Writing about Anne of Green Gables and Daddy-Long-Legs has made me think about other childhood books I loved; there were so many that I could not begin to pick one out as a favourite. I often ask people what their favourite books were as a child and the answers are fascinating.
I was a quick reader – still am – so I got through lots of books, but they were expensive so most of mine were borrowed from libraries or friends, or were passed on from older neighbours or cousins. These hand-me-down books had often been written in the 1930s/40s and were usually school stories by writers like Angela Brazil, Elinor M Brent-Dyer and Dorita Fairlie Bruce. The language was as dated as the dresses but the themes were timeless and I enjoyed reading about midnight feasts, trouble in the dorm and the new girl who didn’t fit in but would by the end.
The illustrations did not have the colour and exuberance of modern children’s books (and no one can beat Quentin Blake!) but a child needs pictures and as an adult I still smile with satisfaction when I see an illustrated novel.
I loved all the Enid Blyton series: the Famous Five; the Adventure books, the Mystery books; the Secret Seven, but I would take a bet that, like me, every Blyton fan has as soft spot for the Faraway Tree stories, so I was delighted to learn that an animated version of that sublime story was going to be made. That was a few years ago and I have heard nothing since – people are going to be disappointed - come on animators, get funding and get cracking!
I was too old for the Roald Dahl books when they first came out but I read them to my children, and although I admired them I did not like them; they have an element of danger and uncertainty in them which makes the reader unsure that everything will end happily – and I was a child who needed a happy ending.
The children’s book I am writing will most certainly have a happy ending; it will not be remembered a hundred years from now – but my grandchildren may enjoy it!
