A parenting highlight: The Chronicles of Prydain

Background

I don’t read fiction as often as I once did, but in my childhood I often could be found reading during recess, seated on the asphalt by the school playground, or- in class with a book hidden behind my desk. Now, many years later, as the father of an eight-years-old daughter, I’ve been thinking a lot about those children’s books I once enjoyed as a child; and I’ve been purchasing some for her.

Anyway, some time ago, my wife purchased (among many other books in Russian) the Chronicles of Narnia. English, of course, is more prevalent in our daughter’s life, but it’s important to both her parents that she also be fluent in Russian. Therefore, despite the Chronicles of Narnia having been one of my own childhood favorites, I deliberately did not purchase them in the original English – because I want our child to practice her Russian.

However, another set of books that I immediately thought of, which I had absolutely adored as a boy, was the Chronicles of Prydain. So, a few months ago, I ordered these as much for myself as for my daughter and then started reading the first book for my own enjoyment.

Reading to my child

At first, upon seeing my pleasure, my child asked me to read the first book to her; but she tired of it (or maybe got distracted), and I ended up finishing that volume on my own. However, when she saw me eagerly reading the second volume, she once again asked me to read aloud to her; and, unexpectedly to me, she became deeply absorbed in the storyline and characters.

Following our completion of the second volume together, she started reading the first book on her own, and we continued reading the third book together, and then the fourth, and then the fifth , and now- a sixth book of short stories with background information. Suffice it to say that my daughter has really fallen in love with the Chronicles of Prydain!

A tender moment

One particularly tender moment came upon our completion of the fifth and final book of the series. Now… keep in mind that throughout the series, my daughter constantly laughed aloud at the characters’ jokes and sarcastic retorts; and she worried and cried at their misfortunes. That’s what I mean by saying that she really got into the Chronicles of Prydain.

So, when we reached the end of the fifth book, and some of the main characters permanently parted ways, my child was quite distraught. This was what I thought she was complaining about when she said, “What? No!”

However, much to my delight, she explained that what was most upsetting was that we had completed the entire series… that she would be parting with the characters herself. She even begged me to read all five of the volumes to her again; and, at her mother’s suggestion, decided to write a sixth book to continue the series (assigning me, of course, the role of ‘assistant author’)!