Tell Me Something Tuesday: Do You Still Own Any Books/Comics/Toys/Memorabilia From When You Were a Kid?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters throw in for good measure). After Heidi stopped blogging (apparently for good), five of us took over as hosts while providing new questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen at That's What I'm Talking About, Karen at For What It's Worth, Linda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...

DO YOU STILL OWN ANY BOOKS/COMICS/TOYS/MEMORABILIA FROM WHEN YOU WERE A KID?

First off...I meant to be back for the meme on April 19th, but you might have noticed that it didn't happen. And here it was one of my own questions haha.

OK, onto the new one...

Last year I told you the story of my first writing attempt at age 7, and that "book" is the only thing I made during my childhood that I still own, in all its messily-cut-and-glued-together-pages glory 😂. But as for stuff that I was gifted in my pre-teen years, the only things that survive are, unsurprisingly, two real books. One is a novel by a local author recounting the adventures of a vegetarian cat, with some chapters set in my very town; the other is Momo by Michael Ende.

Everybody would buy me books when I was a kid (because I was an avid reader even then), so I used to have a bunch, but for some reason, if you don't count the one "starring" my town, Momo is the only book that has followed me into adulthood. I think it's because it speaks to grown-up me even more than it did to my child counterpart - plus, in time, magical realism has carved a place in my heart where this novel nests beautifully. Everyone knows about The NeverEnding Story by the same author (mainly because of the movie, I suspect), but Momo is an underrated gem - imaginative, poetical and still relevant after almost 50 years. Read the plot on Wikipedia if you don't mind getting spoiled. But in case you want the gist - an orphan must save her friends (and the whole world) from an organisation of grey men, who tricked humans into giving away their time and trapped them into stressful, meaningless lives. While this novel is mostly seen as a criticism of consumerism, to me it's the reminder of how time is the most precious thing we have, and how we should never forget to spend it on the things that really count and give us joy, regardless of our age. Also, a tortoise who communicates through writing on her shell and can see 30 minutes in the future? Best character ever 😀. 

This is the version I have (a hardcover, which helped with preservation).

The Italian title translates "Momo and the Time Thieves".

8-13 is the intended age range. Vallecchi is the publisher.

Well, that's it for now. Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to participate in the meme on a regular or semi-regular basis, and get emailed the prompt list? Just head over here and fill in Jen's form! (Of course, you can jump in anytime you like - you are under no obligation to actually do all the posts, or even most of them, just because you signed up, and you can remove yourself from the list at any time). And if you're interested in participating in a more casual manner, or only in commenting, here is the TMST prompt list for the month of May:

• May 3rd: How do you feel when everyone loves a book except for you?
• May 10th: What are the books/authors you pick up when you need a comfy read?
• May 17th: How long have you been blogging? And has your blog changed over time? (a question I submitted)
• May 24th: Do you review every book you read? Why or why not?
• May 31st: Do you request ARCs? Why or why not?

I'll be back on May 17th (and I plan on answering the May 24th question as well). Anyhow, as usual, I'll visit your blogs in the meantime, and I'll answer the other questions on there (except the one about comfy reads, because...I don't think I have any? I tend to gravitate around dark books haha. Then again, you could say they're my version of comfy 😂).

Now tell me something...do you have any keepsake of your childhood years?