My Summers with Nootsie Tah

Every spring or summer I read the same book, because it's the essense of summer. Or, more specifically, it's the essense of childhood summer, childhood fantasies, and childhood memories.

We've had a week of melting snow and beautiful temperatures, and in my desperate attempt to wish winter away, I feel myself gravitating toward the bookshelf in search of my annual childhood getaway.

Kingfisher Days

Amazon's Description:
One summer, in a hedge near her family's cottage in Kenora, five-year-old Susan Coyne discovered an overgrown stone fireplace. Her father said it was the home of Uncle Joe Spondoolak, an elf who'd moved in after the cottage had burned down long ago. Susan, a fanciful child, decided to become keeper of the hearth, tidying it up and leaving little gifts for the elves: handfuls of wild strawberries, daisy chains, and a tiny birchbark canoe. Overnight the gifts would disappear. One morning, there was a tiny piece of carefully folded pink paper wedged in between the mossy stones: To Helen Susan Cameron Coyne: Greetings Her Majesty, Queen Mab, has instructed me to thank you for making a home for all her people. Thus began Susan's correspondence with a precocious young fairy princess, Nootsie Tah, and her indoctrination into the world of the great and little people. The letters from Nootsie Tah continued, and that summer Susan developed two unique relationships: one with a proud princess from a mystical land, and the other with a gentle gardener with infinite wisdom and patience. These would sustain her throughout her life.

This is not something I would ever (EVER) choose to read, but in an attempt to broaden my horizons, I took the advice off of of a book list I found online a few years ago.

The best part, is that this book is a memoir - it's a true story. I can't imagine a more delightful summer than little Susan spent corresponding with Nootsie Tah. Any little girl would be thrilled. The book ends with an incredibly inspiring twist you never would have imagined. Something else I never (EVER!) do is use the word 'delightful'. But that is exactly what this book is - it's simply delightful.

I'm anxious to know (as I would rush to the library!) - what is your go-to summer read?