Chapter Books
Roald Dahl Day – Esio Trot by Roald Dahl & Quentin Blake
September 13th is Roald Dahl Day! We’ve just started reading Roald Dahl’s books, some of which I read as a child. We loved George’s Marvellous Medicine and have just enjoyed reading Esio Trot. I didn’t know this story although I knew that Esio Trot is tortoise spelled backwards.
Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf by Catherine Storr & Marjorie-Ann Watts
Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf, published in 1955, is the first book about Polly and her adventures with the Wolf who is determined to eat her. Catherine Storr originally wrote the stories to allay her daughter Polly’s fear of wolves. She then wrote a second book, Polly and the Wolf Again.
Are you going on a farm holiday? Pack a story set on a farm!
Holidays on a farm are a lot of fun and if you are lucky enough to stay on a working farm your child can meet different kinds of animals and gain many new experiences. We were amazed how many farmyard stories we have on our bookcase, these are some of our favourites.
Summer Reading Tree
Summer holidays are finally here which gives us lots of time for reading. We have joined the library’s summer reading challenge which involves a child reading and summarising three or more books of their choice but my daughter wanted to keep a record of all the books that we read over the summer. We are including…
Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve & Sarah McIntyre
Rambling Isles, shipwrecks, sarcastic seaweed, posh hairdos and nasty villains all add to the adventure in Oliver and the Seawigs. It’s a very amusing, action packed, first chapter book that would be perfect to pack for a seaside holiday.
The Moomin stories – Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson
I read most of the Moomin books as a child (I wonder where those books are now!) and my daughter really enjoyed Comet in Moominland which is the second book about the Moomin family who live in a blue house in Moominvalley. The first Moomin story, The Moomins and The Great Flood, was first published in 1945 so,…
The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton and Jan McCafferty
Although I enjoyed many of Enid Blyton’s books as a child, including The Famous Five, Malory Towers and St. Clare’s, I didn’t read The Magic Faraway Tree stories. I had no idea what was so special about the tree and its many inhabitants but once my daughter and I started reading we were both hooked, not…
Paddington by Michael Bond and R. W. Alley
Paddington is a childhood favourite of mine and I was delighted to hear that author Michael Bond has just received a CBE for his services to English Literature. I met Michael Bond as a child and one of my prized possessions is a signed copy of Paddington Goes to THE SALES.
Fictional Best Friends
What would we do without a best friend? June 8th is National Best Friends Day in the USA and we had great fun looking through our book collection to find some of our favourite fictional best friends.
Happy 70th Birthday Pippi Longstocking!
The Pippi Longstocking stories are celebrating their 70th birthday this year, May 21st 1945 was the day that Astrid Lindgren first showed the manuscript to her daughter Karin. Originally written in Swedish the stories have been translated into many different languages as well as being made into films and television series’. Pippi Longstocking (Pippilotta Comestibles Windowshade…
