It’s only 4.50pm and it’s already dark. I kind of like it. People always start moaning at this time of year about how the nights are closing in and days are getting shorter and how they never see the sun shine. Oh, boo hoo. Dark is good. One of my favourite books as a child was The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson. I found it in Waterstones the other day and I bought it so that I could give it to our Goddaughter when she is old enough (although I may not be able to part with it). It has such a great message for kids who are scared of the dark (although rather ironically, I never was. Still loved the book though). The protagonist is a baby owl called Plop – what a great name!. According to the book:

• Dark is exciting
• Dark is kind
• Dark is fun
• Dark is necessary
• Dark is fascinating
• Dark is wonderful
• Dark is beautiful

Other books I loved as a child – this is not an exhaustive list:

• The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman
• Yertle the Turtle and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss
• Mr Tickle and Mr Bump and Mr Topsy-Turvy and Mr Mischief by Roger Hargreaves
• When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six (I can remember thinking, “Wow! I wonder what it will be like to be six!”) by A.A. Milne
• Meg and Mog by Jan Pienkowski
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
• 101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnet
• Little Women series by Louisa M. Alcott
• Miss Jump the Jockey by Allan Ahlberg
• The Sweet Valley High series by Francine Pascal
  
• The Sweet Dreams series by various authors
• Cheerleaders series by various authors

There are some books that I have never read and I wish I had:

• Forever and Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret by Judy Blume (I only read the naughty bits in Forever which I don’t remember so probably I didn’t understand them)
• Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
• The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• The Anne of Green Gables Series by L.M. Montgomery (I L.O.V.E.D the TV series!)

What books do you remember/love/hate from your childhood?

ps I also want to see the film of The Chronicals of Narnia that was recently made.  It looks great but if nothing elsae, according to two separate sources, the little girl in it looks like me. Or at least as I would have done as a child. Funnily enough, I think she looks like my mum did as a little girl which is weird because the two people who mentioned it to me have never seen my mum or pictures of either of us as a child so I guess there much be something in it.

Georgie Henley looking a bit like me:

Georgie Henley looking like my mum: