A musical interlude

Last night, I was doing my typical Friday night thing of fighting extreme end-of-week exhaustion and staying up late just because I can. (even though we get up early for football, there’s always that psychological Friday feeling that gives you permission to relax).

I’m glad I did because I caught a rather fabulous programme on BBC 2 called Artsnight, which was presented by the excellent Armando Iannucci (I’d be totally lying if I said I’d typed that without checking the spelling).

What we’re reading: The Witches by Roald Dahl

Toby has been absolutely itching to read The Witches ever since he picked it out during our last trip to the bookshop.

This was one of my favourite Dahl books when I was younger and so far so good. I remember being pretty frightened by it and one chapter in, my memories of feeling scared are starting to creep back. It’s really clever how Dahl generates the suspense in this tale.

I think there are going to be lots of ducking under the duvet moments for Toby!

We’ve finished! Stig of the Dump

Published in 1963, Stig of the Dump is widely considered to be a children’s classic, and having just finished reading this with Toby, I am more than satisfied that it deserves its classic status.

It’s a relatively simple plot about a boy (Barney) who is staying with his grandmother during the summer holidays and who befriends a cave man he discovers living in a dump at the end of his grandmother’s garden but as with the best literary fiction, the book operates on many levels and taps into multiple themes.

Sunday trip to the bookshop

Sometimes it’s a struggle to motivate Toby to get out the house at the weekend, and after five days a week and more than 10 hours a day spent at school and after-school clubs it’s understandable that he just wants to hang out at home. Me too, most of the time – although when the sun is shining and the rays beaming through the window highlight all the dust, I do like to get out and about too.

I was pretty delighted this weekend when Toby suggested that not only did he want to go out but that he also wanted to visit our local bookshop (Waterstones btw, which isn’t bad to have on your doorstop in a small town) to redeem his World Book Day voucher against the purchase of a Horrid Henry book.

Best children’s books ever?

If you like a list – and I love a list – check out the Telegraph’s compilation of the 100 best children’s book.

It’s like taking a trip through my own childhood as well as the early years of parenting, and there are plenty of new and classic titles on it that I’m itching to try with Toby.

There are many of my own childhood favourites like The Velveteen Rabbit and The BFG, as well as many more recently loved picture books I read with Toby like The Gruffalo and The Tiger Who Came to Tea, which although a bit dated was still really loved in our home.

Horrid Henry

We have a new obsession in our household: Horrid Henry

For those of you who don’t know Horrid Henry is the fictional creation of Francesca Simon, star of a series of books and an accompanying TV show.

Horrid Henry was the subject of a World Book Day project, so definitely testament to the success of WBD in generating enthusiasm for reading, in my humble opinion.

Although if you saw the news today and were shocked that someone sent their 11-year-old to school dressed as Christian Grey of 50 Shades fame, you would be forgiven for doubting the merits of the initiative (that was a serious “what were they thinking” moment).

As I mentioned in my previous post there was no dressing up going on in Toby’s school but actual book-related projects which have definitely had the desired effect as he’s been reading non-stop all week. Result.

I even discovered him watching Horrid Henry on YouTube; he usually watches 20-somethings talk about how to play Xbox games so believe me this is serious progress in the literacy stakes!

So thank you World Book Day and Commercial Primary School. Let’s hope the reading enthusiasm continues through the weekend!

World Book Day

World Book Day seems to get bigger every year, and anything that celebrates books, and keeps them being talked about in the media agenda is definitely welcome.

The trend for schools to encourage children to dress up as favourite book characters has become a permanent fixture in the school calendar.

Dressing up is a bit of a political playground minefield, and I’m glad that Toby’s school has requested that children just come to school in casual clothes wearing a letter or a word on their clothing. Something simple that won’t spark competition or one-up-manship, or worse betray social class or education levels.

The joys of non-fiction

So tonight we took a break from Stig of the Dump and looked through each and every page of Toby’s kid’s atlas.

Not all kids like stories, and in our efforts to be “good parents” we can push fiction down our kids’ throats and forget that there is just as much literacy value in factual books.

Toby’s uncle is travelling the world and it’s rejuvenated his interest in far-flung places, and in particular the dangerous creatures you find there. Don’t ask.

We had a really lovely bedtime discussion, prompted by the atlas, about different countries and the animals and types of people that live there, plus all the corresponding facts about the world’s longest river or longest mountain range.

I learnt how much knowledge Toby has absorbed over the years. All those trips the museum haven’t gone to waste as I witnessed him recall sights he’d seen there, prompted by the pictures and facts he saw in the book.

I also learnt how good his reading is. When I try and force him to read his school books, he often shows little interest and stumbles over words and sentences and gives up far too easily. Tonight, reading something he had chosen, he was perfectly fluent and showed real skill and confidence in tackling challenging words.

Now, I just need him to put his thoughts of shark-infested waters or desert scorpions to one side, and get some sleep!

What we’re reading: Stig of the Dump by Clive King

So we headed to the library in search of the next Roald Dahl book (Toby’s got his eye on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) but unfortunately there were none in stock.

Toby started wandering off seeking out some non-fiction books on bugs but I was keen to select our next bedtime read and found a handful of novels I thought would be suitable.

Together we chose Stig of the Dump by Clive King, another title I remember from childhood.

We’ve just started it and the prose is far more descriptive and dense than Dahl so it will be interesting to see if this captures his attention, and whether or not it is a story that has stood the test of time.

So far it seems like a simple and gentle tale but is it too subtle for an active six-year-old with a penchant for burp and fart gags?

We’ll find out – but he dosed off at the end of chapter 2, so it doesn’t bode well!

We’ve finished! Fantastic Mr Fox

It took no time at all to work our way through Fantastic Mr Fox.

For me it was a book of two halves: the first half in which the farmers are in battle with Fantastic Mr Fox is pacy and exciting but the second half focuses on the interchanges between animals and loses something for me.

I’m not keen on stories revolving around talking animals and Mr Dahl is at his best depicting people and all their horrible truths.

Still, it’s a light breezy read that is worth sharing with young readers.

Toby loved it. He rated it his favourite Dahl book to date, beating George’s Marvellous Medicine and The Twits (I prefer George’s Marvellous Medicine, myself!).

His fascination with all things Roald Dahl continues, and it’s lovely to witness an enthusiasm for an author that I too enjoyed as a child.

So here are the final scores for Fantastic Mr Fox:

Read-aloud-ability: 5/5

Fun factor : 3/5

Fidget factor: 2/5

Fear factor: 3/5

Page-turn-ability: 3/5

Mum’s final score: 6/10 – Too many talking animals and not enough of the vile farmers but still satisfying enough for a young reader.

Toby’s final score: 10/10 – His favourite Dahl book to date!