Today is the birthday of one of my favorite southern writers, Cynthia Rylant. Her simple, yet magical stories are beloved by children and adults and they remain some of my favorites from childhood.
Rylant’s first book When I Was Young in the Mountains was inspired by her time spent growing up with her grandparents in West Virginia. Another favorite of mine is Missing May, a poignant story that made a great impact on me as a child (and began my fascination with whirligigs).
This wonderful book by the author is called Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds. It paints such a beautiful picture of our region and evokes feelings of longing for a simpler time when time moved (or pretended to move) a little slower.
There’s nothing like getting lost in a good book…having the story wash completely over you and feeling like the characters are really real, even if just for a few pages. I’ve been in a reading slump lately and sometimes it helps me to read something short to get back in the swing of things. Maybe I’ll dig out my childhood stash and reread some of Cynthia Rylant’s books. I’m pretty sure no matter how old I get, I’ll always find some new gem in these sweet stories.
Do you ever go back and read your favorite childhood books? How does it make you feel?
