No. 68 - The Family from One End Street (and World Book Day 2020)

It's World Book Day month, hooray! Thursday 5th March was World Book Day, a favourite of mine as you may already know. I love seeing which characters children dress up as, and how their little imaginations are sparked by literature of all kinds. The free books for this year's World Book Day are fantastic as always, with authors such as Anthony Horowitz, Robin Stevens, and Matt Haig contributing brand new stories. You can see the full list of the books here, so encourage children to cash in those vouchers and grab a new short story!

As for today's post, I want to talk to you about Eve Garnett's masterpiece The Family from One End Street. First published in 1937, this book oozes authenticity in a way books these day's rarely do. It is a wonderful depiction of the life of the Ruggle family, who live at No.1 One End Street, in the fictional town of Otwell-on-the-Ouse (which is said to be based on Lewes in Sussex). Nothing extraordinary happens, and the setting is thoroughly domestic, but this is it's appeal. It is wonderfully mundane.

Unusually for the time, it focuses on the life of a working class family. The mum, Rosie Ruggle does people's laundry and Dad, Jo Ruggle is a dustman. They have seven children, Lily-Rose, Kate, Jo, twins John and James, Peggy and baby William. Children of the time were more likely to be reading about the exploits of middle-class families, think about The Famous Five and The Secret Seven, so this book was quite special. Just like the typical middle-class adventure novel, most of the chapters are based around the children, following their exploits and adventures (although I use the term loosely). The Ruggle's tales are moral, entertaining, and often follow the troubles of their everyday life. What happens when Lily Rose melts a rich ladies petticoat with an iron, and how will the Ruggle's afford Kate's new school clothes? Will they make it to London to see Uncle Charlie in the parade? There are so many lovely episodes in this book that will have you routing for the working class Ruggle's. It is so endearing, plus there is a lovely air of gentle humour about these stories which I really enjoyed.

These days children expect stories with exciting twists and turns, fast action, and snappy storylines to keep them reading. There doesn't seem to be as many books that are slower paced, and actually deal with the domestic level of life quite like this does. I worry that the publishing industry has it's work cut out trying to create books for the screen generation, who expect everything to be instant and quick. Books like Eve Garnett's require consideration and time. Although it is by no means a difficult read, it requires absorption. There are no quick fixes here. The stories are charming, and although not much happens, you enjoy going on a small scale adventure with these characters. It puts me in mind of Shirley Hughes books, in particular the 'My Naughty Little Sister' series, which I adored as a child. This slow, gentle pace of story telling is a rare beast these days I think, and that is a huge pity. I understand that nowadays children would find it hard to identify with a child from the 1930s, and as an adult reader I have a greater understanding of this time period. However, I feel it's such a shame that it is no longer a favourable way of storytelling. The stories in this book are refreshing. There are no arguments, no social media fallout, no political or environmental worries, no gender politics, these stories are simple, wholesome and uplifting. 

Like the stories themselves, the illustrations have a similar feel. I think this is because they were also created by Garnett. They are simple line drawings, yet packed with tons of expression and life. You feel like you've taken a look into her sketchbook after a day out. Just look at the one below showing the family at the beach one Bank Holiday.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who loves a bit of nostalgia! It's stories and characters hark back to a time when life was simpler. There is more of a clear gender and class divide, yes, but then this book was written at a time when that was normal. I wouldn't however say the characters fall into those stereotypes. Those girls are quite feisty, and the boys have their moments of weakness. Even Mr Ruggle has moral dilemmas to face. Overall this book is a lovely example of domestic fiction for children at it's best. It is about the love, and life, of a family.

Thanks for reading, L x

Next up, it's the Asterix comics by Uderzo and Goscinny!

No. 76 - The London Eye Mystery

Hi there, me again! Another book review for you! The first official one of 2018 in fact! This time i'm taking a look at The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd.

Prior to this project I had ashamedly never heard of Siobhan Dowd, and it wasn't until I did a little research for this post that I discovered Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls was in fact Dowd's story, and he wrote it for her after her death. That was a lovely little factoid, plus I also found out that Robin Stevens (of Murder Most Unladylike fame) has written the sequel to The London Eye Mystery, The Guggenheim Mystery, based on Dowd's original ideas too. So there's lots of literary love going on there! Hurrah!

Obviously being a mystery story I can't, and won't, give away too much! Our narrator, Ted, has Asperger's. He struggles with reading body language and social interactions, but knows everything there is to know about meteorology. He dreams of becoming a meteorologist, and the book is littered with weather facts and references, which are a really interesting aside to main the story. That's also how Ted's disability is treated, as an aside. It is never named, sometimes called Ted's syndrome, or as Ted puts it, his brain just runs on a different operating system to everyone else's. Personally I can't decide on whether not naming Ted's Asperger's is a bad thing or not? He often makes references to the way he deals with situations using tools he has been given by a teacher, especially when recognising emotions in others. He also has physical reactions to stressful situations, which are pointed out all the way through the book. But these things this are never attributed to his Asperger's, just noted, and we recognise him as being different, but not necessarily in a bad way. Ted uses his different operating system to solve the mystery in a way no one else could, just like Christopher Boone, in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime. Books like these highlight the value of thinking slightly differently and hopefully encouraging child readers on the Autistic spectrum to value their differences and not see them as a disability. It may also help children understand more about Autism if they come across it in others. So maybe, by not specifically pointing out that Ted has Asperger's, Dowd has very cleverly made the subject so much more accessible.

When Ted's Aunt Gloria and cousin Salim come to stay there is one thing, as a tourist to London, that Salim wants to do. He wants to ride the London Eye! Ted and his sister Kat have been up before and both agree that it's an amazing experience, Ted explaining about the wheel's engineering, and Kat excitedly telling Salim about the views. It's agreed and the three of them set out for the Eye the next day. Whilst queuing to buy their tickets a stranger offers them his, saying that he's changed his mind and didn't fancy it, claiming to be claustrophobic. As there is just one ticket, and Ted and Kat have been up before, they let Salim board the pod in place of the strange man. Ted notes the time, 11.32, knowing that Salim will be back done in precisely 30 minutes. Just as Ted predicts at 12.02 Salim's pod touches down, the doors open, but Salim is nowhere to be seen.....

That's all i'm going to say, so you'll have to read it if you want to know what happens next! Has Salim vanished into thin air? Was he hiding under the seat in the pod hoping to go round again? Had Ted got the time wrong? Or did he spontaneously combust? Ted must consider all these potential scenarios and more! With the help of his sister Kat, can he solve the London Eye Mystery and bring Salim home?

Thanks for reading, L x

Next up, Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield.