British Author Challenge January 2022: Children's Classics (before 1997)

Mervyn Peake illustration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

And we'll once again be starting the year off with children's classics. I'm still interpreting both "children's" and "classics" pretty loosely: anything often read in childhood can count, even if it wasn't written specifically for children, and anything published before 1997 can qualify for classic.

Suggestions

The Psammead Trilogy by E. Nesbit
The Magic Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton
A Fall from the Sky by Ian Serrallier
Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Running Foxes by Joyce Stranger
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones
Wolves Chronicles by Joan Aiken
Noughts and Crosses series by Malorie Blackman
Stig of the Dump by Clive King
Mistress Masham's Repose by T. H. White
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
A Dog of Flanders by Ouida
The Wind on the Moon by Eric Linklater
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend
The Rescuers series by Margery Sharp
The Boggart by Susan Cooper
The Stronghold by Mollie Hunter
The Cry of the Wolf by Melvin Burgess
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Pomeroy's Postscript by Mary Fitt
Blood Feud by Rosemary Sutcliff
Doctor Dolittle series by Hugh Lofting
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame
The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson
The Borrowers series by Mary Norton
Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor by Mervyn Peake
The Load of Unicorn by Cynthia Harnett
James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot

>2 amanda4242: ooh, I see some old favorites, and some new-to-me choices as well. :)

I'll probably read Kidnapped, which I don't think I've ever read.

This month I read The Country Child by Alison Uttley, a new-to-me author, which is a thinly-veiled fictionalized version of the author's childhood in Derbyshire. It's for adults, but she wrote many children's stories, and if there's time I may read A Traveller in Time.

I have two Carnegie Medal (UK) winners lined up. The Exeter Blitz by David Rees (1978) & The Twelve and the Genii by Pauline Clarke (1962).

I plan to read :
Michelle Magorian with Goodnight Mister Tom and The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter.

>4 kac522: oooh, I loved A Traveller in Time.

This is a great challenge for me. I'll probably re-read some much-loved books by Geoffrey Trease. It's almost time for my re-read of The Ship That Flew by Hilda Lewis, as well. I may even seek out some of the books by Lorna Hill about the ballet, written in the 40s/50s/early 60s. Or -- gasp -- the Chalet School tomes, as hokey as they are.

>7 Chatterbox: I know I read some of Geoffrey Trease's books, even did inter-library loans from the small base library, but I can't remember anything except that I loved medieval novels and mixed Trease up with Alfred Duggan in my mind for some years a decade or two after I had read their books.

This challenge looks a lot like the contents of my childhood bookshelves. Not completely, but enough for a big nostalgia trip. This was in Canada in the 1960s, where at the time we got both British and American books routinely.

My sisters were gaga over everything Nesbitt. I read every Geoffrey Trease and Ronald Welch I could get my hands on, and much of Rosemary Sutcliffe, and we all loved the Borrowers, the Swallows and Amazon series (not in your list), and C.S. Lewis' Narnia series.

Others there I haven't read - and living in the US as I do now, would probably have trouble finding in any library. (I'm trying to avoid buying books, because I don't really want to upgrade to a larger house to make room for more bookshelves. ;-))

Edit: one of my sisters has informed me that it was the other sister who was especially fond of Nesbitt.

I haven't decided what I'm going to start with yet. Possibly The Children of Green Knowe or Roverandom.

I have A Traveller in Time, and thanks to all the mentions it's the one I'll likely pull off the shelf to read!

This challenge should see me continuing the Narnia series. I'll have to see what else I have that qualifies.

We moved from Canada to the UK in 1969, so yes, Swallows & Amazons was core to my childhood. I was lucky to be able to find many of my faves when I moved back to Canada. E. Nesbit was great, too.

If anyone wants to read a rather obscure Geoffrey Trease, I have a duplicate of The Secret Fiord for some reason. Would be happy to send it within the US, where his books are v. hard to find. Some classic titles are tough to find affordably. That said -- others were widely distributed and you can usually find them on Alibris or something for a relatively small investment. Of course, the replacement copies I need of two Trease books, Crown of Violet and The Hills of Varna, are pricey.

