Part 1, Exercise 5

Today I am mostly reading Hugo Pepper. I was drawn to it as the illustrator worked with Neil Gaiman on The Graveyard Book amongst other things. I quite like so far that it's a jigsaw, however it was 50 pages before the initial protagonist came back into the picture. 

Part 1 Exercise 4

Visit your local library

I went to Great Dunmow library at the weekend. The staff couldn't do more for you, although sadly all the books on the reading list were out of stock. Hot topics are vampires, werewolves, Ninjas, spys and wizards. Harry Potter anf Fantastic Beasts are still winning.

Part 1 Exercise 2

Trends and Developments

Increasingly books are written aimed more at girls and boys separately - this depends entirely on the sex of the protagonist. Unless there is a strong group with a mix of sexes, for instance in the very popular Harry Potter series, children't books generally don't appeal to all.
    It is a good and fair observation in the course material that girls are far more likely to read books aimed at boys than vice versa. A shame, although perhaps girls genre fiction could do something to change this?
    There is a massive difference between books intended to educate rather than entertain. It is fairly hard to make a good crossover in my opinion. My own boys (age 6) have enjoyed many chapter books now. The series that has followed the Lego Ninjago TV programme is currently a favourite. This is purely for entertainment and the characters are difficult to visualise without having already seen the programme. Books that educate for this age group tend to only be in terms of morals - what is right and wrong and how to live your life. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a good example of this. Things may have been very different for Verruca Salt if she wasn't such a bad egg.
    Fantasy books definitely tend to appeal more to both boys and girls - this is probably due to the fact that there are less rules when it comes to the writing. There is far more allowance for make-believe and dreams. There is an awful lot to be said for this.

Part 1 Exercise 1

1835 Hans Christian Andersen publishes his fairy tales

1865 Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is published

1868 Little Women by Louisa M Alcott

1872 What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge

1880 Heidi by Joanna Spyri

1883 The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

1883 Treasure Island by R L Stevenson

1894 The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum

1902 The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

1906 The Railway Children by E Nesbit

1908 The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

1908 Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery

1908 Frank Richards publishes his first ‘Billy Bunter’ book

1911 Peter and Wendy by J M Barrie (Peter Pan)

1922 Just William by Richmal Crompton

1926 Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne

1930 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

1932 W E Johns publishes his first ‘Biggles’ book

1933 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

1936 The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien

1937 The Family at One End Street Eve Garnett

1942 Five on Treasure Island by Enid Blyton

1943 Gremlins by R S Thomas

1950 The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis

1956 101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith

1958 Tom's Midnight Garden by Phillipa Pearse

1968 The Iron Man by Ted Hughes

1968 The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin

1970 Are you there God, it's me Margaret by Judy Blume

1976 Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Milded D Taylor

1982 War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

1986 Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

1997 A Mouse Called Wolf by Dick King-Smith

2004 A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime by Mark Haddon

2006 Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

2008 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins