No. 72 - The Worst Witch

This is me, aged 5 or 6, dressed up as the Worst Witch for World Book Day! An easy costume I suppose, it was basically my school uniform, with the addition of a sash and a small tiger (masquerading as Mildred’s tabby cat!)! Unoriginal you might say, but for me it was the perfect portrayal of a character that I loved.

Before I knew anything about Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione, I was having my magical education at Miss Cackles Academy for Witches, with Mildred and Maud. Like our favourite magical comrades, Mildred and Maud are often finding themselves in sticky situations and getting into trouble with a cast of magical teachers. The most formidable of all is of course Miss Hardbroom, who is just as mean as her name suggests.

The headteacher of the academy is the long suffering and rather sweet Miss Cackle, who is always disappointed to see Mildred in her office AGAIN.

Mildred Hubble, as Jill Murphy describes her, is ‘the Worst Witch’. She is always getting into scrapes, embarrassing herself in front of her classmates, casting the wrong spells and mixing the wrong potions. Delightfully, she is a real, flawed character, someone who makes mistakes, even though she is trying her very best. 

Although Mildred has her fair share of bad luck, Murphy is at pains to remind us that she has lots of friends and is well liked. At no point do we feel sorry for Mildred because she has a support network of friends behind her, including her wonderfully loyal bestie Maud. Maud is a dumpy little witch with glasses and bunches, and contrasts beautifully with the gangly, uncoordinated Mildred. They are the perfect double act.

There’s one more person you need to know about before I continue, and that is Ethel, who Murphy describes as being a bit smug and bossy! She is top of the class and so looks down on Mildred with great contempt. But this doesn’t bother Mildred, instead she has her ways of dealing with Ethel, which, in this book, involves turning her into a pig!

When I picked up The Worst Witch I couldn’t remember much about the story, but the characters were firmly imprinted in my head, and strangely so was the school song…. The tune, the words, everything. I can attribute that to either of two things,

1.       The audiobook, which I listened to a lot!

2.       The ITV children’s TV series – the original one, not the new one, not the Netflix one (apparently there is one), but the original one. We’re talking the same era as The Queen’s Nose, when children's TV was at it’s best!

Now I can’t remember which of these had the song in it, but I know that both these heavily influenced my love of the books and these characters. As always, as I started reading the book read itself to me, in the same phrasing, voices and nuances as the audiobook, something I always love when revisiting a book for this blog, as you’ll know. 

The story is short, but sweet, and has everything in it that you’d expect from a book set in a magical school. There’s broomstick flying, witch’s cats, potions class, people getting turned into animals, a threat to the cosy contentment of the school, and a Halloween celebration. Sound familiar, I think so. 

The story opens on the eve of the cat presentation, where all the first-year girls get presented with their witches familiar; a black kitten. Of course, Mildred being Mildred, ends up with the only tabby cat. After that there is a magical interlude, where we learn more about what the girls get up to at school, with Mildred and Maud accidentally creating an invisibility potion in a class test! As well as potions class there is also practice for the Halloween celebration’s broomstick flying display, which I love the sound of! Who wouldn’t pay to see a broomstick display team!? This is not so exciting for Mildred however, who after borrowing a spare broomstick from Ethel (alarm bells!!) for the display ends up bringing the whole team to the ground during the performance. Ethel of course, had tampered with the broom, a trick that seems quite popular with magical folk!

This is the low point in the story. Everyone is cross with Mildred for ruining the display, and disheartened she decides to run away. However, just outside the school grounds she encounters a coven of witches, led by Miss Cackle’s evil sister, who are intent on sneaking into the school and turning everyone into frogs! Mildred thinks fast, turning them all into snails and taking them back to school to show Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom. The story ends in true Philosopher’s Stone style, with Mildred being publicly praised for having saved the school.

I would thoroughly recommend this book, its sequels, and it’s TV adaptions to anyone, especially children aged between 6 and 11. This was magical education before it was cool; this was my Hogwarts. 

