Listening to the tales... by Liz Flaherty


I love Heartwarming. I love the stories, the covers, the worlds that are built between them and, specifically, the authors. The imprint has given a new home to authors whose lines have changed or left, it’s made space for “mature” voices, and paid attention to the often neglected demographic that is “of a certain age.”

What I love most about Heartwarmings are the memories they plant and harvest. They’ve introduced us to people and places who have enriched not just our reading lives, but the others, too. I’ve learned so much about Alaska (and need to GO there—I want to see those lights!) and been inside cancer survivors’ heads and hearts and settled into the small towns that become real on Heartwarming pages.

Since today is Halloween and I’m talking about memories, I’m sharing a poem from James Whitcomb Riley—the Hoosier poet—that I first heard read (that I remember) in the fourth grade, when we sat at our desks on runners and listened to Mrs. Kotterman read in a quiet, ghostly voice. You could have heard a pin drop.

That’s what happens when I get involved in a Heartwarming, too—the rest of the world falls away and becomes silent while the writer makes a memory for me.

So, thanks to Mr. Riley and Mrs. Kotterman, and to the Heartwarming sisterhood for all those delicious memories. And Happy Halloween  

Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:--
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

Comments

  1. Brrr! Shivering with goosebumps this Hallowed Eve day! Thanks for this hair-raising poem, Liz and I’m making a copy of it for my teacher daughter, so she can carry on the tradition. Kids love ghost stories and some of my favourite memories are from my teacher-librarian days, ‘frightening’ classes with old classics. Happy Halloween! 👻👻

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    1. I hope your daughter likes it--and her kids, too. I always love the meter of Riley's work. My reading aloud is...bad, but I can read his.

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  2. What a great post--I remember my librarian mother talking about how much kids like scary stories. She'd have gotten a big kick out of this poem. (I so agree with you about our Heartwarming books!)

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    1. Makes me think of slumber party days, when we'd tell stories, then we'd all have to go to the bathroom at the same time because everyone was scared. Or pretended they were! :-)

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  3. Thanks so much for making this Halloween ghostly! Love the poem. I recall that I've heard the final stanza at some time, but never the whole poem. I, too, love Heartwarming stories, covers and all the authors who write in the line. Happy Halloween all!

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    1. Look up "The Raggedy Man." It's a fun, atmospheric read, too.

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  4. I echo everything you said about the Heartwarming line. Thanks so much for putting words to what's in my heart :)

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    1. Thanks, Cathy. It's a fun place to be, isn't it?

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  5. What a wonderful scary poem. Heartwarming memories, indeed.

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  6. Liz, this reminds me so much of my childhood and the spooky stories we all told each other. I actually remember having read this poem back then or maybe I read it to my brothers and sister. We had no television until I was in eighth grade, so our world was books, poems and radio. The poem also reminds me of that famous painting, "Injun Summer" that the Chicago Tribune put out around Halloween every year. Sadly, so much of our memories of childhood holidays like Halloween are politically incorrect now. I salute you for bringing this one back in all it's glory for us. And yes, Heartwarming is truly HOME for us!

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    1. And I'm so happy to be here! We got a TV when I was in 6th grade, I think. I'm so glad I became a devoted reader before then. Thanks, Catherine.

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  7. I've heard bits and pieces of that poem, but never the whole thing. That's awesome!!!

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  8. I love writing for Heartwarming. It's a great line.

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