As this is the month of love, I have been inspired to write a sweet love letter to my favourite book. I wonder if you would like to join me and write one to yours? 

STEP 1 

Choose the book that holds special memories for you.  

Feel the texture of its cover, Look at the font and age of its pages 

STEP 2 

Go to a quiet space with your book, a pen and paper. 

I like to find a place outdoors, as a sound or aroma can awaken nostalgia. 

STEP 3 

Write down a list of what you like so much about the book. Thinking about the following: 

Is it the story? The cover/font? Who gave you the book? How the story makes you feel? What emotions does it stir up when you think about these? 

STEP 4 

Be creative 

Envisage your book as special friend 

 

My favourite book is still Alice Adventures in Wonderland. Growing up, I had very few books available to read. My Nanna bought me my first edition of this wonderful story for my 10th birthday, and I immediately fell in love. 

The rhyming and language of Lewis Carroll’s classic is so inspiring to a child. Like Charles Causley, they both knew how to write for children’s imaginations. As I grew up, I began collecting a variety of editions, with my favourite being the one in the image. I found this 1948 edition in an old bookshop in my teenage years.

For me, it is not just a book, but a world that I can enter and get lost in, just for a moment. 

A LOVE LETTER TO MY FAVOURITE CHILDHOOD BOOK 

Do you remember when in August, white horses came galloping against the rocks as we sat by the ocean? The swirls of cream embracing the Emerald cove, where stories lay forgotten.               -untold. 

The salty air kissed our bones in our sacred place, far from a home, we knew long ago. Together we have shared battles and adventures, as you lovingly nurtured the girl I once knew. 

You was always there to guide my mind and lead me out of the darkness to reveal a world of wonder and light. Captivating my senses each time we embrace.                                                         The exhilaration of laughter bestowed within my young heart, shall forever remain a part of me. 

Your tea-soaked pages , once from the life of a great oak, now wrapped proudly by your jaded coat of armour. The transparent tinged pink ribbon that I wrapped you in, holds your broken together 

-The same way, all of  these years, you have held me.                      I love every part of you. 

 

The inscription written in thoughtful fading italic. 

‘very many happy returns of the day 

Jane darling 

Father 

6.10.48 

 

Oh, the look of excitement jane must have given you and the love you felt from her touch for a while. 

Yet years later I found you slowly decaying of heartbreak. Lost behind aged book ends and youthful replicas. 

-Your true beauty hidden.  

I may not have been your first love, but you were mine. 

I just want you to know, my whole world is in you. 

It has always been you. 

 

Words and photography by Caroline Hancock