With the school summer holidays comes the Summer Reading Challenge and libraries all over the country are buzzing with children keen to read books to complete their storylab card and
gain a medal.
Read all about it on our front page!
These books are modern favourites and we thought it would be fun to talk about books which take us back to our childhood.
Share with us books you have loved - old or new. There are many excellent new books for children, many of which can be enjoyed by adults.
So remember the lazy hazy days of your youth, maybe try some new titles, and tell us what you would recommend to our young book lovers.
30 comments:
I've just read 'The Unforgotten Coat' by Frank Cottrell Boyce. It's about two mysterious brothers who arrive at a school and talk of their former life in Mongolia - but is everything as it seems? The story was inspired by a true event and retains its air of mystery to the end.
Jill
Yes, Frank Cottrell Boyce is very popular.
Talking of mysteries - there is a series for younger readers about a family called The Gaskitts by Allan Ahlberg. They have action-packed, fun-filled days with underlying mysterious happenings, which entice readers through the story.
Look out for titles such as 'The Man Who Wore All His Clothes' and 'The Children Who Smelled a Rat'
Well, for me the school holidays, July meandering into August, and long, long hot days of reading meant comics and – above all – the summer annuals: The Beano, Dandy (was there one called “Whizzer and Chips”?....
And, as I got a bit older, and if I was REALLY lucky, then I might get a bumper summer edition of Victor, Valiant, or the Hornet…
My, how nostalgia does things to an old chap…am beginning to get quite a rosy glow, just thinking about them…
And I thought annuals were just for Christmas....however I do remember reading comics like The Beano and Dandy in the summer. Thank you for mentioning them - it's a reminder that all reading helps improve reading skills. The important thing is for children to find out that reading is fun and that will encourage them to keep reading.
Jill
It was nice to see a tribute to classic children's stories in the opening ceremony of the Olympics and I did agree with the commentator who said that the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming is one of the scariest baddies from children's fiction, he still frightens me now, many, many years on from first reading about him.
Yes, Lisa, you had to be really quick to identify some of the characters that appeared in the glimpses we saw on television but weren't they excellent representations? And hooray for Mary Poppins, banishing the nightmares as always!
Jill
Those of you who know Sue Limb from her newspaper columns or plays on Radio Four may not know that she writes many books for children. One of these is particularly popular at the moment.The Ruby Rogers series starts as Ruby approaches her tenth birthday and she begins to face all the excitement and misunderstandings of growing up, whilst still being a tomboy at heart. Written with Sue's trademark humour, Ruby finds herself in many unexpected situations and is constantly trying to act as matchmaker between her brother and his secret admirer.
Just the book for boys - which grownups will hate!
'Could this be the true story behind Shakespeare's Macbeth?'
Willy Waggledagger : By the Picking of My Nose by Martin Chatterton imagines how it might have been if William Shakespeare had been taken under the wing of a theatre troup when he was a boy. Zany and cheeky - it's full of humour that children find hilarious.
Another book that children will relish for it's main character's startling phrases is 'The Vicar of Nibbleswicke' by Roald Dahl. The Reverend Lee sometimes says words backwards - leading to many embarrassing moments for his parishioners!
Jill
I love the Clumsies! Two talking mice appear in Howard's very messy office and persuade him to let them stay. Many amusing adventures follow but even more fun is the look of the stories. There are lots of pictures and different sizes and styles of writing. Look for these books by Sorrel Anderson.
Any fans of 'The Diary of a Wimpy Kid' out there? Did you know that Jeff Kinney was inspired by a comic strip character called 'Big Nate'? Find him in books by Lincoln Peirce - another series which has pictures and different fonts in the text.
Jill
Talking of humour - children love the zany humour in Andy Stanton's books about Mr Gum.
Ah,yes, Mr Gum is a scheming villian [who reminds me of Dick Dastardly - for those who remember Wacky Races]. Polly [age 9] and her friends, including a gingerbread headmaster, seek to thwart him at every turn. Andy Stanton's inventive descriptions contribute a great deal to the humour of these award winning books.
Jill
Ooh, yes – Wacky Races – I remember that now!
What a great programme…Penelope Pitstop, Mutley, and the Arkansas Chuggabug…Wonderful!
Thanks for reminding me.
Glad to have brought back happy memories, Phantom. Can't help wondering if you remember the Banana Splits as well?! But I digress - back to books....
Jill
How about another mystery story? A young boy gets on board the London Eye - but is no longer there when his pod returns to the ground. For older children, as it faces all the fears of the friends and relatives of missing people but his cousins follow a trail of clues to search for him. The London Eye Mystery is by Siobhan Dowd.
