Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 79

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“I don’t think of the misery but of the beauty that still remains” – Anne Frank

What a truly positive quote to start this Sunday with.

A small girl who inspired so many…

Even through all her sad experiences, her words truly inspired many all these years after they were written. A diary that she probably never thought anyone else would read. She was able to still see the sunshine through the clouds.

A diary is a wonderful thing to keep. I kept many over the years. And this blog is almost a journal of my last couple of years. But the actual actions of writing, physically, in a diary, now that is a skill I believe we should all pass on to our children.

I was so happy that my own two were so excited by their new desks (lovingly built by yours truly!) that they promptly sat down last night and started scribbling away in their own diaries!

And tonight, they were there again…

It makes me proud to know I have somehow managed to foster the love of the written word within my own children, whether it be their own writing or reading books. Who knows… maybe you’ll be reading one of their books!

I’ll leave you with a question Peeps, and in the meantime, have a wonderous Sunday, chilling, just spare a thought for Ritu, tirelessly sorting through boxes……

How have you, or will you encourage your own children, or young people around you?

 

Get Caught Reading Month

Annette brought this to my attention too… Get Caught Reading Month.

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I love this! I am always reading, and love to encourage my children to enjoy books. Thankfully they do. I also love to read stories to them, and my class children, trying to bring words to life for them, to teach them the skill so that they may be able to do this themselves while reading their own books in the future.

I was wandering around my house the other day, as you do, and happened upon a beautiful sight. Lil Man under the dining room table reading his Harry Potter book to Sonu Singh, his feline brother! It was so sweet to see, and I was gutted my phone wasn’t handy so I could take pictures!

But never fear, the next day the same thing was happening but in Lil Man’s bed! and I caught him reading to the kitty! He has been reading to Sonu Singh regularly this month, bless him!

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He’s currently on the second book, and Lil Princess, not to feel left out, is reading Enid Blyton’s Mallory Towers Book 4!

What are you reading this month?

Books And Authors Who Coloured My Childhood -Part 1 – Enid Blyton

On a comment conversation with a fellow blogger, susieshy45, we started discussing, briefly, books, and the conversation turned to Enid Blyton books, and how a bookstore in The US that she visited hadn’t even heard of Enid Blyton!

I was astonished! How could a bookstore not have heard of her? It was possibly a young employee, but still!! Enid Blyton rocks! Her books were the core of my reading as a child, the reason I fell in love with books!

My mother was, and is an avid reader. She likes the family sagas by Cathrine Cookson, romance by Danielle Steele, all the Virginia Andrews Books, and many more, but as she grew up, and went to an English school in Kenya, she was exposed to the literature of Enid Blyton, and alongside many traditional tales, she encouraged my love of books too.

At the tender age of 4 I was admitted to hospital… Nothing drastic, my tonsils needed removing, but I was in there for 2 nights. As a reward I was bought the Noddy series of books.

The originals!

These are the uncensored ones, before Shhh! Gollywogs were not allowed…!

Hello Noddy and Big Ears!

How I loved these books! I read and re-read them! My mother had kept them for me, so I could share them with my children, but not before I had invested in some modern versions of the wonderful Noddy for Lil Man and Lil Princess.

Modern day Noddy!

This was just the start of my love for Blyton’s books. As I grew, I read the Amelia Jane series and the Naughtiest Girl books. I think I must have read them so much they near disintegrated! But I managed to find some for the kids.

More modern classics

And I then progressed to Mallory Towers, and St Clare’s. Oh how those books made me long to go to boarding school! I read them all. Again and again. These are the next ones I hope to get for try children to enjoy too!

I was never into the Famous Five, or the Secret Seven, but thanks to Macdonalds, of all places, and a very thoughtful range of Happy Meal gifts, the kids even heard some of these stories!

Three cheers for Maccy D’s!!

And that’s not all. I discovered a whole host of Enid Blyton classics that I hadn’t devoured as a child, which I read with my children now!

Even more Blyton!!

Ok, so I know she wasn’t politically correct, there were racist tendencies in some stories, but I can look beyond them! She was an amazing author, and probably a huge part of my desire to write, for children, as well as for adults!

There are other authors who I enjoyed immensely as a child, but she was my number 1! Who was yours?

Heady

OK so tomay-to tomar-to
Same word, different ways to say…
I am watching a cookery show and the chef was talking about a heady smell..
Heddy…
Now I like to say heedy…
Heddy or heedy?
What’s your take?
(Gosh this English language is so complex… No wonder kids find it hard to learn to read!)

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