the books you should read

Ok so I sometimes struggle to know where to guide my girls with their reading. But it is important to me so I don’t mind the struggle. My middle daughter went up to junior school this year and I had to make a fuss about the books they were sending her home with. She has problems with handwriting and so because they didn’t know her they assumed she was weak. SHE IS NOT!

However she likes an easy life, she likes to be babied too and she hates to give up any books to her youngest sister. Last summer she graduated from Michael Morpugo’s Mud puddle Farm series when she discovered her elder sister’s copies of Diary Of a Wimpy kid, because it had a mix of text and cartoon she loved them. I had to investigate children’s literature for similar books. Now she reads Jacqueline Wilson, David Walliams and Roald Dahl. Today I finally moved all the Lauren Child’s and Julia Donaldson’s to the youngest’s room .

My eldest child is also an avid reader, she loves Harry Potter and Malory Towers / St Clares. Her teacher says her writing is “old fashioned” I think that means she calls her characters things like Felicity and Gwendoline and they all love cream buns and ginger beer. I was never a big Blyton Fan. I am responsible for Harry Potter and Little Women though. She has given up on Anne of Green Gables – a book I lived for at her age, she has also lost my WEE FREE MEN – a Terry Pratchett novel for younger readers.

Sometimes I cheat and if they really won’t read the books I think they should, I read them as bed time stories. One particular example is Alice in Wonderland. My husband has done the same… or maybe I set him up, I am probably the more cunning and Machiavellian of parents…anyway, he really enjoyed Danny Champion of the World and Stig of the Dump. The Dancing Bear by Michael Morpugo was a lovely surprise, the first venture into an episodic bed time story which resulted in him coming downstairs in floods of tears. ( if you haven’t read this story do not read further) 

“The bear dies” he gasped, finally.

“Are they ok?” I asked aghast.

“They’re fine, “ he replied, “I’m not”

He recovered and went on to read more books to them and for a man who claim,s quite rightly , never to read novels , I think it has done him the world of good.

I had to buy books that were no longer in print ( Jacob Two Two and the Hooded Claw, Elephants don’t sit on Cars) in order to share my childhood favourites. I’m not keen on Ratburger , but the girls loved it. I am hoping to try an old story my mum gave me years ago, based in Herefordshire called The TangleWood Secret and then I’m going to sneak some Terry Pratchett in if I can find where she’s hidden it!