Mother Talkers

Crying...over you!

by Suzanne77

Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 06:53:25 AM PDT

So, reading "The Giving Tree" post made me think of all the children's books that make me cry, and damn, if that isn't a fairly long list. Some of them have been tear-jerking favorites since I was a child, like "Charlotte's Web" or Matthew's death in "Anne of Green Gables." Some of the books I have only discovered or felt the impact of since becoming a parent, "Someday" by Alison McGhee springs to mind. I have only to "think" the words, "And when that day comes love, you will remember me..." and boom, waterworks.

Songs get to me too. "Puff the Magic Dragon" is like three-beers gone, sobbing at the jukebox sad. Ever since someone told me that the old Welsh lullabye "All Through the Night" is about a child dying of fever, yeah, can't listen to it all!

I have noticed that the impetus for crying has changed since I was a child. I obviously identified with the children/child figures in "Anne" and "Charlotte" when the saddest idea in the world was losing a parent. I also remember bursting into confused tears when Aslan in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", tells Peter "Well-done."

Now as a Mom I find myself seeing these old favorites in a new light. I put myself in loving Matthew's place, having a daughter as free-spirited and joyous as Anne herself. Or I find myself on Charlotte's side, ready to work/fight to the death to protect my children and my friends.

I also don't mind crying as much back then. When I was a kid, I was embarrassed by my sappy little heart, but now I relish it. So I am wondering, what are some favorites that send you reaching for a box of kleenex or a bottle of wine? I'd love some suggestion to add to Darling Girl and (the soon to arrive) Peanut's collections.

Tags: children's books, crying, favorites (all tags)

Permalink | 43 comments

  • I'm not a cryer, but... (0 / 0)

    One day when my first son was a newborn, I tried singing to him, and the only songs that could come to mind were old camp songs.  At my camp, we used to sing Cat's in the Cradle, so I started singing that, and ended up absolutely bawling.  That's a tough one to listen to right after giving birth.  I felt like my little baby would be moving out before I knew it.

    by Treena on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 06:57:42 AM PDT

  • Aww! (0 / 0)

    That song is awesome, but also anything you do right after giving birth is like turned up to 11 on the emotion amp. I remember looking at DD as she slept and just sobbing, because, "She'll never be this little again!"

    Yeah, my husband had my Mom on speed dial the whole first 3 months.

    by Suzanne77 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 07:07:50 AM PDT

  • Lyrics to Puff the Magic Dragon (0 / 0)

    Was I the only one who had to look up the lyrics to Puff? When I was a kid, this all went over my head. I'm not even sure I knew the whole song, now that I think about it.

    Here they are:

    Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
    And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee,
    Little jackie paper loved that rascal puff,
    And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff. oh

    Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
    And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee,
    Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
    And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee.

    Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail
    Jackie kept a lookout perched on puffs gigantic tail,
    Noble kings and princes would bow wheneer they came,
    Pirate ships would lower their flag when puff roared out his name. oh!

    Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
    And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee,
    Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
    And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee.

    A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
    Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys.
    One grey night it happened, jackie paper came no more
    And puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.

    His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain,
    Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane.
    Without his life-long friend, puff could not be brave,
    So puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave. oh!

    Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
    And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee,
    Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
    And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee.

    by RachelD on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 07:10:54 AM PDT

  • "a dragon lives forever (0 / 0)

    but not so little boys"...Yep, crying right now, over the keyboard!!!!

    by Suzanne77 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 07:30:07 AM PDT

    • I mentioned this last night (0 / 0)

      We sing Puff (among other songs) at bedtime and stop at the chorus after the the pirate ships.

      When I was in the hospital giving birth to my daughter my father actually looked up the chords and lyrics on the internet and brought over his guitar to sing it to my boys at bedtime.  He made the mistake of singing the whole song.  Between that and him actually playing it on the guitar they let him know in no uncertain terms that he was doing it all wrong.

      I still crack up picturing my poor father going to all of this effort and being so shot down by the kids.  Oh well.

      by music teacher on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 12:00:49 PM PDT

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      • Looked it up too (0 / 0)

        I had such fond memories of my dad singing it that I totally wanted to share that with my son. I have video of my dad singing it to him at 5 mo. And the little dude just cried! Oops! I guess Pepere's guitare was too loud.

        For a while I stopped after the verse about the pirate ships because I got too choked up. But then that seemed to pass.

