NOSTALGIC READS

Nostalgic reads for children

Gerie Herbert finds some wintery reading classics that are as popular today as they ever were –from Winnie the Pooh and Mog the Cat to the Grinch and the Moomins, they encompass light and joy as well as darkness and morality.

When C.S Lewis wrote the dedication for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe –his book in which winter is perpetual but Christmas never comes –for goddaughter Lucy Barfield, he acknowledged she had outgrown his tale and hoped one day she might be old enough to start reading and enjoying fairytales once more. And it’s a strange truth that the books we discard as being too childish for us at the age of 10, we often enjoy as much as our young children in parenthood, and actively grieve their loss in that transitional time before becoming grandparents. That’s the time where we store them in an attic for the future progeny of our children who will of course be fully receptive to all the classics from our own childhoods, despite the slightly dubious gender politics or degree of moral didacticism, managing to sift out the underlying magic regardless.

Christmas and winter books are a special sort of fairytale which should only ever be put away for eleven months at a time. Firstly, because they are celebratory and often full of the loveliest things, a winter illustration in Moominland Midwinter or the setting of a winter sun in an A.A. Milne chapter being as calming to a young infant as something like Bruegel’s Hunters in the Snow to an adult. Secondly, because whether you are a child absorbing them with wonder for the first time, or an adult revising your view of them, they will contain truths that will help you mitigate both the excitement and the less joyous aspects of Christmas whatever your age, or remind you of what Christmas is meant to represent within yourself.

Because while it’s a cliché to hate Christmas, all of us understand how it was the Grinch came to be the Grinch and how being excluded from the societal norm in any sense at Christmas can be painful. We might even acknowledge our own lovingkindness can sometimes get diminished under the trudge of visits to the supermarket and the holding down of the day job. Christmas at some point invites a state of ambivalence and the best Christmas stories encompass this. They not only encourage us to become better no matter how big or small, but encourage a degree of compassion for our current or future failings. No Christmas story in the traditional sense, but the chapter in The House at Pooh Corner in which Pooh and Piglet trudge out in the snow to build a house quite unnecessarily for their cold and rather misanthropic friend Eeyore encapsulates how confusing the dynamics of Christmas and our responsibilities towards others can be.

There are few Christmas stories that don’t contain both darkness and light, resurrection, or redemption –even Mog the Cat is worn down by all the forced cheerfulness that Christmas delivers. Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is redeemed by the resurrected Christ figure Aslan because there is a degree of compassionate acknowledgement he went wrong at his awful school. In the Shirley Hughes Classic Lucy and Tom’s Christmas, a small delight on the domestic rewards which come part and parcel of being home with small children (the putting together of paper chains, the mixing of the Christmas pudding), Tom is sent off with his grandfather on Christmas Day because of his bad temper from being up all night listening out for Father Christmas. The Grinch only delivers because ultimately it is a tale of redemption, and in Moominland Midwinter, the abandoned Moomintroll (his parents are hibernating) grieves not only the absence of the sun but to some extent his own childhood. The glistening landscape hosts a community of oddbods in no way delivering recompense for the absence of his rather irreplaceable family.

“There are such a lot of things that have no place in Summer and Autumn and Spring. Everything that’s a little shy or a little rum”, says Too Ticky. And yet there is gentle acknowledgement accorded that not only will Moomintroll have to find a way to process his darker emotions within the bleaker months, but that this eccentricity of the minor characters in his life, the invisible shrews, the Dweller under the Sink and such belong in a season more forgiving of peculiarities and life is warmer for their presence. And then there are the allegorical stories, such as the Narnia one, which lean on a biblical narrative whose message we may not accept the literal truth of but want our children to receive the essential ones from. Make time for some reading out loud this Christmas, whether its Pooh or Piglet at twilight in the snow or The Grinch stuffing the tree up the chimney, it could make you, if not a better person, probably a happier one. n

Christmas and winter books are a special sort of fairytale which should only ever be put away for eleven months at a time ❝

THE SIX CLASSIC STORIES:

• The House at Pooh Corner by AA Milne, first published 1928 by

Methuen; latest edition HarperCollins, £8.99 • The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, first published 1950 by Geoffrey Bles, latest edition HarperCollins, £6.99 • How The Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr Seuss, first published by Random House, 1957; latest edition HarperCollins, £6.99 • Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson, first published 1957 by Gebers, latest edition Penguin Random House, £6.99 • Mog’s Christmas by Judith Kerr, first published 1976 by Collins, latest edition HarperCollins, £6.99 • Lucy & Tom at Christmas by Shirley Hughes, first published 1981 by Puffin, latest edition Penguin Random House, £6.99

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THE CHRISTMAS SURVIVAL GUIDE

Christmas is coming, and for many of us, this year will be a chance to make up for the somewhat restricted festive period of 2020. However, it’s possible to be so preoccupied by the celebrations that it’s easy to forget about our health and wellbeing. Here, the specialists at Nuffield Health Bristol Hospital offer advice on how to enjoy a healthy holiday season.