Thanks for reading, L x

Next up, 'Wolves' by Emily Gravett

No.77 - The Sheep Pig

This is my last catch up post from 2017, after this we can get on with all the books 2018 has to offer!

I am aiming to read more books from the list than last year, 15 is my 2018 target! I'm looking forward to Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield, as the TV adaptation starring Emma Watson is just lovely! And one of my all time favourite books is coming up too, The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy! Alongside those beauties are offerings from Oliver Jeffers, Michael Rosen, J.M Barrie, and Anne Fine to look forward to. For now though, here are my thoughts on one of the loveliest books i've ever read!

I'm sure everyone has seen the film 'Babe', and even it's ridiculous sequel 'Babe: Pig in the City', so you'll all familiar with the little pig, raised by a sheep dog, who has affinity with sheep. Well let me tell you this, the film is lovely, but the book is even more wonderful!

Babe, so called because that's what his mother called him, is such a cutie! Won by Farmer Hogget in a 'guess the pig's weight' competition, he is taken home and adopted by loving sheep dog mummy Fly. Fly and her pups raise Babe as one of their own and soon Babe is convinced his raison d'etre is to heard sheep just like them!

This book oozes charm. Dick King-Smith knew how to write about animals, and about the unconditional love that exists between man and beast. In The Sheep Pig the most moving character development is most certainly the bond that builds between Farmer Hogget and Babe. To start with there is talk of eating the pig, which would have been the most obvious thing to do, yet the farmer can't quite bring himself to agree with his wife. As Babe becomes more and more 'dog-like' Farmer Hogget becomes quite fond of him, until eventually they have formed a bond as strong as a man and his dog. Farmer Hogget sees that Babe is more than just a pig, he is special.

Flowing through this book there is a strong message about believing and trusting in others. Fly and Farmer Hogget believe in Babe, and encourage him to become a sheep-pig. At no point is he told that he shouldn't. This is an important message that can be transferred into so many different situations. Just because he is a pig, doesn't mean he can't do a dog's job, especially if he is good at it. Take that sentence and replace it with sexist or racist connotations and you've got a life message for children everywhere; you can be whatever you want to be, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

Reading this book was an unexpected revelation. I knew the story, but I wasn't at all prepared for the emotional impact it would have on me. By the end I was almost in tears! There are certainly ups and downs in this book, high points and low points, but in just 135 pages this book says more than you could ever imagine when looking at the cover.

Thanks for reading, L x

No.82 - Emil and the Detectives

Emil and the Detectives is a classic children's book that I had never heard of until I saw it in this list. I suppose that's because it's a German children's classic and having never really read translations I was yet to discover it. When I initially read the title I was interested in reading what I thought would be a child's adventure in the world of professional sleuthing. I pictured young Emil joining forces with a policeman or detective, or maybe even being the reason for the sleuthing in the first place! I was close, but no cigar!

Instead, Emil, who is unwittingly robbed on the train to Berlin, whilst he is sleeping, tracks down his thief on the streets of Berlin with help from a group of local boys. Emil and the Detectives has a undertone of Dicken's Oliver Twist, or the traditional boys books of the late 19th and early 20th century. It has the feeling of both a school story and an all boys adventure tale combined. There is espionage, a stake out, a thief with multiple identities, and a fair bit of intruige. The book takes a while to get into this, and to start with the prose style is rather staid due to its translation from German to English. My particular edition was translated in the 50s, but the book was actually first published in the UK in 1931. With the slow start I was initially a bit sceptical about this book. How is this a classic? It's so boring! No child would speak like that! He's such a goody goody! But, as the story developed I found myself enjoying the bizarre nature of Emil's adventure, with its dodgy looking criminal and its eccentric child characters! 

