Man, I have been totally slacking when it comes to blogging. Not only have I not written anything for a week, but I haven't visited any of your blogs either. So tonight I will write my blog, and try to stop by and say hello to all of you out there in blogger land. And while there are some pressing political issues that I want to blog about, they will have to wait for another day. For tonight I am blogging about a book that I read as a child, and am now reading to my Alexandra and Lorelai at night before they go to bed.
This particular book was originally written in 1951. I remember reading it when I was in Elementary school, and it quickly became my favorite book of all time. I am pretty sure that we checked it out at the Mid Columbia Library and not at Eastgate, the elementary school that I attended.
Fast forward to about 2 years ago. From time to time I would remember things from this book, but I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of it. I knew that it was about some kids staying with someone other than their parents, but whether it was a babysitter or a friend, I could not recall. Someone suggested that maybe it was a Mrs. Piggle Wiggle or Pippi Longstocking (Both series also good reads by the way) book, but I searched both of them, and did not find the particular chapter that I remember reading.
Then last Christmas, my sister Heidi had a present for me. She said that I was going to flip over it, and that she had to scour the local used bookstores and the Internet to find it. To my surprise it was the book I had been thinking about for all of this time! What is the name of this book you ask? The name of the book is Mr. Pudgins by Ruth Christoffer Carlsen.
This book is one of the most magical books that I have ever read. It is one of those books that I would love seeing a movie made out of it. This charming story tells the tale about a male babysitter (Mr. Pudgins of course) who watches over 3 children, John, Pete, and Jane. He drives a Model T Ford named Annabel, and has a pet dodo bird. Rarely do you see Mr. Pudgins without his pipe in his mouth. And when Mr. Pudgins is around, magical things happen!
My favorite chapter in this book is the one where there is something wrong with the pipes in the house, and when Mr. Pudgins tries to fix them, different flavors of soda pop start flowing from all of the faucets. For dinner they had to cook their potatoes in orange soda, wash the lettuce for their salad in grape soda, and steam their carrots in limeade.
In another chapter the bathtub mysteriously starts to fly away with all three children inside, and Mr. Pudgins sitting on the end. Only by letting the water out can they get back down to the ground.
So far my girls are loving the book. And of course since it was originally written in the 1950's, there are things in it that you would never find written in the children's books of today.
I have to give a big shout out to my sister Heidi for finding this book for me. I feel as if part of my childhood has been restored, and I have her to thank for it.
If you too had the pleasure of reading Mr. Pudgins when you were younger, by all means let me know! I would love to talk to others that also remember this wonderful work of fiction!
