A trip along a very happy memory lane. (Top Ten Childrens Books)

Member Name: pania22

Product:	Top Ten Childrens Books
Date:	06/06/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: numerous, each story has a moral and education purpose to its readers

Disadvantages: many hours of my life have vanished reading!!

I have always been an avid bookworm. From the days of "the yellow house" and "the red house" at infant school right up to modern day housebricks of books. I'm going to exercise boasting rights here and clearly remember being asked to read for the class 2 years below me at infants because I was so advanced for my age. It is the only time in my life, the one and only time that I can profess to be advanced at anything at all so therefore still make sure I get my mileage out of the fact twenty xxx years later!! As such I have a very very long top 30 of childrens books that I absolutely adored, some very young indeed and others once I was able to understand and follow a storyline became a staple of my bookcase. Many are there to this day

1) Top of the list was a real struggle between my absolute favourite "Winnie the Pooh" and a book that my mother used to read to me when I was very young. Both of these books hold a very strong attachment to my relationship with my mother but in the end a book named "i'll love you forever" won out.

This book is for very young children but the message stays for a lifetime. The story follows a mother who has her first child, a son. As a baby she sings to him the following song "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I am living, My baby you will be" This theme continues as he grows up, and goes through his adolescent misdemeanours. The message being that as we grow up, no matter what we do or what path our life takes a mothers love is all enduring and will never die. The final page in the book shows the Son as an adult and the mother as an old lady, very frail and clearly about to shuffle towards her bucket for a good firm kick. this time it is the son singing to his mother the words "I'll love you forever, i'll like you for always, as long as i am living, my mother you will be"
This story may seem unbelievably saccharine but for a mother child relationship is a lovely story to read to your child. It remains on my mothers book case and is now read to my Niece with a slight amendment of words""

2) Winnie the pooh. The whole lot!!!! What an absolute classic. Who, as a child, grew up without the stories of Edward Bear, Tigger, Eeyore (my absolute hero and life model but we'll come more onto that shortly) Piglet et al. Set within the beautiful tranquil Ashdown Forest in Surrey, the stories follow the rather active imaginative play of AA Milnes son, Christopher Robin and his assorted accompanyment of small stuffed toys. The enchanted place at the top of the forest, where we wave goodbye to our friends, does actually exist. As does pooh bridge. I know. I have been there and I have allowed my stick to "fall in a twitchy kind of way" only for it promptly to get stuck among the masses of twigs left by tourists whose childhood clearly followed a similar path to mine. :o) Running through all of the stories is a moralistic theme, be it friendship, teamwork or how to trap a heffalump and teaches children a good lesson about how to form relationships. Underlying also though is a very adult theme on the philosophy of life, indeed two books have been written relating the tales to the ancient philosophy of taoism. Slightly beyond me that one but eeyores overtly philosophical take on life has, in my doldrum days taught me a thing or two about how to dealw ith the world! Sayings such as "some of us do and some of don't. we can't all and thats just the way it is."
If you have children, read it to them. If you don't, read it yourself. No one of any age can fail to fall in love with them.

3) Enid Blyton's Mallory Towers Series Books 1-8

Set around the adventures of 2 girls attending the boarding school of "Mallory Towers" set somewhere in the north of england. I can't remember much about these books other than the fact that I loved them! I think they are still lurking in the folks loft somewhere and definately require a dig out! Regaling us with typical Blyton tales of lacrosse, picnics in the sun and ginger beer. Think St Trinians with manners and you'll get the general idea!

4) Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" Still present on the Faulkner family book case is my pretty soon to be antique copy of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales. A master story writer in his own right, the tale of the little match girl moved me to tears as a child and still does for its poignancy all these years on.
Starting on a snowy christmas eve, the match girl, whose name is never revealed to us is sat in a cold doorway dressed in nothing but rags. Selling matches is her only way of making money and being able to eat. the coldness was so bitter that her only way of keeping warm was to light a match, despite knowing the whipping she would get from her evil minder for doing so.
She lights the first match and in its bright flames sees the most beautiful christmas tree imaginable. Bedecked with presents and the family playing around it. She exclaims loudly and hurridly lights another match. In this she sees the biggest christmas spread that makes her feel so hungry! as she carries on examining the scenes in each match she realises that she has used them all up!!! The ending you will have to read to see... But a fantastic childrens tale and one of my favourite!!!

5) The famous five. who didnt love them!!!! I actually had a picnic the other day (see windsor review) that was set around the famous five. We had fruit cake and "lashings of ginger beer!" all we needed was a pirate boat and Timmy the dog and I would've been in the book! fantastic.

6) (oh my goodness this review is over 1000 words, i'd best wind it up now!!!) has to go to Black Beauty, a timeless classic that never fails to impress. Beauty was a horse born to upper class keepers and was kept in the lap of luxury. Bought up with good manners by his mother he was sold after the death of his keeper to his much loved and extremely caring cab owner. Parted from his friends Ginger and Merrylegs many of his thoughts are towards them and the fate that befell them on parting company. thus we get to see a different side to the comfortable life that Beauty has and gain an insight into the brutal side of equine life with the cruelty shown towards poor Ginger. It isnt long however until Beauty also falls on hard times. How will our equine hero end up? This story is a beautifully written slap on the wrist to the london cab owners that existed in the victorian ages, at the time that Anna Sewell wrote her tale.

7) "Topsy and Tim" stories. Written about a brother and sister and their adventures through daily life, "Topsy and Tim go for a swim" and "topsy and tims wet and windy day" are two titles that I recall. I was always immensely pleased when my mum would get home from work adn bring a new topsy and tim with her as a treat!

8) Beatrix Potter, any and all stories... Goes without any want or need of an explanation. Timeless classics that will endure for many years yet.

9) Peterkin Finds a Star. A beautifully illustrated story about a little boy named peterkin and his friends who go for a walk in the woods one night. Reaching up he plucks a friendly star and takes it home to keep as his friend. However the star soon begins to fade and become sick until Peterkin realises that the only way to make him feel better is to put him back in the sky. The illustrations absolutely make this book and the moral is not to take things from their natural environment.

10) faaaar to many contenders to pick one for number 10 slot.

I am glad that as a child I was encouraged to read. Every one of teh books listed above either contribute towards my learning in a way or brings back a fond memory of reading the book or having it read to me. It is something that in my adult life I still pursue and encourage anyone with non reading children out there to try to get them interested.

I've really quite enjoyed typing this review and hope someone enjoys reading it. If you have made it this far I salute you!! :o)

Summary: sorry for the length!!!