>13 Chatterbox: I'd be happy to take that extra copy of The secret fiord.

>14 amanda4242: Super, just PM me your address and I'll pop it into the mail.

Can I add a suggestion? Not sure how "classic" it is (but it was translated along with Polyanna, Little Princess and others under the title of classic's series, and that's how I've found it on a local library shelf), but when I think of Great Britain, I think "how did they manage to convert pounds, shillings and pences?!", because that's what I thought when I first read Noel Streatfeild and her Ballet Shoes.

As for my picks, I guess I'll try to start (and finish!) the Narnia Chronicles; I've started the whole series at least three times, in different order, but I've never managed to read all the books.

>16 zuzaer: Yeah, I’m in a similar pickle. Started the series, never made it through a full read…

>16 zuzaer: I'd consider Streatfeild a "classics" author.

DEFINITELY Ballet Shoes is a classic, along with all of other Streatfield's children's novels. For a quasi-memoir/children's story, try A Vicarage Family. There are two volumes that follow it, that are more in the line of books for adults, culminating in her experiences during WW2 and the time that a bomb falls on the warehouse where copies of all her novels were stored (the same part of the Blitz that nearly took out St. Paul's.)

I'm reading Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. I thought this was my first time reading reading it, but apparently I read it back in 2014. Oh, well.

>16 zuzaer: >18 kac522: >19 Chatterbox: I think I read Ballet Shoes for this challenge last year, or maybe it was one of the other Shoes books. This series was one of my childhood favorites.

Three series I'd suggest - the Moomin stories by Tove Jansson, Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine stories (and others), and the Just William series by Richmal Crompton.

>16 zuzaer: "Classic" is such a nebulous term that I just decided to call anything published before 1997 eligible, so Streatfeild can count.

>20 Crazymamie: No rule against rereading! And maybe it'll stick better this time. ;)

>22 JonRob: Jansson wouldn't count because this is a British authors challenge, but thank you for mentioning Saville and Crompton.

I'd love it if some people could suggest classics a little different than sci-fi/fantasy genres in the children's lit. My libraries don't have a lot of British children's fiction, but I'm having trouble coming up with something they own that I would not hate.

>26 thornton37814: I loved the Frances Hodgson Burnett books, Rudyard Kipling's, and of course Noel Streatfeild has already been mentioned. I wasn't as thrilled by Arthur Michell Ransome and there do seem to be a preponderance of S&SF in the British children's classics. And a re-read of one of the Pooh books is always an option if the goal is just to meet the challenge.

>26 thornton37814: Glancing through the list in >2 amanda4242:, there's Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, and Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson that I can guarantee don't have any sci-fi or fantasy elements. Rosemary Sutcliff wrote some excellent historical novels, Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons, Rumer Godden wrote children's books, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell...sorry, fantasy and sci-fi are kind of favorites of mine so I can't immediately call to mind a lot of general fiction.

ETA: If you don't mind talking animals, there are books like The Hundred and One Dalmatians and Watership Down. The animals talk to each other but it's not magic, just communication between animals.

>26 thornton37814: Last year I read The Railway Children by E. Nesbit, and I don't recall any sci fi/fantasy elements. In fact, parts of the story are loosely based on true events--I'd recommend the edition with Afterword by Glassman to understand the connection.

I loved I Captured the Castle by Dodie Smith, which is YA...she also wrote The Hundred and One Dalmations.

>27 quondame: I've read most of those, but perhaps I can find something by Streatfield. I'll have to check.

>28 amanda4242: I've read many of those recently. The others were not available.

>29 kac522: I tried to find Nesbit last year, but the libraries around here did not own them.

>30 thornton37814: There are Nesbit books available on Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/407

>26 thornton37814: Lori - here's a mix of titles and writers who published before 1990 that could be in your library's stacks - Rosemary Sutcliff (historical fiction), The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, Tom Brown’s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes. Mollie Hunter (historical fiction), Lynne Reid Banks, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr (eligible?)