Intent of getting back his £7, Emil follows the suspicious looking Mr Grundeis (who looks every bit the spiv if the illustration is anything to go by!) off the train and into the middle of Berlin, a city where he has never been before. Soon enough though he is aided in his shadowing of the criminal by the brilliant Gustav, a boy with a motor horn! The horn is never explained but appears to be young Gustav's trademark and he goes around honking it all over the place! Gustav is the Artful Dodger to Emil's Oliver, and he soon rallies a whole group of boys keen to help Emil catch his thief! Once assembled they make a plan, which is engineered by the intelligent one, who of course wears glasses and is known as the professor! This book really has all the elements you'd expect from a boy's adventure story! However, the wild card in all this is Emil's cousin Pony, who is, shock horror, a girl! She dips in and out of the narrative, never fully included in the gang; though it is clear she has more bottle than some of the boys! It is hard to decide whether you should like Pony or not, she 's a bit pushy and pretentious, but also feisty and go getting, unlike the other female characters who are all a bit limp or overly domestic. Emil on the other hand is overly polite and moral, a little unworldly, and the boys make fun of his suit, yet he comes out as the hero of the story, despite being really quite a dull character! 

Although I had my initial doubts, I actually really enjoyed this book. I can see why it would be classed as a classic, as it has all the hallmarks of a popular book of its time. Personally, I enjoyed all the quirky characters and the slightly absurd nature of the story line! If you get past the slow start, then this book is a little gem! 

Thanks for reading, L x

Next time, it's The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith, which I am very much looking forward to reading! 

No.86 - Babar The King

It's been a while since I posted anything on here and that's because I've been busy trying to get the first assignment of my MA in, and I am pleased to say that it's finally been posted on its merry way! The focus of the essay was Roald Dahl's classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I hope at some point to be able to share some my ideas with you. It's safe to say that after all that analysis, I will never view the book in the same way again, whether or not that's a good thing I'm yet to decide!

Anyway, to today's text, Babar the King, one of the Babar the Elephant stories, written and illustrated by Jean de Brunhoff in the 1930s. There are a total of seven Babar books, and the loveable elephant is famous world wide. Starting his life in French, Babar's tales have now been translated into 17 languages, and apparently there are 12 Babar shops in Japan! It's clear to see that this elephant has touched the hearts of many!

Babar The King is the third book in Brunhoff's series. In the two previous books Babar's mother is killed by poachers, he is raised by a kind old lady, he is crowned King of the Elephants, he marries his cousin, travels on his honeymoon in a hot air balloon, is stranded on a desert island, kidnapped and forced into a circus and finally he returns home to win the war against the Rhinos! Phew! The third book sees him settling down in the Land of the Elephants, building his own city called Celesteville (after his Queen), and ruling over his adoring subjects. Babar could be described as a sort of friendly dictator, and the book is not without implicit political undertones. You could say it displays elements of both Colonialism and Communism! 

All is well in the idyllic Celesteville (the closeness to the word celestial is no coincidence here I feel!). Life is good, Babar is a very kind dictator and his subject are happy with their lives, thriving in their new community. The book could go on being wonderfully pastoral and jolly, but no, it rather takes a turn for the worse i'm afraid! The Old Lady, who has been Babar's adopted mother figure, gets bitten by a snake, and is rushed to hospital! Thank goodness Babar had considered state funded medicine for his city! The Old Lady is soon in the care of Dr Capoulosse, but her condition is unstable, and Babar is told she may not make it! Cheery for a children's book that started out so nicely!

However, that is not all Babar has to worry about! On his way home he passes Cornelius's house, and sees that it's on fire and poor Cornelius is stuck on the upper floor!! But thank goodness Babar made sure his city had all the emergency services, because the fire brigade are there putting out the blaze, and rescuing Cornelius. Suffering from smoke inhalation and a nasty wound to the head Cornelius is taken to the hospital too. The fire, we are told, was started by Cornelius throwing a match towards his ashtray, missing, and setting his wastepaper bin alight! Surely a message about the perils of smoking!! 

