SIX BRILLIANT BOOKS FOR CHILDREN!

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by L M Montgomery

First published 1908

Okay, I have to admit, this delightful book is a little on the ‘girly’ side. Penned by the fabulous
L M Montgomery, it’s packed with irrisistable grace and charm. A real gem.

It recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, a young orphan girl mistakenly sent to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a middle-aged brother and sister who have a farm on Prince Edward Island and who had intended to adopt a boy to help them.

Anne tries hard to fit in and not be naughty, but her actions always lead to a whole heap of trouble.

Desperate to be loved, but worried she’s unlovable, she tumbles from one disaster to another. Her new folk find her uncommonly odd. So do the ladies of the village and her school friends. Still, despite her strange ways, by the end of the book . . .

Since publication, Anne of Green Gables has sold more than 50 million copies and has been translated into 20 languages

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX by J K Rowling

You’ve probably never heard of the author, J K Rowling, or her character, Harry Potter. She wrote seven books in the HARRY POTTER series, the best of which is this one!

Now, I’m not into wizards and all that jazz, but the HARRY POTTER books are the best stories I’ve ever read. They’re a close second to the stories of Charles Dickens, only I never read any of his books five times!

This book is the fifth in the series. 766 pages of pure, magical adventure.

You might wish to begin at the beginning of the Harry Potter saga, with book one: HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE. But be warned, these books are addicitve!

THE LION THE WITCH WITCH AND THE WARDROBE by C S LEWIS.

When the Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are sent out of London during World War II, they have no idea of the magical journey they are beginning. In the darkness of the old country house where they are sent, the children stumble through an old wardrobe to the land of Narnia, where animals talk and magic exists.

I can't imagine anyone not loving this book. An outstanding example of how to create a wildly exciting adventure.

THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak.


This is definitely one for older readers. And I can’t help noticing that this is yet another tale of a child living far away from home with adults who are not her parents. The story is set in Nazi Germany, and is narrated by Death! Unsurprisingly, Death was terribly busy at that time.

Here’s the Wiki summery:
Liesel is on the train, on her way to be fostered when her brother dies. At his funeral, she picks up a book and keeps it to remind her of him. However, she can't read. When she arrives at her foster home, her papa (Hans Hubermann) teaches her how. At a Nazi book burning ceremony, an officer gives a speech about the importance of cleansing of the German society from "immoral" and "indecent" thoughts through burning books, which provokes Liesel. After the book burning ceremony, Liesel hides a book that survived the fire and takes it home. She is seen by Ilsa Hermann, the mayor's wife and mama's (Rosa Hubermann) customer. When Liesel is at the mayor's to drop the laundry, Ilsa shares her magnificent library and its books with her. The mayor eventually discharges Liesel. This forces her to start "borrowing" books from Ilsa's library, hence earning the nickname "The Book Thief".
But things get dicey when they, along with hot tempered Rosa Hubermann, begin to hide a Jew named Max in the basement. As a security measure and to save his life, Max is not allowed to leave the basement. Max and Liesel start bonding as they read and share stories together. But he is forced to leave after an incident in which Hans defends a Jewish prisoner against a Nazi officer.

GOODNIGHT MR TOM
BY Michelle Magorian.

Set during the dark and dangerous build up to the Second World War, Goodnight Mister Tom follows sad William Beech, who is evacuated to the idyllic English countryside and builds a remarkable and moving friendship with the elderly recluse Tom Oakley. All seems perfect until William is devastatingly summoned by his mother back to London.

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID
by Jeff Kinney

Okay . . . I am under strict instructions from my 10 year old nephew, to include this book. When asked why, he said, “Because it’s really funny. You can really imagine it, and other kids will like it too.”

Me? I’ll get a copy from my local library and report back.