        Jen in NJ

        by littlepear on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 12:27:44 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

    • who knew? (0 / 0)

      I always thought Puff was a drug song; I had to look it up on Snopes to confirm that it's not.  I figured 'a dragon lives forever but not so little boys' referred to outgrowing the marijuana experimenting stage - at least in my generation I don't know of many people who continued with this much beyond college.

      I'm playing the song in my head right now.  I'm not tearing up, but I could really go for some brownies.

      by lyn on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 12:52:22 PM PDT

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  • Stop it... (0 / 0)

    it's too early for me to start drinking again.  

    Comedy Now!

    "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly"

    by lonestar canuck on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 08:07:31 AM PDT

  • The Kissing Hand (0 / 0)

    especially a killer if your little one is old enough to be starting school...

    by hazel on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 08:08:33 AM PDT

  • Sarah actually kissed my hand the first day (0 / 0)

    of her new school. So in the car I'm holding it to my cheek saying, "Sarah loves me." over and over like a freaking mad woman! Arrgh. That kid, she gets me very time!

    by Suzanne77 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 08:14:36 AM PDT

  • Peter Pan (0 / 0)

    "off we skip like the most heartless things in the world, which is what children are, but so attractive; and we have an entirely selfish time, and then when we have need of special attention we nobly return for it, confident that we shall be rewarded instead of smacked."

    by Erin on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 08:55:11 AM PDT

  • A Bill Bryson essay (0 / 0)

    Bill Bryson is usually very funny, but he had one essay - sorry, can't remember which of his books I read it in; might be "Notes from a small island" or the one about coming back to the US - where he comments about asking his then 19ish year old son to go out and play catch, and he's not interested.

    Bryson says, "The boy he was is gone forever."  It makes me tear up just thinking about it.

    Katherine

    by pat of butter in a sea of grits on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:11:37 AM PDT

  • My crying story isn't mine (0 / 0)

    My 7th grade literature teacher read "Of Mice and Men" to us.  But she couldn't read the end because she knew she'd cry.  So she had our resident Young Republican read it.  Too bad he kind of sucked at reading aloud.

    Wait, maybe that was Bridge to Teribithia?  Or both?

    Sad things rarely make me cry.  It's happy things in the midst of tragedy.  And usually songs.  Like Fred Small's "Denmark, 1943."  That Rascall Flats song about the girl with cancer who goes to the prom occasionally gets me.  It's a "surprised by joy" thing.

    by lonespark on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:45:06 AM PDT

  • One that made me cry not long ago was (0 / 0)

    The Story of Ruby Bridges, by Robert Cole.  I was trying to read it aloud to my kindergartener, and I almost couldn't make it through.

    Music is more likely than books to turn on the waterworks for me, though.  I heartily second "Puff the Magic Dragon."  Christmas songs are big ones for me too -- "Do You Hear What I Hear" and "Mary Did You Know" are reliables in that regard.

    by AnnieJo on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:21:55 AM PDT

  • Christmas Carols!? (0 / 0)

    Ah, "I'll Be Home for Christmas"!!! That one gets me every time...or the ever weepy "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"!

    "Someday soon we all will be together
    If the fates allow
    Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
    So have yourself a merry little Christmas now"    -- By Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane

    Just imagine it sung in that sobbing Judy Garland voice, for me it is the definitive version.

    by Suzanne77 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 12:15:58 PM PDT

    • I once read (0 / 0)

      That Judy Garland asked to change that lyric for "Meet Me in St. Louis" because she found it too melancholy:

      Through the years
      We all will be together
      If the Fates allow,
      Hang a shining star
      On the highest bough,
      And have yourself
      A merry little Christmas now.

      Story here.

      Does she sing a different version in the movie? I don't remember...

      by Erika on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 12:51:33 PM PDT

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      • I read the original version (0 / 0)

        of the song went,
        "No good times like the olden days
        Happy golden days of yore
        Faithful friends who were dear to us
        Will be near to us no more
        But at least we all will be together
        If the Lord allows
        From now on, we'll have to muddle through somehow
        So have yourself a merry little Christmas now"

        keeping in mind that the song was written in 1943...I can see people being kind of blue. She changed it (or the writers did) for the version she sings in "Meet me in St. Louis"

        http://www.here-now.org/...
        Boston NPR interview with  Hugh Martin

        by Suzanne77 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 12:59:30 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

  • Puff (0 / 0)

    I sang Puff the Magic Dragon the my belly every day when I was pregnant with DS#1. And when he was born I cried everytime I sang it for months to follow. It was part of our nightly bedtime routine up until a few months ago when he started requesting other songs. It made me a little sad that he wanted to see it go.

    The books that always got to me were Little Women and Charlotte's web.

