GOLDEN POLISH AUTUMN

   The weather forecast was pretty good for the long November weekend and I decided that we should spend the last warm days in nature. On Sunday we took our kids to the forest near Wrocław. We were looking for different autumn treasures such as mushrooms, pine cones or acorns. We didn't find any edible mushrooms but we saw many toadstools and poly-pores. My kids collected some pine cones that we are going to use to create Christmas decorations. 

   For Monday I had organized a trip to the nearby mountain Ślęża. We ate breakfast early in the morning. I prepared sandwiches with cheese and ham and a thermos with hot tea. I put our stuff (including a bar of dark chocolate) to a backpack and we got into our car. It took us about 40 minutes to get to Przełęcz Tąpadła that is the mountain pass that separates Ślęża (718 m) from Radunia (573 m). It was a Monday in the middle of November so I expected hardy no-one to be there. However to my surprise I saw the car-park full of cars and crowds of people on the trail. 

   The weather was wonderful for this time of year. It was warm, the sun was shining, there were orange and yellow leaves rustling on trees. My kids were happy to be there and did not complain during the way up. At the assent we found a place at a table and had grilled sausages with our sandwiches and tea from the thermos. The summit has a PTTK Tourist House, a TV and radio mast, a church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ruins of the Piast castle from the XII century and an observation tower. You can also find there an ancient (probably Celtic) cult sculpture of a bear.
   During the way back I wanted to rest but my kids were singing loudly. They were full of energy till the late evening when they finally fell asleep. The mountain trip was very nice and relaxing. We spent a few hours in nature, exerted ourselves and found a real treasure - a small moon stone.

The legend of Ślęża

Poly-pores on a trunk of a birch

Fungi

MADELINE IN PARIS

   Recently my friend asked me to recommend a book about school children to him. The first book that came to my mind was "A Little Princess" by F.H. Burnett. It is one of my favourite books but may not be suitable for a seven year-old girl who is just learning to read. Then I started to search on the Internet and found "Madeline w Paryżu" (Eng. Madeline in Paris) written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian-American children' author.

   The action of the book takes place in a Catholic boarding school in Paris, France. Madeline is the smallest of the girls. She is seven years old, and the only redhead. She is the most daring and often gives Miss Clavel a headache as she gets into a lot of trouble.

   "Madeline w Paryżu" is a collection of all six stories written by Ludwig Bemelmans:

• Madeline, 1939: in which Madeline has her appendix removed.
• Madeline's Rescue, 1953: in which Madeline is rescued from drowning by a dog - later taken by the girls and named Genevieve. 
• Madeline and the Bad Hat, 1956: in which the "bad hat" is Pepito, the Spanish ambassador's son, who is a very naughty boy.
• Madeline and the Gypsies, 1959: in which Madeline and Pepito have an adventure at a circus.
• Madeline in London, 1961: in which Pepito moves to London, and Madeline and the girls go to visit him.
• Madeline's Christmas, 1965: in which everyone in the house catches cold, except Madeline. 

Each story begins with the same rhyme:

In an old house in Paris

That was covered in vines

Lived twelve little girls

In two straight lines.

The last chapter is dedicated to the origins of Madeline. It also contains a selection of original sketches from the author's notebooks.

Madeline w Paryżu by Ludwig Bemelmans

THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE

   "The Magic Faraway Tree" is the second story in the Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton, the children's author. The book was published in 1943 and had many later editions. When I started to look for the book on the Internet and saw pictures of early editions illustrated by Dorothy M. Wheeler and I understood that I had to buy one of them. I was really lucky to find the edition from 1968 on Allegro. The book is in quite good condition except for the dust jacket that is torn at the edges.

   The story begins when Dick (renamed Rick in later editions) comes to stay with his cousins Jo, Bessie and Fanny (renamed Joe, Beth and Frannie in later editions). The children share their secret about the Faraway Tree and its extraordinary occupants with Dick. Soon the whole party visits Moon-Face, Silky and Saucepan Man to find out which new land is at the top of the Faraway Tree. The first land they enter is the Topsy-Turvy land. It is a peculiar place where everybody walks on their hands and everything is upside down. After Jo makes a policeman angry, he is forced to stand on his hands due to a spell the policeman puts on him. His companions search for help in the Land of Spells. There they meet many witches and wizards who are selling their spells and ask a friendly old witch to put Jo the right way up again.
   The children visit many other lands such as the Land of Dreams where everything that happens is  dream-like and unreal. They get stuck in this land for some time because the Sandman scatters sand in their eyes to make them sleep. In the Land of Do-What-You-Please anybody can do what they want and the children have great fun. Jo gets to drive a train, and all of them get to paddle in the sea. In the Land of Toys, Saucepan Man gets imprisoned for stealing sweets because he mistook this land with the Land of Goodies. Happily Jo and the others rescue him from jail.
   Enid Blyton created a magic world full of peculiar creatures with funny names such as Dame Washalot or Mister Watzisname and unusual places that the children visited. It is a world of children's imagination where anything can happen and where the usual things become the most unusual.
   I enjoyed the book very much. I laughed a lot and couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. I wish I could be there with Jo, Bessie, Fanny and Dick to climb the Faraway Tree and have the extraordinary adventures with them.

The magic faraway tree by Enid Blyton