Babar goes to bed very worried about his friends and in his dreams he is visited by Misfortune, and her other negative companions such as Despair, Anger and Discouragement! However, these are quickly followed by a gang of winged elephant angels who bring joy and happiness, and low and behold when we wakes up the Old Lady and Cornelius are well again! 

If I'm totally honest I'm not sure what message we are supposed to take from all this. Babar didn't do anything wrong, so i'm not entirely sure why he was punished, and idyllic life seems to return straight away, unchanged from the way it was before the accidents. Maybe we are being told not to take a lovely life for granted? Ideas on the back of a postcard please!

All in all, the story is rather old fashioned, not really very inspiring, and even a little confusing. Instead it is the loveable characters and Brunhoff's brightly coloured illustrations that hold the appeal. The personified elephants are a joy to behold in their suits and hats going about their business in their perfectly planned city. 

Next time i'll be looking at Joan Aiken's novel The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

Thanks for reading, L x

Children's lit is for life not just for Christmas!

The festive season has been and gone. We're all wondering why there's still Quality Street knocking about, and whether enough time has passed to warrant buying more cheese, and for it not to count as a cheeseboard anymore...? I've just about got my head around what day of the week it is again! Thursday right? Anyway, with all the confusion comes the calm and quiet, which allows you to look back over your presents and truly appreciate what you were given by the ones you love, and what fun you had gifting things to them too. I thought I'd share with you the two beautiful children's books I was given for Christmas, and the three I chose to give to the little people in my life, and what I thought of We're Going on a Bear Hunt.

First up, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, illustrated by the incredibly talented Jim Kay! 

This book is beyond beautiful! I was keenly anticipating receiving this book for Christmas, hoping that my other half would continue the tradition he set last year when he bought me the first one, and he didn't disappoint! Hooray, and thank you Martin! I came to Harry Potter late but have since found myself totally enchanted by the Wizarding World, and Jim Kay really brings it to life in these books! The Chamber of Secrets is packed with stunning illustrations, bold double page spreads, little intriguing details and fabulous mark making. Magic oozes from it's pages, it's truly spectacular! This book is a real treasure, as is the first one, and I can't wait to see what the next one will look like!

Secondly, a touching picture book about love, loyalty, pride and a piano playing bear. 

I came across David Litchfield's debut picture book The Bear and the Piano on one of my many visits to my local Waterstones's children's section not that long ago, though it was released in 2015. We stood and poured over the enchanting illustrations, and were really touched by the story, reading it aloud like we do with every story we come across (Someone should really employ us!)! So when I unwrapped this book at Christmas I was over the moon! Again, thank you Martin! Here's a little about it.

A bear cub discovers a piano in the forest, and with it a passion for music. Returning to the piano everyday he teaches himself to play, persistently playing until the sounds he makes are beautiful. He gives performances for his fellow bears, until one day some humans suggest he could be a successful concert pianist in the city and so he goes with them. The bear becomes a huge star, packing concert halls every night, but he misses his home. Returning to the forest years later he believes that his family and friends have forgotten him, but in fact they have been keeping up with his progress and have created a shrine to him around his beloved piano, full of his CDs, newspaper cuttings and programs. This book is so tenderly written that I can't help but feel a bit teary when the bear finds his friends have not forgotten him. It's quite moving! In a good way! I urge you all, young and old, to get hold of a copy of this gorgeous book, as it definitely contains a message for all of us.

