Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop!

Today’s question is: Do you still have a treasure from childhood, can you tell us about it?

And remember to pay a visit to my fellow writers to see what they have come up with. You can find their works here!

This week’s topic is really interesting. Firstly, what is treasure? After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. With that in mind, I went a little deeper on this one. So obviously treasure isn’t necessarily an old wooden chest filled with doubloons and gemstones buried in the sand with a great big X over it. It can be whatever you want it to be. Treasure is simply something that holds incredible meaning to us for one reason or another.

I’ve not gone with something tangible for this. I don’t have a childhood soft toy, or an old book or a little trinket here. Instead, I thought about things that I’ve carried with me forever. My love of reading, being one. I have always enjoyed reading. A good book is an escape from whatever is going on around you. And modern technology has only made it easier to have a book on hand. I have shelves of soft and hardcover books, my Kindle is filled with them, and the mobile app means they are almost always on hand.

My favourite movie is another. Released in 1993, The Nightmare Before Christmas has always stayed with me. The stop motion animation captivated me. A world of Halloween creatures discovering the joys of Christmas, and attempting to have a go at sharing that joy in the only way they know how. What’s not to love? The characters, the locations, they are all wonderfully Tim Burton. And who could forget that soundtrack? Danny Elfman is an absolute genius. To this day it is my most-watched film, it comes out every year. I even have a tattoo on my arm that is completely TNBC inspired. This one ties up nicely with another thing that has stayed with me since childhood. My love of Disney. I love the films. Watching them is like putting on a comfy jumper. And I’ve been lucky enough to visit the parks in Florida many times. Hopefully, I’ll get to visit again, too!

Then there is probably my most expensive love. Lego. Those lovely, colourful little plastic bricks from Denmark that hurt like hell if you step on one barefoot! As a child, I had crates of the stuff. I loved building whatever I dreamt up. That passion as stayed with me into adulthood. Now though, I tend to buy the big sets, some of them collectable. There is something so satisfying about following the instructions and seeing something grow from a pile of bricks. Just this weekend I finished the epic Millennium Falcon. It’s a medium that often merges my love of Lego with other interests – space, Harry Potter, Star Wars and many more.

What do you consider to be treasures that you have carried with you from childhood?