Festive feasting

If we struggle with how we feel about our body, we can worry about the impact that festive merry-making could have on our weight. We might still be thinking about our lockdown weight gain, and are trying to shed a few pounds before Christmas, either to fit into a party outfit or so we can give ourselves permission to eat whatever we like from Christmas Eve until New Year. Clinical psychologist Dr Vanessa Snowdon-Carr explains: “This is part of a familiar ‘lose it, gain it’ cycle, because by the time we get to Christmas, we’re so fed up with the diet that we then go overboard. While we may eat a bigger meal than usual on Christmas Day, it is the additional food and alcohol throughout December that adds to weight gain. We can tell ourselves that it doesn’t matter because we’ll refocus in January, but is that how we want to start the new year, feeling horrible about our body?

“So, how about deciding which are the meals you really want to be able to indulge in, and which are the little extras through December that you could do without? And when you do eat Christmas food, use some of the mindful eating principles: make sure you slow down, savour it and enjoy every mouthful!”

Even if weight isn’t a concern for you, the excesses of the festive season can still put a strain on our health, in particular our digestive system. Consultant gastroenterologist Dr Amanda Beale says: “A gut suddenly required to cope with large amounts of Christmas pudding, smothered in brandy cream, can sometimes show the strain. Most of these odd gut symptoms will resolve quickly but, if persistent, can suggest underlying bowel problems.”

Dr Beale continues: “Any variation in bowel habit, new pains, or bloating that is still present in the New Year could indicate an underlying bowel problem. This in turn can cause poor absorption of nutrients, leading to anaemia and significant fatigue. If you have any concerns, seek medical advice.”

Share the love, not the germs

We should not forget the potential threat COVID-19 could pose in upsetting our plans to have a happy family Christmas this year, but we should also remember that the festive season falls during the winter flu season. Like COVID-19, flu is a serious illness which can cause death, not only in vulnerable groups, such as older people and those with an underlying medical condition, but also among people who are fit and healthy. Nuffield Health Bristol Hospital’s infection prevention co-ordinator, nurse Janice Bowler explains: “You can have either of these viruses and pass them on to others without displaying any symptoms yourself, so being immunised not only protects you, it protects those around you, including family, friends and work colleagues.”

Janice says: “If you are unfortunate enough to have flu or COVID-19 in the run-up to Christmas, rest up, and self-isolate until you’re better. Your friends and loved ones won’t appreciate catching the infection from you, and then being struck down over Christmas itself. As well as getting the vaccine, you can help to reduce the spread of germs by regularly washing or sanitising your hands, and continuing to wear a face covering in enclosed spaces, for example, while doing your Christmas shopping.” There’s still time to get the flu jab before Christmas, so speak to your GP surgery or a local pharmacist if you would like more information.

Prepare for a stress-less Christmas

Christmas is usually portrayed as a happy, social, family time, but for many it doesn’t live up to these expectations. Even for those people who enjoy it, Christmas can still be stressful and there’s a price to be paid afterwards for overindulgence. Bristol GP Dr Gill Jenkins tells us: “The main problems GPs traditionally see before Christmas revolve around the stress of trying to provide the ‘perfect’ Christmas, or conversely being aware that you will be alone. Fear of getting into debt, not meeting loved ones’ expectations, and feeling lonely all lead to increased selfharming, sleep difficulties and panic attacks. A heightened feeling of loss, anxiety and depression occur and the social media phenomena of competitiveness, oneupmanship and ‘fear of missing out’ add to the stress. After the event we see more problems related to overindulgence of food and drink, including indigestion and a realisation that alcohol use may be a problem, and weight gain that needs addressing. It almost makes you wonder why we do it!”

Dr Jenkins suggests: “Planning is key, with a realisation that Christmas is about sharing time and simple pleasures with the ones you care about. Remember to refresh stocks of simple ‘over the counter’ medicine, such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, indigestion or diarrhoea medicines, and ensure you have enough of your regular medicine to last until after New Year. Doctors surgeries and chemists may be closed, but there is always a GP out-of-hours (OOH) service in case anyone does fall ill, or alternatively, call 111 for advice and a GP appointment. Try to avoid A&E, as hospital emergency departments are always overrun at this time of year.”

Nuffield Health Bristol Hospital offers weight loss treatment, gastroenterology clinics, and a private GP service. If you would like to book an appointment with any of our consultants, call 0117 911 5339, or visit www.nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/bristol for more information.

Nuffield Health Bristol Hospital 3 Clifton Hill, Bristol BS8 1BN nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/bristol