Now, from one bear to another. I wanted to quickly talk to you about the Channel 4 adaptation of We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen that hit our screens on Christmas Eve. I watched it on Christmas day with my mum and my boyfriend, and while they were happily enjoying the story of a children on an adventure I was a sobbing wreck! It broke me! And here's why!
The whole thing was beautifully done, using hand drawn animation that stayed true to Helen Oxenbury's delightful illustrations in the book. However, what got me was the new additions to the story. The children had clearly lost their Grandpa fairly recently according to this new version, and it was full of sentimental moments where the children remembered him whilst they were walking, and the addition of a recently widowed Granny upped the emotion considerably!  When Rosie broke away from the others in the cave and discovered the bear, made friends with him, and gave him Grandpa's scarf to keep him warm I was holding my tears back! My lip wobbled as the other children dragged the little girl away from the bear and back home. It upset me even more when, as in the book, the children locked the bear out and hid upstairs! By the time the Rosie was telling Granny that she missed Grandpa during the Christmas festivities I was a mess! The end credits rolled and I burst into uncontrollable tears! "The bear is Grandpa", I sobbed, "and the others haven't noticed!" Whether it was the exhaustion of Christmas, or whether this adaptation really had pushed all my emotional buttons it was hard to tell! I thought about it more later on and another thing struck me. Maybe the Bear wasn't Grandpa at all, but a representation of grief. The children ran away from it because they didn't want to face the loss they felt, all accept Rosie who was openly grieving for her lost grandparent. Now, I can hear you all saying "It's just a story Lottie, I can't be that deep!" But one thing my MA has taught me is that there are often a lot more layers to things than you think! But, yes, I probably read to much into it, and besides, that's not how Michael Rosen's story goes anyway! That's just a joyous exploration by children of their terrain and imaginations, without the sentimentality we all have to suffer just because it's Christmas! All in all I was impressed with the adaptation of this classic picture book, and theres a really lovely video about how it was made that you can watch here if you're interested. I just could have done without the emotional breakdown, thats all!!!



I'd also like to share with you the children's books that I gifted this Christmas too. First up Mr Creep the Crook written by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Andre Amstutz.

Archie, who is 5, loves Janet and Allan Ahlberg's classic picture book Burglar Bill (a fav of mine, as you all probably know by now!!). So keeping with the spirit of 'cops and robbers' I bought him this book for Christmas. Part of Allan Ahlberg's Happy Families series, a collection of 20 books all with titles like the characters from the Happy Families card game, this book is truly charming! Mr Creep is a bit naughty, much like our friend Burglar Bill! Unlike Bill though, he's been caught! When he escapes from prison he decides to take his whole family, including their rather naughty dog, to the seaside. There he learns that being bad is not all its cracked up to be. Seeing as Archie liked the humour, the story and characters of Burglar Bill I thought this book might a hit, and I really hope it is! Also he's at the age where he's learning to read and the simple text and image layout seemed to me to be a nice beginners read, and if not his sister can always read it to him!


For her, I bought Claude on the Slopes by Alex. T. Smith.

Last year I bought her Claude in the Spotlight and she loved it! So knowing she was a fan of the debonair dog and his sock sidekick I chose her another. I love the Claude books, mainly for their humour, but also for their brilliant illustrations and retro feel. Claude is pretty cute and certainly endearing, and Sir Bobblysock is about as perfect as a slightly camp, anthropomorphised sock can get! The humour is both adult and child friendly, which I think is quite important in a children's book. In this particular book Claude and Sir Bobblysock go skiing, cause an avalanche and have to become mountain rescue!! It's brilliant! I would suggest that these books are a must read for any child between the ages of about 5 and 8, or any age to be honest! You'll love them!


 And lastly, a book for a baby.

When I set out to buy a book for my friends baby boy for his first christmas I had so many ideas! I wanted to get him a real classic, a beautiful book that he'd treasure, and then I remembered, 1- he's only very small, and 2- he might have a lot of the go-to classics already, and I didn't want to double up. I came across Peekaboo Zoo by Kate Merritt quite unexpectedly and I instantly fell in love with it's bright, bold baby friendly illustrations and fun flaps to lift (I love a 'lift the flap' book!). But the clincher for me was the little mirror on the last page, which lets the baby see their own reflection after saying peekaboo to all the animals throughout the book. This was a lovely touch, and also a nice interesting visual element for James too after the static illustrations. Reflections are fascinating things after all!