>26 thornton37814: One series that hasn’t been mentioned: the Paddington books by Michael Bond starting with A Bear Called Paddington. I loved these as a child and I loved them again when reading to my son more recently. Not fantasy once you get over the talking bear and still funny for adults (at least I find them so). I also loved the Jennings school stories by Anthony Buckeridge but they may be difficult to get hold of outside the U.K. One that my husband and I both loved as children was Moonfleet by J. Meade Faulkner - a historical adventure.

I may be reading something by John Masefield - The Midnight Folk - it’s not so well known as its sequel The Box of Delights but it was the one that I preferred. But that’s fantasy again. And I’ve just realised that nobody has mentioned Roald Dahl?

>29 kac522: Other books by Nesbit without fantasy elements are the Bastable trilogy (The Story of the Treasure Seekers, The New Treasure Seekers and The Wouldbegoods).

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'll see what I can find. The public library is notorious for discarding good books. The one here seems to be the most heavy-handed at weeding that I've ever encountered. I know they have to make room for the new, but then they fail to keep things that become classics.

I may try to squeeze Swallows and Amazons in, as I have a new copy from my annual binge through the David R. Godine Publishing Co.'s catalog.

>33 SandDune: thanks for that reminder about Roald Dahl. I have one unread book of his that came in a boxed set, James and the Giant Peach. My second grade teacher read it to us but as that was over 50 years ago I think it's time to read it for myself!

I just used the remnants of an Amazon gift card to get Bring Out the Banners, one by Geoffrey Tease I know I haven't read and which was republished to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the death of suffragette martyr Emily Davison.

And my first BAC read of the year was Penelope Farmer's August the Fourth, a short tale about four children sneaking off for a picnic on the day the First World War begins. It's very short, but oddly moving.

I just read Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

The Wind in the Willows will be my choice - what a lovely title for tree lovers.

Having read the first 6 volumes of the Chronicles of Narnia in the last half of 2021, I'll read The Last Battle for this month's BAC. I've also got a vintage set of Winnie the Pooh books I've been meaning to get to. We'll see if I can get to it.

I will read the Folio edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, illustrated by Charles van Sandwyk, my favorite Christmas gift this year.

>40 fairywings: What did you think of it? I enjoyed it, but thought the bacchanal at the end was a really weird thing to find in a Christian allegory!

>41 m.belljackson: A lovely title for a truly lovely book.

>42 ChrisG1: I've also been meaning to read Winnie the Pooh.

>43 laytonwoman3rd: Lucky you!

I've just finished Tolkien's Roverandom, an enchanting tale of a little dog and his many magical adventures. Tolkien originally came up with the story to console one of his sons who had lost his a beloved toy dog, and it has the feel of a well-loved bedtime story that took on a life of its own.

I will start The Children Who Stayed Behind later this week.

>44 amanda4242: I agree about the bacchanal being weird. I was expecting Prince Caspian to be in the story more I guess, since the title suggests it's about him, but overall I enjoyed it. I will read Voyage of the Dawn Treader soon.

>45 amanda4242: Tolkien?!

Okay, I don't know why I'm surprised. I've only ever known that Tolkien wrote his whole universe, mainly Lord of the Rings, and that was all. But I would've never guessed he wrote a children's book about a dog and his adventures... Now I feel the need to find it.

>48 zuzaer: Tolkien wrote quite a bit that wasn't part of his legendarium, although his interest in myth and folklore means that there are often shades of Middle Earth in his writing.

Roverandom is included in Tales from the Perilous Realm, which might be a little easier to get a hold of than a standalone edition.

>49 amanda4242: Thank you, that'll make searching a lot easier! Fortunately, I live in a big city with a few major libraries. It's bound to be somewhere.

I decided, quite on a whim, to read Through the Looking-Glass since I’ve never got around to it before, but before doing that, I of course had to reread Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which I’ve just finished.
It’s been a long time since I read it last and it was like reading it for the first time, almost. Lewis Carroll’s ability to play with words will never cease to amaze me.

Carbonel, the king of the cats by Barbara Sleigh, illustrated by V. H. Drummond

A little girl's purchase of an old broom and a cat from a strange woman leads to a magical adventure to free the cat from a spell.

This is the kind of light fantasy story that I really enjoy in children's books and Carbonel the cat is a marvelous character: he's smart, proud, sarcastic, a master of the backhanded compliment...well, I suppose all of that was assumed since he is a cat. I'll definitely be reading the sequels.

