Some kids' books are weird

As regular readers (does that suggest delusions of grandeur on my part?) might have noticed, I like books.  I've always liked books.  One of my favourite memories as a kid is going into the Borzoi Bookshop in Stow on the Wold - I knew that my soft-hearted father could never resist buying one or more books for himself, and that always meant books for me too.  I think I've gone the same way - we have a nice Waterstone's near us with a snuggly children's section, and I can never go in there with Isabel without each of us buying something.  I've now taken to approaching this tactically - we only go in when we need to buy a gift for someone, preferably another child, since Waterstone's always has a suitable 3 for 2 or BOGOF deal.  So it's win-win (and yet another example of me being cheap...!).

Some kids' books I just love.  Sandra Boynton is fantastic (one hippo, all alone...) and we also have a lovely book which we bought almost by accident on holiday in the US called Moonsnacks and Assorted Nuts which is equally brilliant.  I tend to like books of poems for children where I would never read a proper adult book of poetry.  With regard to the classics, I am, perhaps controversially, not fond of the Mr Men (cute pictures, but annoying language), but I do love Beatrix Potter.  Anything where the language is a pleasure to read out loud ticks the right boxes for me.  This therefore knocks Dora the bloomin' Explorer right out of the park.

We've spent a few years now enjoying books for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers, but now that she's started school we've finally reached a stage I've been looking forward to for oh, about 20 years.  I saved lots of my favourite books from when I was a kid (Willard Price's Adventure series, What Katy Did, Fattypuffs and Thinifers, to name but a few), and we decided to start Isabel off on these longer books (which, gasp, require a bookmark instead of being readable in one sitting) with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Can't be beat.  And we all loved it - it was great to read, she enjoyed listening to it, and we also enjoyed the movie after we'd finished the book.  In a burst of enthusiasm we decided that we'd follow up with Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.  Mistake.  Still a pleasure to read, but just a weird story.  No wonder they never made a movie out of that one too.  Allegedly Roald Dahl didn't like the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie (what's not to like, Roald?!) and refused to sell the rights to the Great Glass Elevator.  Thank goodness for that.  It's the ramblings of a mad man - first, they go into space (!), are chased by creatures called vermicious knids which look like eggs but can transform themselves into any other shape, then when they get back they accidentally turn some of the grandparents into either babies or ghosts and subsequently age one of them by 300 years, then they all recover and get invited to the White House.   What?!  Am very glad we've finished that now!  Next, something a little less odd - I'm planning on Dick King-Smith's The Sheep Pig, which was made into the movie Babe.  All together now - "That'll do, pig!"