Child Reading on Couch (1905) by Jessie Wilcox Smith
How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books kidnapped my imagination in a way I was hardly expecting it to. Published in 1965, Joan 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.
Map from Swallows and Amazons, a book series by Arthur Ransome
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. They are often comparing the maps from the end pages of the books or using the text for reference to find just the right place, as is seen in the chapter "The River Bank," where they are hunting for several locations from The Wind in the Willows:
"Over hot tea at The Swan we reassessed our adventures. We had found Rat's house and Toad Hall, but what we really longed to see was the picnic place. Ian and I were both certain that we had been within yards of it and we got our copy of The Wind in the Willows for the hundredth time that day to read aloud the description..." (page 123)
Charles Van Sandwyk's illustration from The Wind and the Willows
The way the family interacts and explores the different towns is stunning to read. It is a time capsule in the same way the books they are hunting down are capsules of a moment. My absolute favorite chapter from the book is "A Peak in Narnia." The family rents an old wooden caravan for two weeks that is placed on the highest peak in the area. From there they have amazing views of the countryside, but a storm moves in. They do not let this storm deter them or ruin their vacation. Instead, they huddle together as a family and read and give themselves more fuel for their upcoming adventures:
"I shall always be grateful to the storm in Cornwall that drove us inward on ourselves. The quality of light being almost the same at ten in the morning as it was at ten at night, we lost all count of time. The soporific swaying of the wagon, the utter stillness of the moor broken intermittently by the sounds of wind and rain, the glimpses of shifting, shadowed landscape gave us the feeling of having embarked upon a long voyage." (page 60)
Her children's curiosity and determination to find real physical evidence of their beloved stories is infectious. I had to put down this book several times because I was inspired to research and see certain topics, illustrators, or stories myself.
Illustration by Reginald B. Birch (1891) from The Admiral's Caravan, written by Charles E. Carryl
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 next week. Needless to say, this book gave me a ton of reading ideas and items to add to the book list, so you will most likely be seeing more old children's books on this blog.