I've got the question for someone with more knowledge. I'm looking through Project Gutenberg, trying to decide which copy of Alice in Wonderland should I choose (I gave up on John Tenniel's illustrations). I stumbled onto Alice's Adventures Under Ground, and I'm not sure if I understand correctly, but this seems to be a first version of Alice in Wonderland? So I can safely read Wonderland and then Through the Looking-Glass, and that will be all, right?

>53 zuzaer: Yes, that's the work that was later developed into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Alice in Wonderland. I don't know if it's necessary to read "Wonderland" before reading "Looking-Glass" because I haven't read the latter yet.

Mollie Hunter is a tough author to find on this side of the pond. I think any libraries that did have her books may have discarded them (or sold them), and most are Scottish-based (I remember a great one about a young member of the Douglas family helping Mary Queen of Scots escape from Loch Leven....) I would think that Rosemary Sutcliff, Noel Streatfield, E. Nesbit and the Paddington books by Michael Bond should be reasonably available, if only via inter-library loan. I know the Paddington books are on both Kindle and audiobook. The Gentle Falcon by Hilda Lewis, is a lovely children's adventure story set in late 14th century England, which I re-read for the umpteenth time in December, and it's $3.99 on Kindle (and you can read it on your laptop if need be.)

The books I'd like to find again but that are very tough to locate affordably in good condition are Cynthia Harnett's: eg., Ring Out, Bow Bells or The Wool Pack. Most set circa 14th/15th century, revolving around "ordinary" characters (not young princes or princesses).

There's a much-reviled site that uploads PDFs of OOP books (even those protected by copyright) called the Internet Archive. It's free to join and read online. I've found stuff there that I simply couldn't have found any other way. Sometimes the best way to find a particular title is to Google the title and "PDF". I won't do this for even marginally available books, but some that had small print runs and are exceptionally hard to find and costly and OOP, I have fewer scruples. indeed, I rather hope that someone out there is watching the rate at which people download specific titles and trying to find ways to reprint them/bring out new editions.

I finished reading The Ship That Flew by Hilda Lewis, and I think my next read likely will be one of my fave books by Geoffrey Trease, set in ancient Rome/Roman-occupied England. Then I'm going to read Carbonel by Barbara Sleigh. It was relatively recently republished by NYRB children's editions (along with the two sequels) in lovely hardcovers. (So should be available in libraries somewhere for ILL...)

I'm reading James and the Giant Peach. My second grade teacher read it to us but I don't recall any of it, so it's a new read as far as I'm concerned.

I'm currently reading Carnegie winner, We Couldn't Leave Dinah by Mary Treadgold from 1941.
I had to order it from a used book dealer online.
An LT BB.

>58 nrmay: Oh, I LOVED THAT BOOK. I think I have the sequel lurking. Not as good, but I haven't read it so often that there are no words on the page.

>58 nrmay: I read that one last year. I'm lucky that most of these classics are in my library's stacks, just takes a few extra days for them to pull them out of storage.

I've started with The Exeter Blitz, haven't got far into it as yet.

(New suggestions) I've just realized---Little Princess and The Secret Garden! I think there was a new adaptation of one of these two recently?...

>61 zuzaer: The latest adaptation of The Secret Garden came out in 2020, I think. Colin Firth plays Lord Archibald Craven, which seems appropriate since he played the adult Colin Craven in an earlier adaptation.

I finished The Exeter Blitz by David Rees . It follows Colin and his family who are scattered across the city during a bomb raid and its aftermath.
The city of Exeter was the first to be targeted by the Germans with their 1942 Baedeker Blitz campaign where they bombed cities for their cultural and historic values rather than any military reason.
A great read that I would have overlooked except that I'm reading through past Carnegie (UK) Medal winners.

>55 Chatterbox: I collected Mollie Hunter paperbacks whenever I could find them a few years ago so I have quite a collection and several still to read. I also seem to have many by Leon Garfield still to read.

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

One of the most "fun" reads I've experienced by this author. I never was bored by the story, and it wasn't pretentious as many children's books can be.