    Jen in NJ

    by littlepear on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 12:24:53 PM PDT

  • songs and a book that maeks me cry everytime (0 / 0)

    I sang "Babies are born in a circle of sun circle of sun on the birthin day" to my twins and Everything Possible ("You can be anybody you want to be, love whoever you will") to my daughter in-utero.

    "Fox in Sox" makes me cry because I remember my Daddy reading it to me and he died two weeks before the twins first birthday.

    This is the year for "Now We are Six" and I expect to cry some more but they will be reading it to me I bet.

    by Mythhuner on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 01:39:32 PM PDT

  • * snort * (0 / 0)

    Trust us Welsh to have a downer lullaby.  It is amazing how the much crap a people can take, when you look at the Welsh and the Irish histories.  

    by tessajp on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 07:14:47 PM PDT

    • I went to Wales once (0 / 0)

      and I was struck by the beauty of the language and its inherent musicality. I guess when you have enough practice making lemonade from lemons that sort of transcendence comes into the words itself, and especially comes through in the music.

      by Suzanne77 on Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 09:33:04 AM PDT

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  • I Stand Here Ironing (0 / 0)

    by Tillie Olson.  Not a children's story, but the story of a mother grieving her daughter's difficult childhood.

    by Erin on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 08:06:20 PM PDT

  • Butterfly Kisses (0 / 0)

    That song brings tears to my eyes every time.

    by mommy turtle on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:05:20 PM PDT

  • I may have mentioned this before (0 / 0)

    "Race You To The Top of the Morning" from The Secret Garden.  I was driving home from the NICU and already flipped out from exhaustion and worry.  The song came up on shuffle and when it got to this part

    Now, another foul dragon's appeared,
    I must leave you.
    He's scorching our land with his breath.
    From his lair this one taunts me,
    He dares me, he haunts me.
    Once again, we must fight to the death!

    Would to God I could stay and instead slay your dragon,
    This beast who sits hunched on your back.
    Would God I could wrench him away from your bed,
    Or cut off or tear off his terrible head,
    Could breathe out my fire on him
    'Till he was dead,
    Or beg him to spare you and take me instead!

    ...and I lost it.  Full on, pull over, sob on the steering wheel lost it.  It still makes me sniffle.

    by Annora on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:02:58 PM PDT

    • I was in that show (0 / 0)

      The whole thing is a tearjerker.  I was called in at the last minute to cover for Rose (Mary's mean Mama who dies of cholera in the overture.)  I always cried at the ending.

      Come to My Garden makes me cry too although I sing it to the babies.

      by music teacher on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 10:50:18 AM PDT

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      • It got the boot :) (0 / 0)

        I had to take it off my iPod until Timothy was out of hospital and we were back with my husband.  Not only sniffles, but I found myself yelling at Archibald when he's singing about how he's ever going to live without Lily's love.  I believe the phrase "You have a CHILD, you selfish son of a b****" was used, along with "man up and go the he** home!".  Ahhh, hormones and stress.  How I love thee. :P

        by Annora on Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 10:17:33 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

  • I have to avoid (0 / 0)

    "The Secret Garden" musical!!! The book makes me cry and its not overly sentinmental, but when his father catches him runnning and breathless in the garden...oh Lord, I am tearing up!

    I am a sucker.

    Sandra Boynton got me recently on one of her song-books, right smack in the middle of silliness like, "I Need a Nap" by Weird Al and Kate Winslet (yes!) and a hilarious rock song, "Dog Train", there is a song performed by Allison Krauss called, "Evermore".

    "Evermore I will love you, evermore I will stay,
    ever right here to hold you, never so far away
    and though I know sometimes you go
    to find your way alone, evermore I will love you
    you were ever my own..."

    Pulled the car over and sobbed in the Publix parking lot. Total SUCKER!

    And I am pregnant, hormoes, I swear its hormones!!!

    by Suzanne77 on Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 09:26:13 AM PDT

  • totally strange one here (0 / 0)

    but I ALWAYS cry at the end of The Little Mermaid. WHY does she have to sacrifice being with her father in order to be with the man she loves?? It's just WRONG, I tell you...

    by Erika on Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 12:52:59 PM PDT

  • Oh, the Disney film? (0 / 0)

    'Cause the original Andersen one gets me. My interpretation of the ending of the Disney film is that natural seperation, she isn't going to live with her Daddy anymore...

    and that's EXACTLY how I felt on my wedding day despite the fact that I hadn't lived under my Dad's roof in several years! I totally cried during our Father/Daughter dance...

    by Suzanne77 on Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 03:39:15 PM PDT

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