In this instalment of Books We Love, Frances shares the story of a fairy tale.
I come from a relatively poor family. My parents had to leave school at 13, but they always loved reading, and every Christmas my brothers and I would get a brand new book in our Christmas stockings. One Christmas, when I was about seven I guess, that book was The Fairy Tale Treasury In Living Colour.
It was love at first sight for me! Not just for the well-known and magical stories inside, but also for the sheer beauty of the pictures and the stunning cover. I spent hours reading the stories, poring over the detail in the pictures and moving the cover back and forth to see the (lenticular) picture changing. I thought all my Christmases had come at once! Ha ha. And I wondered if any other little girls had been as lucky as me.
Forward to 2019. One year into my new job in the Selection & Access team I mentioned to my colleague that I had this book I had loved as a child, and I described it to her. That night she messaged me some pictures. She had exactly the same book, right down to the same price tag of $4.70 on the inside cover, and the same favourite picture (Cinderella). And yes, she had loved it every bit as much as I had!
She was a good little girl and had looked after her special book, but I was not (a good little girl) and my book was in a sad way. My children had loved this book too, so it had led a very full life. “Why don’t you get the Bindery to fix it for you?” my colleague suggested. “They’ll do a beautiful job.”
And they did! Thank you so much Siobhan!
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