Elsie Piddock

My current favorite childrens character of all time is Elsie Piddock. I just finished reading Elsie Piddock Skips In Her Sleep (1937) by Eleanor Farjeon. This fairy tale is totally charming, poetic, and pure magic to read aloud! Elsie Piddock learns to skip at age three, and is such a natural, she attracts the attention of the fairies and their Skipping-Master named Andy-Spandy. From him she learns

The High Skip,
The Sly Skip,
The Skip like a Feather,
The Long Skip,
The Strong Skip,
And the Skip All Together!
The Slow Skip,
The Toe Skip
The Skip Double-Double,
The Fast Skip,
The Last Skip,
And the Skip Against Trouble! (page 7...though unpaged)

Every single skip fits into this intricately plotted charming story.
Beautifully written for all ages, the tale comes from Eleanor Farjeon's story collection Martin Pippin in the Daisy Fields (1937). If you've never read any Eleanor Farjeon, you must read her story collection The Little Bookroom. Her writing is pure poetic magic!