Five children’s books from my youth I am grateful for

Danielle over at Books, Vertigo and Tea challenged her readers to write about five books they are grateful for. You can read Danielle’s post here: https://booksvertigoandtea.com/2017/11/21/5-fictional-books-i-am-thankful-for/.

I though this was a great idea, so I have written an overview of my five favourite children’s books of all time. These are books I read as and love as a child.

Fattipuffs and Thinifers

Fattypuffs and Thinifers is a wonderful book about two brothers, one fat and one thin, who discover a hidden world beneath the surface of the earth. This subterranean society is segregated based on the physical weight of its inhabitants. Larger people are Fattypuffs and live separately to the Thinifers, who are workaholics who “eat to live not live to eat”. The two nations are hostile towards each other and are verging on a war. The two brothers from the surface are separated when they arrive in this country and set off on individual adventures. Edmund is a Fattypuff and sails away on a ship to Fattyport. He has a lovely time, resting on the deck in a large arm chair and eating all kinds of tasty food. Terry, on the other hand, sets off on a ship to Thiniville and gets to know some of the Thinifers who exercise and work relentlessly while eating very little. The tension between the two nations is on the increase and war seems inevitable when the two brothers come up with a clever plan to resolve the situation. This book is suitable for readers aged 10 to 13 years old.

I am David

I have been trying to work out in my mind which of the many children’s books I love, is my absolute favourite. This morning I was reading an extract from I am David to a group of children. It was the scene where David saves the little Italian girl from the fire and I realised that I am David is my absolute favourite children’s books. This book has such a beautiful storyline and is so well written, you become completely pulled into the story and David’s search to find his mother. I would highly recommend it for children of 12 and above.

The Hobbit

Michael, Greg and I listed to The Hobbit as an audio book, all in one sitting. Greg and I have both read this wonderful story before but it was the first time my son, Michael, heard this story. We all loved it. Mike on hearing it for the first time and Greg and I hearing it for the third and sixth times, respectively.

I love Mr Tolkien’s beautiful prose and really enjoyed his descriptions of Bilbo, the hobbit after which the book is named and main character’s, surprise and perplexity as the dwarves start arriving at his home, one after the other. The book has beautiful poetry and this is most wonderful when read by a professional story teller. It is amazing to read this tale and see Bilbo’s character develop through his adventures with the grim mountain trolls, the evil goblins under the mountain, Smaug, the dragon and, of course, the infamous Gollum. He also meets some very helpful characters such as the powerful eagles, Beorn, the shape-changer who helps the party out of a scrape, and Bard, the bowman.

My favourite part of the story is when the party of dwarves and Bilbo travel through Mirkwood forest and get into a whole variety of different scrapes. The spiders gave me the absolute shivers and this entire scene was very creepy yet thrilling for me.

This is a tale that describes the morbid effect that a love of gold and wealth can have on the hearts of those that allow this to become the most important thing in their lives. We witness the degeneration of a good and worth character under the influence of the glimmering gold. As a contrast, we witness the purity of heart of the hobbit and his goodness of character shines through.

A most amazing book and my absolute favourite of the Tolkien books as it doesn’t have the dark undertones that permeate through the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables is a book I read over and over again during my girlhood. I re-read it to my son last year and I found it just as poignant and amazing as I did the first time round. Anne with an “e” is a young orphan girl of eleven years old. The books starts with Matthew Cuthbert, a bachelor farmer who lives with his severe, spinster sister, arriving at the local train station to collect the orphan boy they have requested to help Matthew on the farm. There is no boy waiting for Matthew on the platform, there is only red-headed Anne. Anne is a kind-hearted girl, very intense and highly emotional and a great chatterbox. Matthew cannot leave Anne at the station so he takes her home, hoping that his sister, Marilla, will know what to do. Anne endears herself to Matthew on the drive home to such an extent that he wants to keep her and, despite Marilla’s misgivings about raising a girl and Anne’s rather excessively exuberant nature, that is what happens. Anne begins a new life at Green Gables farm. This is a beautiful tale about how this young girl becomes such an important part of the community and does much good for both Matthew and Marilla who both learn to love her a great deal. Of course, with a temper to match her red hair and her tempestuous spirit, Anne manages to get herself into a number of interesting scrapes. I would recommend this book for young readers aged eleven to fourteen.

My naughty little sister

My Naughty Little Sister is another great favourite of mine from my childhood days. It is a lovely book for younger children as each chapter is a stand alone short story. I found when my boys were younger that they struggled to listen to chapter books as they forgot the beginning before we reached the end. This had the sad result that the book was often abandoned mid-story. The stories are told through the eyes of the older sister who is completely astonished by the “bad” behaviour of her younger sister. My naughty sister has a number of naughty adventures including biting Father Christmas’ finger, throwing her older sister’s much prized porcelain doll out of the window, catching small fish in a basket, getting stuck in a drain pipe and eating most of a birthday trifle at her friend, Harry’s birthday party. My naughty little sister is a great favourite in the neighbourhood, especially with the family’s elderly neighbours. She also spends a day at her older sister’s school and delights the teacher and other children with her sweetness and good behaviour. The only person in the book who fails to be charmed by My Naughty Little Sister is her father who manages to lose her entirely one afternoon while he is babysitting her. The stories are simple but really very funny and both of my sons found this series of books very enjoyable. I would recommend this book for boys and girls aged 7 to 12.

Do you have a favourite children’s book. Let me know in the comments.

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Robbie and Michael Cheadle are the co-authors of the Sir Chocolate Book series and Robbie Cheadle is the author of Silly Willy goes to Cape Town

Purchase the Sir Chocolate books and Silly Willy Goes to Cape Town from:

https://www.amazon.com/author/robbiecheadle

OR

http://tinyurl.com/zdokqjr (currently available at a discounted price)

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