Some wonderful things from your childhood just stick with you…maybe not right in the forefront of your mind, but kind of on the periphery like a dream. This book is one of those things for me. I started vaguely remembering it a few years ago and finally went online (what did we do before the internet?!) to see what I could find. All I really remembered was a character called Baby So-High in her Aero-Zoomer. And I found her! You can see her better in the photo below – she's the little blue girl up in the corner…
After looking around a bit I found out that the book came out in 1969 – the year I was born and the year we landed a man on the moon. Not that those 3 things are related. :) Once I read the synopsis it all came back to me…
This book told of the surreal origins of the Upsys and Downsys. They were once merely flowers, covering an entire world made of fuzzy dandelions. A sentient wind called The Great Huff passed by this world long ago, and, having his nose tickled by the dandelions, blew them all away. As the dandelions fell back to earth, some of them fell through a rainbow, and were magically changed into rightside-up beings known as Upsys. Other dandelions fell through a storm cloud, and became upside-down creatures called Downsys. The two factions, despite each being the others' polar opposite, got along famously, and developed their own little civilization, which came to be known as "Upsy Downsy Land".
Then I started remembering other characters too, like Flossy Glossy – The Upsy Fire-Chiefess and her Elewetter Fire Engine and also Pudgy Fudgy – The Upsy Eat-Too-Mucher and her Piggybus. Flossy Glossy is on the middle of the front cover, but her fire engine is on the back 'fueling up' in the river. Pudgy Fudgy is there on the back too…
I love the artwork…
Seeing this again is so fun! The dictionary describes nostalgia as "a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time" or "the evocation of this emotion, as in a book, film, etc." I don't know that I yearn for the happiness of my childhood, as I'm pretty happy right now. But there is a sweetness to revisiting things that, although half-forgotten, were loved enough to stay with me over the years.
Turns out there was a whole series of these books. These next two look familiar, but I'm not sure I had them…
Ok, that's about it. :) Although I am now thinking about making Nostalgia Friday a regular thing. Once I started thinking about things from back in the day, I have a whole list! What were some of your favorite things from childhood?
xo ~ k