March Editor's Post by Claire Caldwell


                                   
                                   

Happy March, everyone! We’ve got a fabulous roster of Heartwarming books this month—congrats!

Whenever March rolls around, I think of a scene from the 1993 version of The Secret Garden, which I watched obsessively as a kid. Mary brings Dickon into the garden, and complains that everything is dead. Of course, it’s only winter, and Dickon shows her the green, living insides of a leafless branch. I totally relate to Mary in March: anomalous warm spells aside, there are very few signs that anything will be growing in Toronto any time soon.


During the height of my Secret Garden phase, my family lived in the Yukon, so you can see why six-year-old me might have developed a bit of a crush on Dickon, the boy who could show a girl proof that spring would come again. Also, like me, he loved animals. And he had a really cute accent.


So that got me thinking about early childhood crushes, the first heroes (or heroines) we encountered—and fell for—in stories. I also totally had a thing for Disney’s Aladdin, and I have several friends who were into the cartoon fox version of Robin Hood. Many Canadian girls go through a Gilbert Blythe phase (though there’s been no going back for me since I read this piece about the true romance of Anne of Green Gables being between Anne and Diana).


I love the idea that even before kids fully understand romantic love, they can recognize the qualities that make someone lovable. So what characters did you fall for when you were little? Please share in the comments--and don't forget the pics!


Comments

  1. Okay, don't laugh, but I loved Fred Flintstone. Despite his constant screw-ups, he always seemed to have good intentions.

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    1. Aw, I love that you were drawn to Fred's goofy but well-meaning ways!

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  2. Okay, I can't beat Jill's answer, although I do remember being snuggled up on a sofa when I was very young and watching a rerun of Roger Moore as the Saint. It wasn't a crush, but it's a fun memory!

    Thank you for the shoutout for our books, Claire!

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  3. The first book crush I can remember is Edward from Jane Eyre. But my first "movie star" crush is kind of a funny one. My mom used to love the old movies with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Instead of falling for Dean Martin like most girls did, I adored the goofy Jerry Lewis. I've always had a thing for the funny guys.

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  4. I didn't grow up in a TV era, but we had books and more books in our house. I remember liking the adventure books like Tarzan and Robinson Caruso best and then as I got older, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden and Cherry Ames, strong women characters.

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    1. I devoured Nancy Drews when I was a kid! There's a hilarious picture of my family on a camping trip, all rugged and outdoorsy and I'm tucked up in a lawn chair, nose in a Nancy Drew. :)

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  5. I had so many, but I think my first cartoon crush was Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty (it's still my fave Disney movie). Then there was Joe Hardy and...well, the list continues to this day. Fun post, Claire!

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  6. I can't remember a cartoon crush (although I really liked Top Cat), but I shared heroine books with Roz. The ones she mentioned, plus the Hardy Boys, Sue Barton, Beany Webster, and--forever and always--Jo March from Little Women.

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  7. My crushes always involved action heroes like Robert Vaughn and David McCallum from the original tv series of The Man From UNCLE. Sigh.

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  8. Such a fun post! My first book boyfriends were the Hardy Boys. They solved crimes and looked good while doing it. :)

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  9. Dickon was one of my first childhood crushes! Loved him! Logan from The Babysitter's Club was also pretty dreamy :)

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  11. My childhood heroes were on horseback -- Roy Rogers and Zorro. I taught my horse to rear like Trigger and jumped onto tree branches like Zorro until I missed my hold and broke my wrist.

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  13. March.... It seems so far from here now. Summer passed by so quickly, just like three days instead of three months. Now autumn has come and brought many deductive essay topics and other work to do.

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