which I found offputting.
~~back cover
Oh dear. I feel like the Ugly American, as this book wasn't one of my favorites. Their travels seemed disjointed and poorly planned -- even though that wasn't the case at all, and since they traveled in 1958 (I was in high school in 1958! Impossibly long ago!), they didn't have the benefit of the Internet to help with their research.
I think my tepid reception is down to two causes:
1. I hadn't read most of the books they talked about and so had no fond childhood memories to hook me into the book. Although I've lately become a Swallows and Amazons fan and hugely enjoyed Joan's meeting with Arthur Ransome.
I also enjoyed the bit about the Lake District, having been there, and especially their travels to Near and Far Sawrey, since I enjoy Beatrix Potter so much.
2. There was so little interaction, really, with the English people other than innkeepers and proprietors of bed-and-breakfasts, which is always what I enjoy in a book about England. Aside from those few people, they seemed to be traveling in their own American bubble, which I found offputting.
January 2, 2021
If you have ever read a book and wished you could visit the scenery, this book could be an inspiration for you. Written in the late 1950’s, a family from America plans a vacation to England to visit the sites of where all their favorite authors wrote their books. They spend a week on a river trying to find the exact location of Toad Hall and Rat and Mole’s house from Wind in the Willows. They wander the moors to discover all things Bronte and locate Misselthwaite Manor. They scour Beatrix Potter’s home and hunt down Arthur Ransome so he will reveal the true location of all the exploits from Swallows and Amazons. It was so much fun to read, but now my TBR and reread stacks have grown considerably. Be warned!
A bonus for me was that I got this as an inter library loan and it came from the college my parents attended. So fun!
A bonus for me was that I got this as an inter library loan and it came from the college my parents attended. So fun!
January 18, 2021
This was a beautiful book. Written in the 50’s, it is a mother’s memoir of her young family’s travels through the English/Scottish countryside looking for the places that inspired their favorite family books. I especially enjoyed the chapter on The Wind in the Willows and the last few chapters on A.A. Milne’s home, Mary Norton’s Borrowers, Robin Hood’s Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, the Bronte’s moors, Robert Louis Stevenson and Beatrix Potter. So very delightful. A book for anyone who has fallen in love with English children’s literature.
There were a few chapters that had literary references that I didn’t know so they weren’t quite as interesting to me. But I know have more books that I’d like to read! 🙂
There were a few chapters that had literary references that I didn’t know so they weren’t quite as interesting to me. But I know have more books that I’d like to read! 🙂
May 22, 2023
I was so excited to read this that I chose it as my first pre-read for AO’s Year 7. Sadly, it didn’t live up to the hype. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I were more familiar with all the references she made, but I probably knew less than half of them. I enjoyed maybe 3-4 chapters. I’ve never skimmed a book so much in my life - usually it hurts my conscious to do so, but I knew I’d never pick it back up if I didn’t see the bookmark closing quickly to the end. It was also too sentimental for me, which means my son will hate it. I think I’m going to tag the chapters that I want him to read and let him skip the rest. I will definitely get a nice big map to fill in as he goes.
November 4, 2022
This is a delightful travel book written back in the 1950's when a family went to England to search out the locations of favorite children's books. They visited Beatrix Potter's home, AA Milne's home, important places for King Arthur and Robin Hood and many other places.
I really enjoyed the story telling manner of relating their various adventures. It makes me want to do a trip like this myself, although it would be harder 70 years later.
I really enjoyed the story telling manner of relating their various adventures. It makes me want to do a trip like this myself, although it would be harder 70 years later.
June 30, 2023
Lovely. I'm so happy this book is back in print. What a magical trip it would be to go and visit all the places you read about in your favorite books.
May 10, 2025
Unique and enthralling - one overlooks the mediocre writing and somewhat askance worldview in order to keep following the adventure and see what happens. The actual material of the experiences is so interesting that the bare telling keeps one turning pages.