Ok, so there you go, a round up of the children's book I gave, received and enjoyed over Christmas.
I hope you liked it!

Thanks for reading! L x

A Year of Reading

Happy New Year everyone!

Sitting in front of the tele on Boxing Day night I realised that it had been a whole year since I had watched the countdown of the top 50 children's books that inspired this blog, and my reading journey began!

On Jan 6th 2016 I embarked upon this project for real, and began subjecting you all to my reviews and ramblings! A whole year on and I've managed to read just over 10% of the list, which I think is pretty good, seeing as its been a part time reading challenge alongside my usual yearly book intake. So I'm 13 books down and there are many more exciting titles left to explore, such as Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls, This is Not my Hat by Jon Klassen and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S Eliot. I'll admit that I have slowed down rather since the start of my MA in October, and I've not been devouring the books as quickly as I was during the summer. Carrie's War by Nina Bawden has been waiting patiently on my shelf for the last month! It's the next book on the list so I need to read it to get going again. I'll get on it soon! I am hoping that over the next few months I will rekindle my excitement for this project! I have promised myself that I will read more! I have also promised myself that I will keep a list of all the books I read this year, as I always seem to forget what I've read and when.

I've got a few more exciting things planned for Little Bookworm this year. I am hoping to expand what I write about, maybe a bit of critical theory, maybe a few interviews, maybe a bookshop tour or two, who knows. I just know that I should start exploring and experimenting with what I do here and hopefully good things will come of it! There has even been talk of starting a YouTube channel, so watch this space!

Anyway, this was just a quick post to mark the anniversary of my project I suppose. I'm planning another post, coming soon, about the books I received at Christmas, the ones I gifted, and I might even touch on the lovely adaptation of Michael Rosen's We're Going on a Bear Hunt too. And then of course there will be a post coming soon about Carrie's War!

Thanks for reading. L x

No.88 - The Adventures of Captain Underpants!

Captain Underpants stands for "all things pre-shrunk and cottony!" and fights crime using y-fronts! Created by friends Harold and George, the comic book hero comes to life when they hypnotise their school Principle so he believes that he is in fact the pant-clad superhero! Dav Pilkey's wonderfully silly story The Adventures of Captain Underpants is the only book I know to claim to have both 'Wedgie Power' and 'Flip-o-Rama', and what a difference that makes! No, honestly! This is a classic book for reluctant readers! The good smattering of toilet humour is an instant attraction! This particular story includes as rubber dog poo, a evil villain in a nappy who falls foul to said poo (no pun intended), and a good amount of references to pants! It is also full of practical jokes, general mischief and downright silliness. The perfect combination!

When my boyfriend came over on Friday afternoon he found me at my desk whisking off emails to various people and having a think about my upcoming essay (more about that another day). Whilst I finished my admin he picked up the copy of The Wind in the Willows that was on my desk and proceeded to read excerpts to me, with all the voices! This was of course hilarious, so we decided to find other things he could read. We decided that The Adventures of Captain Underpants should be next! He'd read it when he was small and was keen to relive the adventure! So we snuggled up in my room and spent the whole afternoon reading. It was lovely! I faintly remember having read this book when I was small, but I wasn't sure, so I came to it with hardly any prior knowledge. It was great! I think having it read to me, complete with a myriad of American accents (!), made it all the better. I can't imagine having put that amount of animation or expression into it had I read it quietly to myself. He made it really enjoyable! 

So just for you, here is a taster of Martin reading Captain Underpants. George and Harold have just been busted by their Principle for causing havoc at a school football game, uh oh! (If you can't see the video below then you can watch it here)

I asked Martin why the Captain Underpants books appealed to him when he was small?

