Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Julie Vivas)

There was once a small boy called Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and what's more he wasn't very old either.
His house was next door to an old people's home and he knew all the people who lived there.

He liked Mrs Jordon who played the organ.
He listened to Mr Hosking who told him scary stories.
He played with Mr Tippett who was crazy about cricket.
He ran errands for Miss Mitchell who walked with a wooden stick.
He admired Mr Drysdale who had a voice like a giant.

But his favourite person of all was Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper because she had four names just as he did.
He called her Miss Nancy and told her all his secrets.

One day Wilfrid Gordon heard his mother and father talking about Miss Nancy.
"Poor old thing," said his mother.
"Why is she a poor old thing?" asked Wilfrid Gordon.
"Because she lost her memory," said his father.
"It isn't surprising," said his mother. "After all, she is ninety-six."
"What's a memory?" asked Wilfrid Gordon. He was always asking questions.
"It is something you remember," said his father.

But Wilfrid Gordon wanted to know more, so he called on Mrs Jordon who played the organ.
"What's a memory?" he asked.
"Something warm, my child, something warm."

He called on Mr Hosking who told him scary stories.
"What's a memory?" he asked.
"Something from long ago, me lad, something from long ago."

He called on Mr Tippett who was crazy about cricket.
"What's a memory?" he asked.
"Something that makes you cry, my boy, something that makes you cry."

He called on Miss Mitchell who walked with a wooden stick.
"What's a memory?" he asked.
"Something that makes you laugh, my darling, something that makes you laugh."

He called on Mr Drysdale who had a voice like a giant.
"What's a memory?" he asked.
"Something as precious as hold, young man, something as precious as gold."

So Wilfrid Gordon went home to look for memories for Miss Nancy because she had lost her own. He looked for the show-box of shells he found long ago last summer, and put them gently in a basket.
He found the puppets on strings which always made everyone laugh and put that in the basket too.
He remembered with sadness the medal his grandfather had given him and placed it gently next to the shells.
Next he found his football which was as precious as gold, and last of all, on his way to Miss Nancy's, he went into the hen house and took a fresh, warm egg from under a hen.

Then Wilfrid Gordon called on Miss Nancy and gave her each thing one by one.
"What a dear, strange child to bring me all these wonderful things." thought Miss Nancy.
Then she started to remember.

She held the warm egg and told Wilfrid Gordon about the tiny speckled blue eggs she had once found in a bird's nest in her aunt's garden.
She put a shell to her ear and remembered going to the beach by tram long ago and how hot she had felt in her button-up boots.
She touched the medal and talked sadly about the big brother she had love who had gone to war and never returned.
She smiled at the puppets on strings and remembered...
She bounced the football to Wilfrid Gordon and remembered...

And the two of them smiled and smiled because Miss Nancy's memory had been found again by a small boy, who wasn't very old either.




I'm reading this children's story for one of my tutorials which is about children's texts. I really like children's storybooks. They delicately rest on very fragile and simple ideas but yet they carry more weight than you think.

Maybe I can be a children's storybook writer. But I must find out if that will breach my contract with NIE hohoho.

I think I'm going to start a collection of my own. Now you all know what to get me for my birthday :)