One aspect that made this unique and enjoyable for me was realizing how close a child of the 1960's was to many of these British authors. 'Oh, yes, I remember Kenneth Grahame' says one...Miss Potter was a friend of your grandmothers... 'Arthur Ransom?- lives up the road a half mile." There were cars and television, but there were still hay ricks in the fields and charcoal burners in the woods. And even if King Arthur was long gone, Christopher Robin's mother was there to show you the garden.
But there was no internet. One fascinating aspect to the modern reader is seeing how a researcher labored to discover names and places without search engines or Google maps. It almost seems incredible. It was certainly more romantic, but there were lots of frustrations, enough recorded to make me not too nostalgic for the days before GPS.
I was happy to be able to read the adventures, but I did not long to share them then, the way I thought I might. It's hard to explain how seeing someone who was a true die-hard Anglophile and loved British literature beyond anyone I know - that it was - well, after all, chasing the wind. These English stories were like her Scriptures, the place where she was trying to root her children's hearts. But like beautiful clouds that fill our days with change and wonder, stories do not make a true resting place for our souls. That was the askance worldview part. The grasping after clouds. But the clouds are lovely, and the book was a lovely diversion from ordinary life, even if it left me a tiny bit sad.
One aspect that made this unique and enjoyable for me was realizing how close a child of the 1960's was to many of these British authors. 'Oh, yes, I remember Kenneth Grahame' says one...Miss Potter was a friend of your grandmothers... 'Arthur Ransom?- lives up the road a half mile." There were cars and television, but there were still hay ricks in the fields and charcoal burners in the woods. And even if King Arthur was long gone, Christopher Robin's mother was there to show you the garden.
But there was no internet. One fascinating aspect to the modern reader is seeing how a researcher labored to discover names and places without search engines or Google maps. It almost seems incredible. It was certainly more romantic, but there were lots of frustrations, enough recorded to make me not too nostalgic for the days before GPS.
I was happy to be able to read the adventures, but I did not long to share them then, the way I thought I might. It's hard to explain how seeing someone who was a true die-hard Anglophile and loved British literature beyond anyone I know - that it was - well, after all, chasing the wind. These English stories were like her Scriptures, the place where she was trying to root her children's hearts. But like beautiful clouds that fill our days with change and wonder, stories do not make a true resting place for our souls. That was the askance worldview part. The grasping after clouds. But the clouds are lovely, and the book was a lovely diversion from ordinary life, even if it left me a tiny bit sad.
October 17, 2021
This book might not be for everyone, but it is exactly my kind of nerdy. I read most of it on a day when I wasn’t feeling well, and it was a marvelous source of comfort to read about this family traveling around England to visit the areas associated with their favorite children’s books. Beatrix Potter’s cottage, Kenneth Grahame’s favorite spots on the river, Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Child’s Garden,” Arthur Ransome’s Lake District… all the places I would want to go, too! I loved it.
There are only two things I would change about the book. First, a glaring omission: why no mention of J.R.R. Tolkien and his works? She mentions C.S. Lewis and Narnia, but no Tolkien. That seems strange to me.
The second thing I would change is, leave out the depressing Afterword. It seemed to serve no real purpose, and it kind of takes the wind out of one’s sails. The subtitle of the book is “A Joyous Journey, etc”! Why not let readers end on a joyous note and walk away happy?
So, if you’re interested in reading this book, my advice is: buy an old copy (the Afterword was written 30 years after the book was originally published), or just don’t read the Afterword.
Even with those complaints, I still really enjoyed this book, and I’m looking forward to reading a few books that she mentioned, which were unknown to me.
There are only two things I would change about the book. First, a glaring omission: why no mention of J.R.R. Tolkien and his works? She mentions C.S. Lewis and Narnia, but no Tolkien. That seems strange to me.
The second thing I would change is, leave out the depressing Afterword. It seemed to serve no real purpose, and it kind of takes the wind out of one’s sails. The subtitle of the book is “A Joyous Journey, etc”! Why not let readers end on a joyous note and walk away happy?