I recall Mrs. Hotkowski reading this book to us in second grade, but didn't remember anything about the plot, so it was as good as a new read to me.

I've read Carrie's War by Nina Bawden which dates from 1973.



Here is my review:

'I did a dreadful thing, the worst thing of my life, when I was twelve and a half years old, or I feel that I did, and nothing can change it …’

At the start of World War II Carrie and her younger brother Nick are evacuated from their home in London to a small Welsh mining village. Their new life in the home of the stern and unsmiling grocer Mr Evans initially seems cold and joyless, and there are so many new rules:

As they went upstairs, Miss Evans rolled up the drugget behind them. ‘Mr Evans doesn’t like to see it down,’ she explained when she caught Carrie’s eye. ‘I just put it there while he’s out to keep the carpet spick and span. It’s a new one, you see, lovely deep pile, and Mr Evans doesn’t want it trodden on.’
‘How are you supposed to get up the stairs, then?’ Nick said. ‘Walk on the ceiling, or fly like a bird?’
‘Well. Well, of course …’ Miss Evans laughed, rather breathlessly. ‘Of course you have to walk on it sometimes but not too often. Mr Evans said twice a day would be quite enough. You see, four of us going up and down twice a day, morning and evening, makes sixteen times altogether, and Mr Evans thinks that’s quite enough traipsing. So if you could try to remember to bring down all the things you’ll want for the day, in the morning …’
'But the bathroom's upstairs,' Nick said in an outraged voice.

As time goes on the children grow to love Miss Evans, Mr Evans's much younger sister, or Aunty Lou as they call her, but they feel most at home at Druid's Bottom, the household of his estranged elder sister, Mrs Gotobed. Mrs Gotobed married into money, but the money has been spent and gambled away and there are few reminders of it except Mrs Gotobed's twenty-nine silken ball gowns hanging in the wardrobe. At Druid's Bottom the housekeeper Hepzibah cares for the dying Mrs Gotobed as well as the learning disabled Mister Johnny, and welcomes the children as if they were her own. But Carrie's much regretted action causes a train of events which endangers the security of the whole household ...

This is a nuanced book, where, unlike many children's books, people are neither wholly good or wholly evil. It has a strong sense of place, being based on Nina Bawden's own experience as an evacuee in Blaengarw. Recommended.

>65 SandDune: I've got this book on my shelf (no idea where it came from, probably bought during travels to England) and to be honest, I didn't know what to do with it. Your review made me think warmly about this book. Goes on my TBR list.

>65 SandDune: ouch, book bullet...

I’ve finished Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll, the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This was a new to me book, which I enjoyed a lot, and especially the poem Jabberwocky, which I’ve known before this and think if one of the best showcases ever of playing with language.

I’ve read Jill Barklem’s Poppy’s Babies, the last book in the series about the mice in Brambly Hedge. It’s such an adorable series of books, and I wish I’d known about them when I was a child because I would have read them over and over, and stared at the beautiful illustrations for hours.

>69 PawsforThought: Those were some of our kids favorite books - the illustrations are so charming.

>70 Crazymamie: They’re so lovely.

And I’ve also read the last remaining Brambly Hedge book, Sea Story, which is as sweet and charming as the others.

I finished A Traveller in Time this afternoon and absolutely loved it. Time travel into the past, old houses and secret passages. Just about perfect!

>73 cbl_tn: The summary indicates this would be a lovely story! (So many books, so little time...)

I read A Bear Called Paddington as well. Aimed at a younger audience but such fun. A favorite from my childhood (I think I had the first six Paddington books) and a favourite of J's as well.

>73 cbl_tn: I have that one on deck for later in the month. I love good time travel stories!

Just finishe The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.

I think I will read The Wind In The Willows next.

I read Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis.

My most common reason for not posting more often? I'm too busy reading.

Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien

Roverrandom prompted me to try another Tolkien book, and I'm pleased to report this one didn't disappoint. I do wish the edition I read had included notes because I'm fairly certain there were jokes I was missing in some of the characters' and place names.

The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston, illustrated by Peter Boston

Almost unbearably twee.

