Books (growing up)

As I got a bit older again, (about 8 or 9) I really started to read a lot and the favourites which I can remember were Stig of the Dump by Clive King and all of the Narnia series of books, by C S Lewis (which I read many, many times over).

At about the same time I was introduced to my first ‘serious’ book, the Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier.  A moving account of the journey of a group of children through war-torn Europe.   (I should probably read this again since my father-in-law made a similar journey to England during the war.)

The Secret Garden, the Lost Prince and a Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Thursday by Catherine Storr were good teenage novels, then I got taken over by English Literature at school through taking both ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels where I read even more, but not usually my choice of either book or author.

I’m so glad that school didn’t put me off reading for life as I hated Jane Austin and Dickens which was on the syllabus (just not my thing) but luckily I did take to T S Elliot and Shakespeare and some of the other poets, playwrights and authors we looked at.  I read so much more than this during my teenage years but these are the books which stand out in my memory, possibly because they deal with relationships (quite an important theme for a young girl ).

Books (the early years)

From as far back as I can remember I was brought up around books with good stories and beautiful images, not least of which was the complete set of Beatrix Potter books which my Mum and Dad bought and read to me, including some of my favourites :

Then there were the Flower Fairies books by Cicely Mary Barker

I can also remember having a wonderful copy of Charles Kingsley’s Water Babies with illustrated plates by Mabel Lucie Attwell (I don’t know what happened to this book, it may even have been from the library, so I will have to ask my Mum).

Obviously there is the popular, seasonal, childhood favourite, the Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore, which was read to me each Christmas Eve and I continued the tradition reading it to my boys while they were young and still willing to admit that they’d be listening out for the sleigh bells (I still have the book from my childhood).

As I got older and started to read for myself I have fond memories of quite a few books, the Milly Molly Mandy series by Joyce Lankester Brisley; the Borrowers series by Mary Norton; the Five Dolls in a House series by Helen Clare and the Little Leftover Witch by Frances Laughlin.

I expect that up to this point my Mum had mostly chosen books with/for me.  However, I still like things in the same ‘vein” (only becoming a bit more adult) as you will see.