So, if you’re interested in reading this book, my advice is: buy an old copy (the Afterword was written 30 years after the book was originally published), or just don’t read the Afterword.
Even with those complaints, I still really enjoyed this book, and I’m looking forward to reading a few books that she mentioned, which were unknown to me.
February 2, 2019
A sweet story of a family of four on a pre-internet quest to find the literary landscapes, gardens, and buildings that had seized their imaginations. From a modern perspective, they are almost comically underprepared -- they have few leads and few concrete plans (even for accommodations), naively counting on help from the locals.
One very charming note - the little one, Lucy (age 2), takes it for granted that they can walk into the pages of her favorite picture-books.
The Afterword offers an interesting corrective for those who imagine this memoir depicts an ideal family on an idyllic travel-quest; the author shares several misfortunes (including illness and divorce) that followed on the heels of the adventure and its publication. A reminder, if needed, that any memoir presents only a particular slice of the story, for particular purposes.
I've given it 3 stars, since I liked it; those who are in love with more of the books under discussion will like it even more.
One very charming note - the little one, Lucy (age 2), takes it for granted that they can walk into the pages of her favorite picture-books.
The Afterword offers an interesting corrective for those who imagine this memoir depicts an ideal family on an idyllic travel-quest; the author shares several misfortunes (including illness and divorce) that followed on the heels of the adventure and its publication. A reminder, if needed, that any memoir presents only a particular slice of the story, for particular purposes.
I've given it 3 stars, since I liked it; those who are in love with more of the books under discussion will like it even more.
December 4, 2023
Pre-read for my upcoming AmblesideOnline Year 7. Parts of this were fabulous and parts were incredibly frustrating. I'm glad I read it, though. My English dream trip lengthens.
I was surprised about how few of the books that Bodger mentions that I have read. I went on a Christmas shopping eBay spree to fill in some gaps. I think my kids reading this for geography will enjoy it immensely more if they have a clue what Leslie Brooke's illustrations look like is or the plot of more than one Rosemary Sutcliffe's novels.
The afterword about the break up of her family was troublingly unnecessary. I of course had to learn who died and who became schizophrenic.
I was surprised about how few of the books that Bodger mentions that I have read. I went on a Christmas shopping eBay spree to fill in some gaps. I think my kids reading this for geography will enjoy it immensely more if they have a clue what Leslie Brooke's illustrations look like is or the plot of more than one Rosemary Sutcliffe's novels.
The afterword about the break up of her family was troublingly unnecessary. I of course had to learn who died and who became schizophrenic.
May 15, 2022
Probably paid far too much for a second-hand copy of this, but it was worth it. I came away with interesting perspectives on some old favorites, a list of unread books to seek out, and memories of others, like The Lantern Bearers and The White Isle, that I haven't thought of in years.
The subtitle is correct--this is a very joyful book, which makes reading the afterword, where Bodger mentions that she lost her daughter to a brain tumor while her husband and son slipped into schizophrenia, wrenching. It gives the book a more melancholy feel, but also makes that joy deeply important.
The subtitle is correct--this is a very joyful book, which makes reading the afterword, where Bodger mentions that she lost her daughter to a brain tumor while her husband and son slipped into schizophrenia, wrenching. It gives the book a more melancholy feel, but also makes that joy deeply important.
February 22, 2024
“Even if you’ve heard the story before, even if I tell it word for word just like the first time, you’ve changed and I’ve changed and the story will change. You can never step into the same river twice.”
This was, by no means, a page turner. But for the book lover, you will be pulled into the romance and whimsy of England and the scenes of so many beloved stories. It makes you want to read more. And that’s a great book.
This was, by no means, a page turner. But for the book lover, you will be pulled into the romance and whimsy of England and the scenes of so many beloved stories. It makes you want to read more. And that’s a great book.
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