Weekend Assignment

Weekend Assignment #82: What was your favorite bedtime story as a child?

Extra Credit: As an adult , have you shared that favorite bedtime story with a child?

This one took me just a minute to think of the answer. I asked my dad and he couldn't remember but I *knew* I'd had one. At the same moment, it came to us both "The Selfish Giant". I loved this story and as I grew older, I realized that the little boy symbolized Christ. It's by Oscar Wilde and my story came in a book called "Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Children's Stories" and I only ever read *my* story until I was about 10. Then I discovered the rest of the book. Every story is wonderful but, the selfish giant holds a place in my heart. I did a google search and found the text online. The part that shows the little boy is a Christ figure is this: "For on the palms of the child's hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet.

"Who hath dared to wound thee?" cried the Giant; "tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay him."

"Nay!" answered the child; "but these are the wounds of Love."

"Who art thou?" said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child.

And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, "You let me play once in your garden, today you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise."

It made me cry when I realized what it meant. But I won't get into the religion aspect of it *right now*. It was always my favorite story when I was little. I remember when I was Daddy's Little Girl and he would read it to me. Even after I learned how to read, he'd still read it to me. Oh, and I like my book better than the internet version of it. Because it's got cute little drawings and it's what was always read to me from.

Extra credit: Still a kid here peoples. But I plan on sharing the entire book with my children when I grow up.