" I immediately found the idea of it really funny. I loved reading them because I loved the style and the humour and how the illustrations would tell their own mini stories in tandem with the text, like George and Harold changing around the letters on the school signs to make rude and silly phrases. For small books a huge amount was contained in them. The stories were hugely eventful, and each book would include an issue of George and Harold's Captain Underpants to read as part of the story (which resonated with me as a boy because I saw myself in that. I too loved writing). There was also a cool section in each book called Flip-o-rama which involved flipping a page back and fourth to animate two images which was loads of fun. I think the best part of Captain Underpants was that they were just plain funny and I remember the books were a good way of bringing me and my peers at primary school together, as we had that humour in common. "

I too remember these books being a huge hit with boys when I was growing up, and to be fair they probably still are. It has been proven that boys come to reading in a different way to girls, and that often they are slower to pick up the reading bug. The Captain Underpants books seem to be the remedy to this. My experience is that once hooked boys seem to devour the whole series, and come out of it wanting to read. I showed just the cover to my cousin Archie, who's five, and he was instantly interested, I didn't even need to read it! These, and other series that attract boys like magnets, should be treasured! We need more!

I would thoroughly recommend The Adventure of Captain Underpants to any one who fancies a laugh! It is the perfect book for reading aloud and will delight children and adults alike!

Thanks for reading, and listening! L x

Next up Carrie's War by Nina Bawden.

No.90 - The Brilliant World of Tom Gates

So, I've reached number 90, meaning I have officially completed a 10th of my challenge!!! Huzzah!! 

I think my favourite book from the first 10 has got to be Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, and I urge everyone who hasn't read it to go out and find a copy ASAP! You'll enjoy it! I'd also like to say how much I loved Michael Foreman's beautifully illustrated memoir War Boy, and again I urge you all to have a look at it! 

This post's book is The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon. Now, so far on this journey the books I've read haven't particularly felt like children's books. Thomas the Tank Engine has probably been the most childlike book so far, but even that felt quite grown up due to its old fashioned writing style. In a stark contrast to this Liz Pichon's book screams 'I AM FOR CHILDREN!!'. The cover itself exudes mischief, fun and childhood, to the point where it would seem that this book has actually been written and illustrated by the main protagonist Tom. And this is exactly Pichon's intention! The cover is as symbolic as the 'Keep Out' sign you might find on a teenagers door or diary, and as an adult reader I almost felt like I was prying! Tom, whom I would place at about 10 years old, is the heart and soul of this book and to all intents and purposes the book is written by him. When you open this book it's not your traditional print book, but instead it is more of a journal or notebook in which 'Tom' has doodled and recorded his life. Just take a look! 

Pichon absolutely succeeds in making you believe that this is the genuine article rather than a work of fiction, and I can imagine that this is very appealing for a pre-teen reader! I think some children, and in particular boys, as many studies have proven, struggle with a traditional print book. This is not to say that their reading skills are below average, but I just think that for some children the idea of a block of text can be quite daunting. What Pichon has achieved here, and in the rest of the Tom Gates series, is a book that is totally accessible. It's numerous amusing doodles, annecdotes and stream of conciousness style of writing keeps the readers attention in a way that a print book just can't. Children can't get bored of Tom Gates's world because the story changes and develops at such a fast pace! For an adult reader this was hard to keep up with and I struggled a little trying to put myself in the place of a 10 year old boy who liked nothing more than annoying his older sister and was obsessed with a rock band called Dude 3!! However, for many 10 year olds this will no doubt strike a chord, and I'll admit that some of Tom's world seemed familiar even to me! (In particular the trial of bumping into a teacher outside of school! Who doesn't remember how weird that was!? And Tom's teacher was wearing leather trousers!! Awkward!) 