The London Eye Mystery is proving a very popular book in Bexley's libraries.
Another story in which children take on the adults is 'How Kirsty Jenkins stole the Elephant' by Elen Caldecott. Kirsty promised to look after her grandad's allotment when he dies, then found that the council wouldn't let her because there was a waiting list. With her brother and sister, Kirsty devises some ambitious plans to publicise her promise and lay claim to the allotment.
Desperate to attract the attention of the council's Community Environmental Development Officer - and her Dad, who has taken to his bed since grandad died - Kirsty plans to steal a stuffed elephant from the local museum.....
Jill
They sound interesting but I'm really into the zany humour ones at the moment - particularly ones that might appeal to boys. I've just found 'Boy Zero - wannabe hero - and the curse of the catastrophic cupcakes' by Peter Millet. An intriguing title - sequel to 'The petrifying plot of the plummeting pants' and 'The attack of the brain-dead breakdancing zombies'. Boy hero saves the world from the evil schemes of General Pandemonium.
Here we are, John - a zany one for you. Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger, also called [according to the cover] The fiendish mystery of Smugwick Manor or The Loosening of M'Lady Luggertuck's Corset.
In this story the loosening of M'Lady's corset sets off a train of events which lead to the downfall of the Luggertuck family and the greater improvement of the lives of their servants.
The author says that Charles Dickens inspired him to write it - though it is more akin to the radio and TV spoof 'The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff' I think.
Jill
Well Jill, those names sound fantastic and I'm tempted to read the book just for that, they do sound very Dickensian I must say, although as you say maybe more "Bleak old shop of stuff". I enjoyed reading your reminiscence of programmes from your (and mine) youth, it set off a stream of theme tunes that I couldn't get out of my head for days and oh yes they have just started up again!
Ah - Lisa - I may have just the book for you. Do you remember our marmite books feature? those which some people love and others hate?
Well, newly published [so recent that we are still waiting for our copies to arrive - so you'll have time to read Horton first!] is a book by Jacqueline Wilson.
Did you ever read 'Five Children and It' by E.Nesbit? It turns out that Jacqueline Wilson loved this book when she was a child, so she has written a tribute to it. Called 'Four Children and It', she introduces four modern children to the Psammead sand fairy. As in the original story, wishes don't always turn out to be what the children expected.
Did you like 'Five Children and It?' Would you read a modern version?
Jill
Talking of magical things - one of the books which was short-listed for the Carnegie Medal for children's books, was 'Small Change for Stuart' by Lissa Evans. It's another mystery, with clues for Stuart to follow and puzzles to solve, as he tries to find his great-uncle's lost workshop - and realises that it is something he cannot do on his own.
Hi Teresa - have you seen the sequel to this Book? It's called 'Big Change for Stuart' and, of course, I can't tell you much about it or I will give away the end of the book you mentioned. However, there are still clues to find and puzzles to solve.
Jill
I am reading books from the Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo. At first there were only going to be three titles in the series but I was delighted to find a fourth on the shelf a while back and now there are eight.
In the last two years Jenny Nimmo has started writing a new series on The Chronicles of the Red King which takes readers back to the beginning.
In the first series, Charlie Bone finds that he can hear the voices of people in pictures. His aunts realise that he is a descendent of the Red King and send him to a special school for the endowed, where he finds others with special gifts but not everyone uses them for good.
To find out how Charlie and his friends have to battle against the forces of evil, start with 'Midnight for Charlie Bone'.
Jill
We really can't talk about children's books and not mention Roald Dahl can we?
Fifty years of Roald Dahl books and children still love them.
You're so right, John. Did you know that 13th September [his birthday] has been chosen as Roald Dahl Day and special events are held every year. Check the Roald Dahl Day website for national events.
In Bexley our Chatterbooks groups for children aged 7-11 will be celebrating Roald Dahl in their September meetings - contact branches or check our website for details.
Jill
I thought there was no-one like Roald Dahl but a review of Eva Ibbotson likened her to him and certainly some of her books have a similar mix of fantasy and creative use of language.
I particulary like 'The Secret of Platform 13' where a secret doorway opens once every nine years and leads to an amazing, fantastical island.
Talking of weird happenings puts me in mind of dear old Professor Branestawm, whose incredible adventures always begin with some kind of Heath Robinson invention and generally cause untold chaos. Although they were written many years ago, a current popular children's author - Charlie Higson - has said that they 'can still make a modern kid laugh like a drain'.
Even now I still enjoy reading the stories about this madcap absent-mined professor by Norman Hunter.
Jill
Now that the school holidays are over, we are going to talk about great reads for the long evenings ahead. Look out for a new post soon.
Jill
Post a Comment