Childhood is a part of a person's life in which fun, interesting and amusing things happen, or sometimes sad ones too.
I, Mara, know that my own childhood is wonderfully captivating, because it surprises me every single day: at school, at home, on trips, out for a walk.
From everything I have read so far about childhood, I have come to realize that I most resemble Nadejda, the main character in the book "Nesuferita doamnă Bebe", written by Agnes Desarthe. Where does this likeness between Nadejda and me come from? Well, we are both mischievous, funny, with behaviour that is sometimes a little odd, and we have plenty in common in the way we express ourselves.
Looking at Nadejda, I see myself as if in a mirror: brave, determined, persistent and clever. Reading the book, I noticed that Nadejda and I share one more trait, only this time it is a "flaw": we are both, at times, far too TALKATIVE.
Literature describes childhood in many ways.
I found all sorts of children and childhoods in the book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", written by Roald Dahl. Of course, here too I found characters who resemble me, more or less. Take Charlie, for example. He is the main character of the book and has a happy childhood, even though he and his family are very poor. They live in a warm atmosphere, full of love and wisdom, in spite of all they go without.
Little Charlie managed to be the great winner among all the other characters, ending up with Willy Wonka's wonderful chocolate factory. He did so thanks to his upbringing, his good sense and the fact that he was a simple child, innocent, modest, loving and kind, knowing how to truly delight in what he was given, even when his joys did not seem like much to the other children.
Charlie received only one bar of chocolate a year, on his birthday, and even so he was always eager to share it with his family.
For the title of "the new owner of the chocolate factory", Charlie did not compete alone. Beside him were also Augustus, Violet, Veruca and Mike.
These four children embody the sum of the faults you can find in a person: greed, ingratitude, a lack of modesty, selfishness, bad manners, all of them coming from families that encouraged such behaviour.
I recognized myself, in part, in Charlie's behaviour too. I think I am a good child, grateful and polite. Sadly, I sometimes recognize myself in the descriptions of the other children as well. Once in a while (not very often) I can be greedy and a little selfish. But precisely because I am a good child, I try to correct myself with the help of the people around me, older and younger alike.
Childhood can also be lived as a wonderful adventure inside a storybook. This is the case for Alina in "Împărăția oglinzilor strâmbe", written by Vitali Gubarev, a true lesson in how to recognize your faults and try to mend them.
Alina, a sweet and clever little girl, but one whose behaviour is sometimes unbecoming, somehow manages to correct herself and become a better child. She falls asleep and wakes up inside the scene of the very story she had been reading before dozing off. Her "mirror" is Anila, the reflection of her own behaviour. When Alina "saw herself from the outside", she began trying to mend her faults, passing through her dream by way of a series of events that tested her ability to be a good friend: brave, determined, polite and wise. When Alina woke from her dream, Anila had vanished, but in her place appeared the new little girl, far more attentive to the needs of those around her.
As in the other cases, here too I identify here and there with Alina, the main character: I am sometimes quarrelsome, a little lazy, yet I am able to surpass myself and overcome these shortcomings.
Childhood can be strange too! For instance, the children of the Flood family in the volumes of "The Floods" (written by Colin Thompson) are a little different from ordinary people, since they are wizards. What is admirable about these nine odd ones (the parents and the seven children) is that, even though they were rejected by society because of their appearance, they were still kind to everyone (everyone who did not bother them).
They managed to live their family life beautifully, in spite of how they looked, and it is worth pointing out that we must not judge people by their appearance. We have to be tolerant of those around us, as long as they do us no harm, and we have to accept that they may look different, dress differently, eat differently or hold different opinions.
I consider myself "strange" sometimes too. And not just me, but my classmates as well: my taste in food is a little different from everyone else's, and sometimes I behave like a predatory animal (I walk on all fours, I make very convincing animal sounds, I pretend to hunt and I imitate, rather well, their other behaviours, all of it in play, of course).
And since in this world there are not only beautiful things, childhood can sometimes be extremely sad too. This is the case of "The Little Match Girl", a story written by Hans Christian Andersen. Here we find all the causes of a child's unhappiness, together with the indifference and cruelty of the people around her. The childhood of the nameless little girl (the author gave her no name, precisely to show that she did not matter to those around her) is very hard. Everyone around her, beginning with her family, ignores her completely and neglects her.
She ends up wandering barefoot through the bitter cold, hungry, trying to earn money for her father, and she dies of cold, surrounded in her imagination by all the good things she had lacked throughout her life: warmth, food, toys and love. She dies on New Year's Day, with a crowd of indifferent, well-fed people passing her by, none of them wealthy enough in spirit to grasp her suffering.
Fortunately, I do not recognize myself in "The Little Match Girl", but I would come to resemble her if I lacked everything that a life of dignity requires. Every child must have care, love, attention, clothes, toys and good conditions in which to learn, and it is not only the family's duty to provide a good life for the little ones, but the duty of society as a whole.
From all these books I have read, ones that place CHILDHOOD at their heart, I have learned not to judge people by appearances, to correct my unbecoming behaviour, to help people in need, to be tolerant and to delight in all the things and all the people I have around me.
The End
Mara, Ioana Ghizdăvescu
Grade 3 B "SbS"
Primary teacher: Constandache Ionica