Tis the time of year when many people are thinking about the toys they want to buy for their children, so this week I’m recommending a novel about a very special group of toys – twelve wooden soldiers that the Reverend Patrick Bronte gave to his son Branwell in 1826. Pauline Clarke’s almost forgotten children’s… Continue reading
In time for Hallowe’en, I’m recommending a gentle ghost story – `The Children of Green Knowe’ by Lucy Boston. Published in 1954, this was the first in a series of six children’s novels about an ancient house set in a magical riverside garden. The fictional Green Knowe was based on Boston’s own home, the Manor… Continue reading
Most of us have seen J.M. Barrie’s famous play `Peter Pan’, or one of the many films based on it, but did you know that Barrie developed the play into a novel called `Peter and Wendy’? I recently read this novel for the very first time and found it much more interesting than I was… Continue reading
This week I’m recommending a captivating story about a boy who is transformed into a cat. Matt Haig’s`To Be A Cat’ was published in 2012 and has charming illustrations by Pete Williamson. It is marked on the cover as being suitable for readers of 9+. Please concentrate on the plus bit rather than the nine.… Continue reading
This week my choice is a children’s story which I would only recommend to adults. `The Bone Dragon’ by Alexia Casale came out in 2013 and is available in paperback or as an ebook. Casale has lived and worked in both Britain and America but this novel is set in England. Be warned that the… Continue reading
After two rather serious choices in a row, this week I’m recommending something lighter -`Comet in Moominland’. This was written and illustrated by Swedish-speaking Finnish author Tove Jansson. 2014 is the centenary of her birth, so you’ll be hearing a lot about Jansson this year. `Comet in Moominland’, which came out in 1946, was the… Continue reading
This week I’m recommending `A Hat Full of Sky’, a wise and sensitive novel by the king of Comic Fantasy, Terry Pratchett. If wise and sensitive aren’t words you associate with Terry Pratchett, perhaps you haven’t read much (or any?) of his work. `A Hat Full of Sky’ (2004) is less well known than many… Continue reading
This week I’m recommending Joan Aiken’s `The Stolen Lake’, which is probably the only Arthurian Fantasy to be set in the Andes. Joan Aiken (1924-2004) was a daughter of the American poet, Conrad Aiken but she was born and brought up in England. `The Stolen Lake’ was first published in 1981, with murky illustrations by… Continue reading
Before there was `Toy Story’ there was `The Mouse and his Child’. This week I’m recommending an early novel by Russell Hoban, an American author who spent the second half of his life in England. `The Mouse and his Child’ was published in 1967, with illustrations by Lillian Hoban. It’s easy to get in paperback… Continue reading
As Christmas approaches, I’m in the mood for something Victorian. So, let’s go back to 1877 when Mary Louisa Molesworth wrote her most famous children’s novel – `The Cuckoo Clock’. I don’t think it has ever been out of print since. Plenty of cheap but attractive old copies are available and some of the modern… Continue reading