Prydain

Last week, my brother passed along the news that Lloyd Alexander has died. He wrote my favorite childhood series, The Chronicles of Prydain. The five books in the series are special to our family -- my parents first read them together when they were dating. My mom even made an embroidered banner of Hen-Wen for my dad, like Eilonwy did for Taran in The High King.

Mom started reading me the books when I was 11, and I immediately loved them. She even had to hide them from me so I wouldn't read ahead without her! I found most of her hiding places, though, and would take the books into the bathroom so I could read in peace for a few moments, before she'd get suspicious.

The last time I read through the series was about three years ago, when I read them aloud to a (then) 13-year-old friend of ours. He enjoyed them as much as I did, so I was happy to be able to pass along the pleasure that the books have given me. I'm thinking now might be a good time for another re-read.