Sorting through all my books over the weekend got me thinking about my favourite books from when I was a child (and that is quite some time ago!). I seem to have grown up on way too much Enid Blyton- I still have the complete set of the Famous Five series and of Malory Towers, along with others such as The Magic Faraway Tree and The Enchanted Wood. The Brer Rabbit stories also stick in my mind though I think if I were to re-read them now I would probably be quite shocked, I am sure 'Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby' was blatant racism. Must read some of them again for an adult take on the stories.
My very first favourite book would have been Beatrix Potter's 'Mrs Tittlemouse' which my Dad likes to think I was able to read at 3 years of age! Yes, I knew it word for word, knew when to turn the pages and would shout at my parents if they got a word wrong when reading it to me, but I'm not entirely sure that this necessarily constitutes being able to read!
What is my favourite childhood book? It has to be Eric Carle's 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'- I loved that book (and still do) but, leading a deprived childhood as I did (hmm), I never owned a copy until I was about 23. I loved going to the local library and that would be the book I would always hunt out to read.
What would I be likely to read now if I were a child again? It would probably be Philip Pullman books, which I think are fantastic- if you haven't read the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, you must do, they make for compelling reading. I think Harry Potter would probably be in there too.
Well, it's been a little while...
10 years ago
1 comment:
Well, politically incorrect as Enid may have been, she was top of my list as well. Pretty much all of those you listed were on my reading list (and are almost certainly in a box up my loft as we speak) but the Famous Five were just marvellous.
I quite agree about Philip Pullman and would also give Terry Pratchett a mention. Apart from the occasional rotter, most of his are great and those specifically for kids tend to be pretty darned good!
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