4Real Forums: Alexander by Harold Littledale

Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.

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Topic: Alexander by Harold Littledale

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CrunchyMom
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Joined: Sept 03 2007
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Posted: Sept 29 2009 at 6:03pm \| IP Logged

I got a bunch of my old books from my dad's attic last time we visited, and I haven't had a chance to reread them all yet. My boys have snuck many of them down from the high shelf they were on, and this was among the books I was handed to read at nap time today.

I had a rough day of it, and I think God sent me this book to calm me. I wasn't especially nostalgic about it, but I find that many of the picture books that didn't do it for me when I was young (like Where the Wild Things Are) are more appealing now that I have young boys. Interestingly, I find that many of these books are written by men

This book is about a boy being put to bed by his father, and he tells his father all that Alexander, a red horse with green stripes, had done that day to get into trouble (which are, of course, the things he had done to get into trouble). In the end, he asks his father what they should do about that Alexander since he was so very bad suggesting that mom build a prison under the dining table, tying him to the bed, and going away forever and never coming back.

After rejecting those ideas outright, the father ponders what to do while fixing the toy that "Alexander" broke and determines that maybe Alexander just had a bad day and he thinks he will be a very good horse tomorrow...and that Chris will be a very good boy. The boy asks how the dad knew he had been naughty, and the dad replies, "Alexander told me."

It is such a sweet tale of forgiveness and love, and the naughty things are realistic enough that I'm not worried about my boys getting any new ideas for what to do like some of the more modern books about naughty children. At least, my boys do them all regularly enough, lol.

It really soothed me to see the image of the calm, forgiving father boy in imitation in how to respond to my children, but also because I could relate to the boy in dreaming up elaborate punishments for myself for my own failures.

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