July 26th is Aunt and Uncle Day so here is my way to observe the day. With my list of five favorite fictional aunts as well as five ways to be a fab aunt!

This post contains Amazon and other affiliate links, that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support. Please see the full disclosure for more information. I only recommend products I definitely would (or have already) use myself

Five Favorite Fictional Aunts

Note that favorite does not really mean warm and fuzzy and sweet here necessarily! But they are all quirky and unique and cool in their own ways.

In the Beginning

One aunt from my earliest memories is Aunt Polly from Tom Sawyer. I read the ‘whitewashing story‘ in my English reader book in one of my elementary classes. And of course, thus got introduced to Tom Sawyer and Mark Twain. Who knew then that I would visit places Mark Twain lived at for a while?

What Katy Did? is one of my favorite reads ever, and while I admired Kate, I also admired her Aunt Izzie. Granted, she had her ways, but she was really a wonderful aunt all in all.

A Little Later

Another aunt I grew to respect is Little Women’s Aunt March. She is outspoken and hard to please, and does things as she pleases too, but she does have the best interests of her grand nieces in mind. A side note: The Aunt-Hill was an alternate title for Alcott’s Eight Cousins.

Another side note: Both Susan Coolidge (What Katy Did) and Louisa May Alcott (Little Women) had their works published by Roberts Brothers, a prominent publishing house in Boston during the 19th century.

More Recently

One of the coolest is definitely Aunt Beatrice from the Beezus and Ramona books. I read these books only after moving to the US and having kids, with my own little girl, when she picked up these books.

I very recently read a children’s picture book titled How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen, which features the rather cool Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong! And one of my favorite illustrators Quentin Blake has illustrated this book!!

Adding a sixth one to the collection: One of the first fictional aunts I can remember is Aunt Fanny from the Famous Five series. Granted, she was more of an absent character but still, she was there!

Five Ways to be a Fab Cool, Well, Kind-of-Cool, Aunt

So now, I have talked about coolness in a few different ways above. Which means, my ways to aspire to being a cool relation is atypical as well. Also, I am not sure I am a cool one unless you equate zen mode (not always) to coolness. Anyways, these are the ways I know one can be a cool aunt because I know other cool aunts for sure, and thankful I and my kids have cool aunts.

• Be there for them, on their level and their terms. Whatever age and way it be. My dad was great at this, and my brother is too! I know – they are uncles, but then I want to be an aunt like they are uncles!
• Get the gifts they never knew they wanted but realize it is exactly what they always wanted when you give it to them! While I try to personalize my gifts to others, especially the niblings (both via family and friends), my kids are very fortunate in a couple of their aunts who are amazing at this!! Remember, not all gifts are material.
• Be their biggest cheerleader.
• Sharing stories and pictures of their parents is a plus always!
• Be the aunt you wish you had (or the aunt you aspire to be – in my case, I have many cool-aunt role models – among family and friends)

The Bookish Memes Five

So given I am talking about aunts, I decided to pick one of the books I started reading recently which has aunts. Nandini Bajpai’s

A Match Made in Mehendi

(1 & 2) Book Beginnings and First Line Friday

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

3 Friday 56

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice (currently by Anne at HeadFullofBooks) To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up and visit others in the linky. 

4 Book Blogger Hop

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.  

Do you have a favorite novel that captures the enchantment of summer nights or has unforgettable moments set under the stars?

Cannot really say I have one favorite novel, but here are a few that come to mind (a couple of which I picked up only recently, this summer, and am still to read – just got a start and then derailed – but know they are totally worth it!)

• The Book of Delights
• Darling Buds of May
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
• How to Do Nothing
• Lobizona
• May B
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Tuck Everlasting
• Two Toreadors from Vasukovka Village
• World of Wonders

5 Delightful ‘Uncle’ Books

Since I am still in aunt and uncle mode, and I have talked about aunts a lot already, here are five books and with ‘uncle’ in the title that I loved reading over the years.

• Uncle Andy’s by James Warhola is a look into Andy Warhol’s life through the eyes of his nephew as a young child. (picture book for 5 – 9 years, and up)
• Book Uncle and Me by Uma Krishnaswami. This chapter book for young readers (8 – 12 years, and up) is adorable and took me back to my childhood. I loved trips to the neighborhood libraries, regardless of where I was (living or even visiting for the holidays). I invariably became good friends with whoever ran the library, and their recommendations were always awesome! Loved the resourceful protagonist who works to make a change in her neighborhood.
• Uncle Dynamite by P. G. Wodehouse. I do need to read more Wodehouse! And reading this one made me realize that even more.
• Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man. I loved reading Disney comics and of course, loved miserly cantankerous yet lovable Uncle Scrooge! (comics, 8 – 12 years, and up)
• Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book: A Primer for Adults Only by Shel Silverstein. As the tagline on the book cover says, this one is not really a children’s book. Instead, it is Silverstein’s impish humor with a thread of adultness throughout. I loved this Atlas Obscura article about the book. Do read the book first, and then decide if you want younger ones around you to read it as well.

Special mention (not a delightful read, but an impactful one for me for sure):

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I recall crying over this one when I first read it ages ago.

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, what about you? What is your favorite aunt/uncle book? Your favorite fictional aunt or uncle? And your tip to be a fab uncle or aunt?