The Box

One of my favorite books that I read over and over again as a child, was this one.

Surprisingly, it's still in print, and offered on Amazon.com. Imagine that!

It's about a little girl who's favorite thing in the world is cardboard boxes. She discovers her neighbor's new refrigerator box and keeps transforming it into magical play places. Her mom keeps trying to haul it off, but she drags it back under the apple tree and turns it into something else.

It was a castle for two days, then a clubhouse for three days, then a race car for three days. Then when it was completely thrashed, she patted it out flat, drew furniture on all the flaps, and turned it into a house. She and her neighbor, "Fats" played and played with that box, until it turned into complete shreds.

Christina's mom, being a tidy person, was so excited to finally throw that messy thing away. She was surprised when Christina finally "allowed" her to do away with it.

"Fats' mother got a washer and drier today, and he's bringing two ships down now. I said my mother wouldn't mind a bit if we sailed them here in our front yard...right under our apple tree."
The last page shows the two kids with big smiles on their faces, each in their own cardboard ship.

I remember my mom reading me this book and imagining what fun Christina must have had. I think it was this book that inspired Jenny and I to make little houses for our Fisher Price People out of shoe boxes, and forts out of blankets.

I worry that our kids don't have enough imaginative play time because of the way that computers and video games seem to dominate their thoughts.

Imagine my joy yesterday afternoon when I discovered this scene behind our house.

And what added more to my excitement? About an hour later, I looked out the window, and saw that the box had changed from a clubhouse...to a ship!



I just love little boys.