I take my hat off to Liz Pichon for creating a book that so wonderfully (and amusingly, may I add) gets into the headspace and world of Tom. She makes it seems so effortless, and this is the beauty of this book. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is struggling to get a child into reading, in particular boys. It's a quick read, full of wit, mischief and in some ways the reality of school life when you're 10! The embarrassment of parents, the importance of seeing your favourite band, and the horror of school photos and parents evening! The doodles make it endearingly fun and there is even an interactive element, with a lesson on how to draw Tom's older sister Delia at the back! 

Although I was extremely conscious that this book was aimed at a child audience and felt like I was in forbidden territory, for the intended readership I think The Brilliant World of Tom Gates is a very original, enjoyable book that shouldn't be missed! 

Thanks for reading! L X

In other news I'm going to be taking a little break from the blog in September while I make preparations and get started on my MA in Children's Literature! It's all very exciting, but there is so much reading to do that I am going to have to focus on that for a bit. I'm hoping though that what I learn will inform my reading of the books on this list, and in turn produce more interesting posts for you to read, so it's a win win situation! Don't worry though, it won't be long before I'm back here telling you all about the course and the next book on the list, Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers! L x

No.93 - Thomas the Tank Engine

Hello! 

I've been recently informed that my blog loads in different fonts on different computers/browsers..... I'm really sorry if you've been trying to read it in a super italic font! This is not a bad decision on my part, but the work of the gremlins that live in the internet! If you would rather read the blog in a more readable font I suggest refreshing your browser window, which should change the font making for a more comfortable experience! 

Right, technical bits over! On with the blog! This time the book is Thomas the Tank Engine, no.2 in Rev. W. Awdry's Railway Series. 

Funnily enough this little book was really hard to track down and in the end I had to download it onto my kindle! But Thomas is everywhere I hear you say - true, but not the original Thomas. There's a difference? Yes! Now all the Thomas the Tank Engine books are part of the Thomas and Friends franchise, and the stories are all different! 

I was a Thomas the Tank Engine fan when I was little, in particular the 90s tv version, but I don't actually remember ever reading the original books! When trying to track this one down I was surprised to see that Thomas was not the main focus of the Railway Series, as the modern versions would lead us to believe, but in fact the second book. However, it is clear that out of all of Awdry's little trains, Thomas was the one to capture the hearts of children everywhere. 

This lovely little book is made up of 4 stories about Thomas, the little train who wants to be 'a very helpful engine', as the Reverend puts it. Thomas is introduced as a loveable but very cheeky engine! To begin with he has a bit of an attitude problem, playing tricks on the big engines and telling them they aren't working hard enough! Thomas's job is to move the coaches and carriages ready for bigger engines to pull, but really he wants to be like them and go on adventures. It certainly reminds me of smaller siblings wanting to do everything the older ones do, believing that that is better, and I think this is at the heart of Awdry's story. Over the 4 stories Thomas learns that he's not experienced enough to do the big jobs and that they are much tougher than he thinks. However, in the last story Thomas gets a chance to prove himself by pushing the rescue trucks to help save James when some naughty trucks run him off the rails. For this Thomas gets huge praise from the Fat Director (yes, not the Fat Controller! I was surprised too!). From then on the other engines stop seeing Thomas as a trouble maker and they all get on splendidly as equals. Thomas also learns that he is a valuable member of the team, and the jobs he does are as valid as the job of big engines.

It has its moral messages, just as you'd expect from a vicar writing for children in the 1940s, but it is fun too. Also, as you'd expect at that time, these books were written for boys, Awdry's son Christopher to be precise. The association with boys and trains or cars or any vehicle for that matter, is one that still continues today in the children's book industry. However, I would urge any one with a young child, whether boy or girl to read these lovely little books by the Reverend Awdry, as they are truly delightful! Plus C. Reginald Dalby's colour illustrations are beautiful too, each one its own little painting depicting the escapades of the little train. Children cannot help but love Thomas and his friends, and this is clear to see even today, where despite a few reinventions the characters are still timeless. Awdry's little train is a classic!