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond, illustrated by Peggy Fortnum

Adorable! How have I just now read Paddington?!

The Dragon on the Roof by Terry Jones
The Sea Tiger by Terry Jones, illustrated by Michael Foreman

A couple of the stories in The Dragon on the Roof are pretty good, but on the whole I found these flat and missing the humor I know Jones was capable of.

>79 amanda4242: Oh, Paddington is just the best!

>80 PawsforThought: Pooh is still my favorite silly bear, but Paddington is pretty wonderful.

>81 amanda4242: Oh, Pooh is wonderful, too! (My mother and I still play Pooh sticks to this day)

>82 PawsforThought: love all the Pooh books. Our first dog was a big black Sheltie/Lab we called Pooh Bear.

>79 amanda4242: I read Farmer Giles in Jr. High before I knew about The Hobbit and in fact it was years, maybe decades, before I connected that story which had entirely delighted me with it's author.

>84 quondame: I hadn't even heard of it until I read the introduction to Roverrandom. I was so pleased to find a entertaining tale that reminded me a great deal of The Brave Little Tailor and The Reluctant Dragon.

>85 amanda4242: And The Reluctant Dragon is even older than Farmer Giles of Ham - which surprised me.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

This one of the books I read for the very first BAC. It's still a wonderful tale, full of imagination and wordplay.

I've just started Uttley's A Traveler in Time; her style seems quite a bit more sophisticated than I've seen in more recent children's novels.

>36 laytonwoman3rd: I did give Swallows and Amazons a try, but I found it wasn't engaging my interest --- I think too much sailing lingo for this landlubber.

I just finished The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem.

>88 laytonwoman3rd: I liked Swallows and Amazons, but I wasn't blown away by it.

>89 nrmay: Oh! That looks cute!

I tried two Brambly Hedge books, Spring Story and The Secret Staircase, and while I liked the art, I can't say I was much impressed by the stories. I think I'll stick to the Redwall picture books when I want to read about mice feasting.

I also read A Traveler in Time, which impressed me greatly.

I'll have the February thread up in a couple of days.

I enjoyed The Twelve and the Genii by Pauline Clarke (1962). The story touches on the Brontes when they were children. A boy discovers twelve toy soldiers in the attic of a farmhouse near where the Bronte family lived. Quite enchanting.

>91 amanda4242: I'm sorry you weren't impressed by the storylines in Brambly Hedge, but we can't all like everything.
I've heard of Redwall before but never tried it - maybe I should put it on my TBR list.

I just finished re-read of The Exiles by Hilary McKay. :)
This, her first novel, won the Guardian Children's Prize in 1992. Very funny, wonderful characters.

>92 avatiakh: Going on the tbr list.

>93 PawsforThought: The novels are basically the same story over and over again so I wouldn't recommend reading the whole series, but the picture books are wonderful.

>95 amanda4242: I’ve read them all and love them. I don’t mind them being repetitive in the storyline- that’s not why I read them.

>96 PawsforThought: I meant the Redwall books are repetitive; I haven't read enough of Brambly Hedge to say much about them. :)

The February thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/339137

I finished Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886); very much enjoyed this young person's classic which I had never read. The story is engaging and the language is remarkable. Here's just one quote, spoken by Alan Breck, the Jacobite, to our hero, David Balfour:

"I wish ye were a wee thing paler; but apart from that ye'll do fine for my purpose--ye have a fine, hang-dog, rag-and-tatter, clappermaclaw* kind of a look to ye, as if ye had stolen the coat from a potato-bogle.**"

My Modern Library Classics edition was very helpful, with many notes and an extensive glossary of words from the Scots language.

*clappermaclaw: scolded
**potato-bogle: scarecrow

I finished Five Go Off in a Caravan by Enid Blyton.

The Famous Five books are not the finest piece of writing the world has ever seen (they’re trite and predictable) but it’s also fairly harmless fun.
This book in particular is a great example of how obsessed with food Blyton seems to be, which is perhaps understandable as this book was published in 1946 when I believe the UK was still having food rations. There are so many descriptions of the children having tea breaks and dinners and breakfasts that I would’ve starting a drinking game if I’d been so inclined.