scary (though on the plus side can be used as a lesson on why it’s nice to include everybody).
b. ‘Rapunzel’: Probably the very last princess in your daughter’s princess phase before she moves on to fairies, unicorns, and Barbie dolls – all way less scary than a little girl getting locked up in a high tower for years by an evil witch with a high-pitched laugh.
c. ‘Hansel and Gretel’: Two little children left in a forest to starve to death by their evil stepmother but then lured into a candy house owned by a witch who wants to fatten them up so she can… eat them?!
d. ‘Little Red Riding Hood’:Where do I start? A wolf disguised as a sick grandmother… really?
And then there’s ‘Peter Pan’.Notwithstanding the double whammy of Captain Hook and a crocodile, this was hands down my daughter’s favourite. Personally I’m no longer scared the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz is hiding under my bed. I just check because I want to.
Order some of those books on Amazon.
I was walking down Bukit Timah this morning in a dismal downpour when it hit me. Not that I was going to get wet… well, maybe that too. I had an umbrella but in Singapore that’s irrelevant. If it rains, umbrella or no umbrella, you’re going to get wet.
My
aha
moment was simply this: there are not enough bookshops here like Hodges Figgis on Dawson Street in Dublin. There are a few charming ones – Littered With Books and Books Actually come to mind – but Hodges Figgis holds a special place in my heart. The bookshop was my favourite haunt when I lived there in my twenties. My Irish expat friends here in Singapore think I’m joking when I tell them I’m half-Irish. But my affinity with the poetry, literature and sense of humour can’t be a fluke. I was just born in Italy but really I’m Irish. I can vividly recall the creamy top of a Guinness with soup and soda bread in a pub on a rainy day after classes… but I digress. Not to mention that with my newfound love of dumplings and Tiger Beer I am becoming more and more Singaporean.
I sometimes worry that there just aren’t enough bookshops in Singapore. That’s what’s missing. Maybe I should just open one. My imaginary bookshop would be awesome. As cosy and inviting as Hodges Figgis. Poetry readings, free coffee, comfortable armchairs. Maybe even fresh muffins. Helpful assistants with an Irish accent… too much? Would I make a lot of money? Probably not. But I knew that from the get-go. Majoring in philosophy at Vassar was kind of a clue. On the first day of class, our professor told us: “I guess you already know there’s no money in Philosophy. If you were interested in that you’d be down the hall studying Economics.”
Think how helpful reading those books will be for writing my own book.
All those parents stuck reading night after night bedtime stories to their children should not lose heart. There are many important life lessons to be learned from fairy tales. For example:
a. Pick up the shoe. It’s right behind you, just pick it up (‘Cinderella’).
b. When planning a party don’t leave anybody out (‘Sleeping Beauty’).
c. If you don’t feel like eating an apple, by all means do not eat one (‘Snow White’).
d. It’s okay to let your daughter’s hair grow long (‘Rapunzel’).
e. Pebbles are better than crumbs (‘Hansel and Gretel’).
f. Do not touch a spindle (again ‘Sleeping Beauty’).
g. If an old witch steals your beautiful voice, just use a pen and paper (‘The Little Mermaid’).
h. And finally, if your grandmother looks like a wolf, it’s probably time to see an optometrist (‘Little Red Riding Hood’).
Update my blog.
People often ask me why I keep a blog. I can think of a lot of reasons. It’s fun, it’s addictive, it beats jogging.
But the main one is so I don’t forget these years in Singapore when the kids were little. During the rebellious teenage years, it might help to remember that years before, on the night
b. ‘Rapunzel’: Probably the very last princess in your daughter’s princess phase before she moves on to fairies, unicorns, and Barbie dolls – all way less scary than a little girl getting locked up in a high tower for years by an evil witch with a high-pitched laugh.
c. ‘Hansel and Gretel’: Two little children left in a forest to starve to death by their evil stepmother but then lured into a candy house owned by a witch who wants to fatten them up so she can… eat them?!
d. ‘Little Red Riding Hood’:Where do I start? A wolf disguised as a sick grandmother… really?
And then there’s ‘Peter Pan’.Notwithstanding the double whammy of Captain Hook and a crocodile, this was hands down my daughter’s favourite. Personally I’m no longer scared the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz is hiding under my bed. I just check because I want to.
Order some of those books on Amazon.
I was walking down Bukit Timah this morning in a dismal downpour when it hit me. Not that I was going to get wet… well, maybe that too. I had an umbrella but in Singapore that’s irrelevant. If it rains, umbrella or no umbrella, you’re going to get wet.
My
aha
moment was simply this: there are not enough bookshops here like Hodges Figgis on Dawson Street in Dublin. There are a few charming ones – Littered With Books and Books Actually come to mind – but Hodges Figgis holds a special place in my heart. The bookshop was my favourite haunt when I lived there in my twenties. My Irish expat friends here in Singapore think I’m joking when I tell them I’m half-Irish. But my affinity with the poetry, literature and sense of humour can’t be a fluke. I was just born in Italy but really I’m Irish. I can vividly recall the creamy top of a Guinness with soup and soda bread in a pub on a rainy day after classes… but I digress. Not to mention that with my newfound love of dumplings and Tiger Beer I am becoming more and more Singaporean.
I sometimes worry that there just aren’t enough bookshops in Singapore. That’s what’s missing. Maybe I should just open one. My imaginary bookshop would be awesome. As cosy and inviting as Hodges Figgis. Poetry readings, free coffee, comfortable armchairs. Maybe even fresh muffins. Helpful assistants with an Irish accent… too much? Would I make a lot of money? Probably not. But I knew that from the get-go. Majoring in philosophy at Vassar was kind of a clue. On the first day of class, our professor told us: “I guess you already know there’s no money in Philosophy. If you were interested in that you’d be down the hall studying Economics.”
Think how helpful reading those books will be for writing my own book.
All those parents stuck reading night after night bedtime stories to their children should not lose heart. There are many important life lessons to be learned from fairy tales. For example:
a. Pick up the shoe. It’s right behind you, just pick it up (‘Cinderella’).
b. When planning a party don’t leave anybody out (‘Sleeping Beauty’).
c. If you don’t feel like eating an apple, by all means do not eat one (‘Snow White’).
d. It’s okay to let your daughter’s hair grow long (‘Rapunzel’).
e. Pebbles are better than crumbs (‘Hansel and Gretel’).
f. Do not touch a spindle (again ‘Sleeping Beauty’).
g. If an old witch steals your beautiful voice, just use a pen and paper (‘The Little Mermaid’).
h. And finally, if your grandmother looks like a wolf, it’s probably time to see an optometrist (‘Little Red Riding Hood’).
Update my blog.
People often ask me why I keep a blog. I can think of a lot of reasons. It’s fun, it’s addictive, it beats jogging.
But the main one is so I don’t forget these years in Singapore when the kids were little. During the rebellious teenage years, it might help to remember that years before, on the night
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