Anyone who knows me or is a reader of my blog will know that I am passionate about children’s literature.
When I was a girl I loved to read Enid Blyton: especially The Famous Five books
and when I spent some time in hospital, aged 10. having my appendix removed these books helped me get through it.
I then discovered the Jill books by Ruby Ferguson: Jill had her own pony, something that I longed for.
My favourite all time book is The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldon
. ( anything by her actually) because along with her partnership with author Axel Schiffler the books are amazing because they are written in thyme making them even more fun and any early readers are helped to predict the next word giving them confidence.
When I was a child minder I often read The Gruffalo to the children; one parent told me that when she took her son into a book shop he picked up a copy of The Gruffalo and started reading out loud ” Who taught you to read” she asked him, ” Karen” he replied. He wasn’t actually reading – he had learned the book by heart and was reciting the text with the help of the illustrations.
Sharing a shell by the same author has glitter on every page which may encourage children who are not so interested in books to take a look; this book is great for sharing with the children when the weather is not so good as it reminds you of summer days on the beach.
My second favourite children’s author is Shirley Hughes as her books have a real feel-good factor and her illustrations are of home life which children can relate to and be asked to point to things.
My youngest enjoyed Shirley’s books about Alfie and Annie-Rose and my 34 year old can still remember me reading Dogger to him, so that one had a lasting effect.
Any kind of literature that children are interested in is great, even if they only enjoy looking at comics. I was once told by an elderly lady that her son had no interest in books until she introduced him to Stig of the dump by Clive King.
Other favourite books are those that challenge gender stereo types Pilot Jane and the runaway plane(which I have reviewed) is what the title suggests it is about a female pilot.
Julian is a mermaid looks at transgender
I really enjoyed this blog , so much can be learnt by reading and I loved all the details of so many lovely children’s books. Well done Karen for taking me back to when my children were young and the books they used to love.
I wasa avid Enid Blyton girl myself. I had a desire to go to boarding school because of Malory Towers !!! #globalblogging
Malory towers were books that I never read
Me too!! They were great books.
Thank you for the wonderful reviews. Books can make a world of difference in a child’s life. Some of these would be perfect for my grandsons! 🙂
Thanks, glad to be of help
I loved Enid Blyton books as a kid too! Can you believe I have a 2 year old and still haven’t read the Gruffalo? I feel like my time will come though, ha! Thanks for sharing #KCACOLS
I used to like Shirley Hughes too. I can’t really remember any titles. How weird. #GlobalBlogging
When I was doing some research for this post, I came across many books by Shirley Hughes, that I didn’t know about, she is definitely a very talented author!
Haven’t read The Famous Five, but will certainly investigate them. Thanks for sharing.
Some great favourites here. I was also an Enid Blyton fan growing up. Noddy, The Faraway Tree and Mallory Towers. I still have them plus Famous Five and Secret Seven to pass on to E. And E’s current favourite is also Gruffalo. The love of reading was definitely forged in me when I was little!Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time
Fond memories of Enid Blyton, Black Beauty and The Hobbit. I have not read some of these and the Gruffalo passed me by entirely #ThatFridiayLinky #BinkyLinky
The Gruffalo is a good one. Where The Wild Things Are was my absolute favorite. Its neat sharing these with our own kids all these years later #KCACOLS
Lovely review, one of my 3 year olds favourites is The Tiger Who Came To Tea #ThatFridayLinkUp
Reading this sent me on a happy journey down memory lane! I read the famous five as a child, nw read it to my own children and I can’t tell you just how many times I’ve read The Gruffalo, I kid you not when I say I can read it bookless! #ThatFridayLinky
I am also able to read the Gruffalo without a book, once when I was washing the dishes, my son who was sat at the table asked me to read it when I had finished, image his surprise when I started reading without the book in front of me, thanks for stopping by
We absolutely love reading in our house too. The Gruffalo is a firm favourite. My son has just started reading Enid Blyton books and he loves them too, #StayClassyMama
Popping back from #KCACOLS
one of my favourite authors during my own childhood was Judy Bloom, but with my youngest kids it has to be Julia Donaldson all the way. I loved reading rhyming books to them. #KLTR
Oh my I had forgotten the Dogger books, but that image just brought memories flooding back! I loved to read as a child and still do. Its such a magical way to escape from the every day. #DreamTeam
We are huge fans of the Gruffalo here (and all JD books really!).
We have all the Shirley Hughes books too, including the very same copy of Dogger you’ve featured in your post! Lovely stories, although some of the gender stereotyping is shocking (especially in Lucy & Tom go to school when all the mums go shopping)! #DreamTeam
I have actually kept all of my childhood books, including a large selection of Enid Blyton books for my own daughters and I look forward to handing them down to my five year old daughter when she is ready for them. She is learning to read at the moment so it be another couple of years but I can’t wait to see her get the same enjoyment from them that I did when I was a child! #KCACOLS
I have never read the Famous 5 or Secret 7 but loved the other Enid Blyton sets when I was a child. I bought the Secret 7 set last week and have the Famous 5 on my wishlist. Thanks for linking up with #stayclassymama
The Gruffalo and as you say anything by Julia Donaldson is always such a a massive winner in our house. I used to love Enid Blyton books too growing up I used to love the St Claire’s Boarding school books #KLTR