The Battle Of Bubble And Squeak by Philippa Pearce is an entertaining children’s novel, just perfect for ages eight years and over.
The reader meets Bubble and Squeak who are two gerbils in need of a new home. All the family, except Mum, want to keep them. All they need to do now is to convince Mum that she wants to give them a home!
All the book is well presented. I loved the illustrations.
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The Primrose Railway Children by Jacqueline Wilson is a wonderful modern re-telling of E. Nesbit’s The Railway Children. It is perfect for ages eight years and over and is sure to delight whatever your age.
I am a huge fan of the 1970 film but have never warmed to the original book. However The Primrose Railway Children captured my attention and my heart from the start. It follows similar but slightly different storylines to the original and is absolutely charming.
The action is told via ten year old Phoebe in the first person. She is realistic, likable and easy to empathise with. I ‘travelled’ through the novel in her shoes. She has a fourteen year old sister Becks and an eleven year old brother Perry, who has autism. We witness the ups and downs of sibling relationships. They basically love each other with the occasional spat.
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Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian is a heart breaking but beautiful children’s historical novel set during World War II.
William, a tiny scrap of a boy, is evacuated to the country to stay with Mr Tom, an older man who has kept his own company since his wife and son died years earlier. Both are broken souls in need of love and care.
Mr Tom’s heart is softened by William whose spirit has been broken, along with his body, by his mum. “He was such a bad boy, he knew that… She [Mum] only gave him soft beatings.” William has grown to expect cruelty from everyone. He believes he deserves it. The reader’s heart breaks. His mother has brought William up on a twisted form of religion. “Mum told him that whenever he was good she liked him but when he was bad, she didn’t. Neither did God … It was very lonely being bad.”
It is heart breaking to see the shell of a boy who believes he is bad. It is beautiful to watch him bud and blossom under the love and care of Mr Tom. Together, as their lives open up, they begin to let others in. The whole village is blessed by knowing them.
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