Childhood Reading is a Joy

Hello,

Today, in honour of Ireland Reads Day this Friday (25th Feb, 2022), I’ll be chatting about childhood reads. As some of you already know I came to reading late. I struggled to learn the basics and reading a book with words instead of pictures seemed like an unpleasant chore to me until I was about 8. My teacher’s frustration didn’t help and going to the remedial reading lessons made me feel stupid, although I’m sure they were needed.

My avid-reader parents didn’t know what to do but my older sister passed me Enid Blyton adventure stories and that helped ignite a love of story and “what happened next” which I’ve never lost. I slogged my way through the Famous Five, Secret Seven, St. Clare’s, and Mallory Towers. Then, when I was 9, my new teacher read us “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien each week during the school year.

I was hooked and waited eagerly for the next installment but we reached June and the school holidays and Bilbo Baggins hadn’t met Smaug yet. I explained my predicament to my father who took me into Dublin on the bus to Easons on O’Connell Street where he bought me a brand new copy of book, complete with evil dragon and golden hoard on the front and a cool fantasy map inside. I signed it and added my age, 10, to the inside leaf.

I became the child who reads well into the early hours to finish a story, the one who is accused of “eating the dictionary” because her vocabulary is wide, the one who mispronounces words because she found a word in a book rather than in speech, and the one who loved Easter holidays because she could curl up in her bedroom with books and chocolate eggs for a glorious two weeks.

I also re-read “The Hobbit” every year.

A selection of my childhood books

I grew up at a time when YA didn’t exist, this totally confuses my teens. I moved directly from Enid Blyton to Charles Dickens and happily alternated between Snoopy cartoon books and Agatha Christie or Alistair Maclean. My parents didn’t care what I read, as long as I was reading.

As somebody who now writes her own books, what books can I suggest for modern readers of a youthful disposition? Some classics still hit the spot. Roald Dahl, Dr Seuss, and Tolkien still shine but some of the Victorian and Edwardian books I loved are a struggle for younger readers now. If you love Hogwarts you might try Enid Blyton and Angela Brazil boarding school books, but they don’t have magic. “Alice in Wonderland” still works too with its imaginative freedom.

Don’t forget nonfiction, I got hooked on history through books about myths by Roger Lancelyn Green (plus my father’s massive tomes on the American Civil War).

Amongst the books I saved and passed on to my own children – Frances Hodgson Burnett and E. Nesbit’s books are wonderful escapism and modern readers have the extra joy of movies about the Secret Garden and the Five Children and It. Arthur Ransome books are perfect for a child who loves the sea and sailing and are probably why I wrote “Words the Sea Gave Us”.

I didn’t own many picture books myself, but they were much loved when my children were younger. Sandra Boynton’s hilarious “Hippos Go Beserk” is the only book I can recite because I read it so often. We also loved “The Gruffalo”, “Mr Wolf’s Pancakes”, “Where’s my Cow?”, “The Happy Hedgehog Band”, the Winnie the Witch series, Harry and his bucketful of dinosaurs and whatever you do, “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”.

Nowadays I’m drawn into books by my teens. They like to discuss them so I’ve read and loved “Hunger Games”, “Divergent”, “Six of Crows”, the Skullduggery Pleasant series (set in Ireland!), and many more. I’ve been told to mention book tok on TikTok as a good source of recommendations for YA readers. “Paper Girls” and Manga books are worth checking out too (JoJo, Clash of Titan are popular around here).

One final mention must go to Terry Pratchett and his Discworld Series (I suggest starting with “Mort” and going from there) which got me through my Leaving Cert and university exams with their wit, intelligence, and sheer page-turny-ness and are much loved by my youngsters too. This blog is called Wordfoolery thanks to one of his characters.

What advice can I give to a young reader?

Read what you like. Your local library has everything so gather a selection and try them. If you don’t like it, stop reading and pick up another. Books don’t mind if you’re a boy or a girl. Words don’t mind if you can’t understand every single one – skim past the hard ones, understanding will come if you keep reading (and a dictionary, or helpful adult might help if you really need to know). It’s OK to read books with lots of pictures until the words get easier. I still read books with pictures (check out Chris Riddell’s Goth Girl books, they’re So Beautiful). If you don’t like made up stories, try nonfiction (and vice versa).

If you find a book you love, go to your teacher/librarian/parent/bookseller – tell them and ask for more. They can help.

And parents? If you’ve babies/toddlers try putting their books on the lowest shelf in the house – they will pull them out and play – that’s a good thing. Read to them – this really works. Read yourself where they will see you. Our children copy us, set a good example. When mine were 9-12 we logged all their reads and when a sheet was full (about 20 reads) we went to the bookshop and paid for a book of their choice with zero parental input. They chose well every time and adored the trip (this could be done via the library or second hand bookshop too).

Older children? Ask them to recommend a book for you, read it, talk about it. If there’s a movie of it too, watch it and enjoy the eternal book vs. film debate.

I read every day and I’ll never stop. Thank you, Mr. Baggins.

Wishing you all a very happy Ireland Reads Day,

Grace (@Wordfoolery)