Melanie McDonagh

Move over Meghan: classic books every child should read

  • From Spectator Life

There are so many better ways to spend thirteen quid on children’s books than on Meghan Markle’s The Bench; how about something that children might actually enjoy, which isn’t written to gratify the vanity of the author? Here are a few of the ones that I liked and that your children (or you) might like.

The Pirate Twins by William Nicholson is just as good as the splendid Clever Bill, which also features a brave and kind little girl called Mary. But The Pirate Twins is more subversive. One day on the beach, Mary found the (very small) Pirate Twins, so she took them home and fed them (oysters and cake) and bathed them and taught them to dance (the sailor’s hornpipe) and read (S for Sailor) but they were piratical to the core and put things in the cat’s milk and even played dominos in bed. It’s a masterpiece of brevity, has a happy ending and is beautifully illustrated.

I’ll fix Anthony by Judith Voigt is based on the simple premise that quite a few siblings actively loathe each other…here a younger brother makes no bones about it: ‘Mother says that deep, down in his heart, Anthony loves me. Anthony says that deep down in his heart he thinks I stink.’ And so… ‘When I’m six, I’ll fix Anthony’. It’s all about revenge, and it’s very funny.

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen is about what happens when a small creature pinches a bigger creature’s hat. No good comes of it. Deadpan illustrations, macabre and funny. Children get the joke.

In the Beginning by Jan Pienkowski is a collection of bible stories from the Old Testament, the ones simply everyone should know. Jan P is a genius illustrator; these are among his best….some are funny, as when Adam names the animals, matching labels with creatures; all are captivating.

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