(Reading the sex scenes to her was a bit weird, though.)Īfter you've got past the Louis CK early years stage, you don't have to read to your kids because you have to. My favourite is a weird little book called The Game of the Goose by Ursula Dubosarsky, but I've just finished reading a book with my 11-year-old, Eva, called Looking for JJ, about a girl who murders another girl, and it held me gripped more than any adult thriller. Andy Stanton's Mr Gum series I have laughed at more than any adult novel I have read.įor early teens, it just gets better and better. Now there are scores of sparkling writers for the 7-12 group (my favourites are David Almond, Lemony Snicket and Malorie Blackman).

I grew up with The Hobbit, CS Lewis and Stig of the Dump. Up to the early teen years, the richness of modern work is astonishing.

The Moomins, on the other hand, awesome, likewise Mrs Pepperpot, Pippi Longstocking, and anything by Oscar Wilde.Īs children get older, you get more and more pleasure reading to them. What Katy Did, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables? Meh.

Big secret about the original Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland? Flashes of brilliance but otherwise pretty tedious. The Magic Faraway Tree, most of the Noddys and the Amelia Jane stories have entertained all my children – and me – without fail.īlyton is one of the few classic authors in my view to stand the test of time. But what a storyteller! She has some special magic that just makes you want to read on, however stupid the story. I know she's not a great stylist, as well as being racist, sexist, etc. I would also put in a word for Enid Blyton. (Does the bear want to eat them? Or does it just want to play?) We're Going on a Bear Hunt, through which I must have made my way more than 50 times, is compelling and enigmatic. Hippos Go Berserk! By Sandra Boynton is funnier than most adult comic novelists can manage. Unfortunately, my children, when young, just lapped up all this garbage, which made reading to them agonising (even worse was when they read to me, taking about 20 minutes a page).īooks for young children tend to be slight/dull. Likewise, the entire Animal Ark series – Puppy in the Pantry, Boa Constrictor in the Basement, etc) is unbearable. Alexandra the Royal Baby Fairy is the latest in this nauseating series. So do all the Daisy Meadows books (until recently I thought she was a real person).

The game of the goose ursula dubosarsky