Red flannel Petticoats- World Book Day 2016

Hello there!

Greetings on World Book Day, the day we celebrate reading and books- a day I love!

As usual, we dressed up at school to celebrate.

My costume is above and below. Can you guess who I am?

 What if I say, "Send our love to Father!"

 Ok, if you are not sure, I am Roberta/Bobby from E Nesbit's The Railway Children..

My costume consisted of:

Vintage Laura Ashley Edwardian style dress via Mummy

White Lace apron- Bruges shop

Velvet beret- Kangol via Charity shop.

Red flannel petticoat - handmade in Bali.

Snotty handkerchief- my own fair snot!

Red flannel petticoat tied to stick- vest top of my own plus xylophone beater

 My petticoat was not QUITE right as it was far too low down but at least you could see it, my apron was the wrong style but it was what I had at home!

Very very comfortable. I should wear this dress more often!

There were some super costumes at school and there was lots of effort made:
they included:
Hetty Feather (Jacqueline Wilson), Willy Wonka, The Mad Hatter, the White rabbit, The Queen of hearts, Paper bag Princess, Frankenstein, Matilda, Annie (she looked amazing!), Cruella De Vil, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Mr Twit, Cleopatra, many Where's Wally?, Cats in hats etc..

 This TA read through my costume ideas email sent to all staff and parents and she took the idea of 'George's Marvellous medicine' so she raided her son's clothes for a boy's red jumper and tied a medicine bottle and spoon to her belt!

 I loved Hermione's Timeturner! She had a cute cuddly cat as Crookshanks as well!

 One little girl said she came as a book about cats so we added this postit of 'TS Elliot's old possum book of cats' - I've been singing the Cats songs with the children this term.

 How nice is the bottom of this girl's Dorothy skirt- I want one!

 The nursery teacher made a super effort with her costume. Her children LOVE Norman the slug with the silly shell (see here) and she made her costume- the donut is brilliant and her orange headdress was amazing too- I didn't ask to share her face so I won't show it on here!

 Cruella De Vil had laminated some dalmation pics for her earrings!

 Ha, I love the simple idea of the Paper Bag Princess- if you don't know this story, it is a real feminist twist on the traditional tale as the Princess has to end up rescuing the ungrateful prince and this is a quote. The **** is for BUM!

This costume was amazing. She was Dustbin Baby by Jacqueline Wilson and had made a huge dustbin lid fascinator for her head with the title on and then this bin full of rubbish!

It was enormously fun and it was delightful to see the effort and to squeal with glee as you discovered yet another brilliant costume!

And since it is world book day- lots of people have been sharing their top 10 books so here are my top 6 (it's taking too long to decide on the rest!):

1.  Tom's Midnight Garden- Phillippa Pearce
2.  The Box of Delights- John Masefield
3.  Northanger Abbey- Jane Austen
4. Five run away together- Enid Blyton
5.  44 Scotland Street- Alexander McCall Smith.
6.  Perelandra- C.S. Lewis


Hope you are well!

xx

Treasure Island

Image borrowed from www.foyles.com where you can buy the book here

It's amazing JUST how many classics I HAVEN'T read! I have read quite a few but there is a large backlog I must address. At Music Camp, I had finished all of the 3 books I had taken to read there, so I found Treasure Island on the communual bookshelves.  As classics go, it is quite short so it is more approachable and is definitely the quintessential swashbuckling adventure. My only real experience of it had been a short extract from Muppets' treasure Island so I had no real expectations besides the fact that Long John Silver was the baddie. And yet, though he was infamous and the initial protagonist of all the trouble, he was not actually the baddie I had thought he'd be- a gentleman and very intelligent. The book is exciting and there's always anticipation over what would happen next.  The opening section which sets the scene was intriguing and interesting- I liked Jim and our other heroes in the book- the Squire and the Doctor.  The other baddies, besides LJS were suitably evil and without morals- more 2D, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment of the book.
I think I enjoyed it all the more because when I was in reception this past term (summer 2), their topic was 'Pirates' so I had been immersed in this and enjoyed the displays and ingenious ways they took to approach this topic with the children.

Well worth giving a go if you fancy a classic but not a weighty tome!

The three Musketeers

Where did the term 'Bucket list' come from??? Honestly, I'dn never heard it and then everyone started using it- is it to do with a bucket and spade for a beach holiday? Should anyone care to enlighten me, I would be most grateful!
Anyway, I wonder that, because The Three Musketeers  has been on my book-to-read list for a long while.  When CBC and I were going out, fairly early on, I'd bought Dogtanian on DVD (do you remember it from the 80's- "One for all and all for one, Musket hounds are always ready...") and set out to watch an episode or two any time we were in for an evening. It was really fun and we really looked forward to our regular doses of 80's nostalgia.  By the time it had ended, CBC and I really wanted to read it, so we both bought copies of the original book by Alexander. CBC got on with his pretty shortly after, which is unusual for him to get hooked and to persevere with something which is a pretty good advert for the book in itself. I, myself, with always a large backlog of things to read, wasn't so lucky and I had lost (and CBC) my copy by the time I wanted to read it. I recently bought another copy in a charity shop and then promptly found the originals- typical. Anyway, I decided that it was a substantial enough read for Croatia, and took it along.

Image borrowed from www.foyles.com where you can buy the book here

My first impressions are that Dumas is a brilliant author at engaging you in the action. Like the episodes of Dogtanian, there are suitable events and use of suspense to make you keep reading. His dialogue writing is particularly engaging and the description is just enough to interest without being to much.
D'Artagnan, our hero is much more likeable than Dogtanian, and he is brilliant and young and full of pluck.  Cardinal Richlieu is much nicer and more understandable in his actions than he has come across to me before, so I warmed to him more. The other musketeers were written well and I liked them. D'Artagnan's love-interest, Madame Bonancieux (Juliet in the cartoon) is well-written but is out of scene for most of the book.  However, one character, Milady, the evil lady protagonist who attempts to thwart all good and is the evil doer of Cardinal Richlieu's intrigues, is truly evil- Dumas writes her SO well- I honestly hated her by the end of the book.  A particularly brilliant set of chapters, full of suspense that kept me reading through a beautifully-scenic boat-ride was the imprisonment of Milady later in the book.

The ending- well, it wasn't what I expected and BOY did I hate the ending- but it was well-written! It just wasn't what I wanted.

I urge you, if you want to give a classic a go, but they bore the hell out of you, give this one a go- it is a cut above the rest and full of adventure!
And if you like it, there are sequels...

A triple dose of murder!

This holiday, I had the overwhelming urge to reread some Agatha Christie.  The first book I ever read was The A B C Murders, in Northern France on a very dull holiday where it rained pretty much solidly for two weeks and I had read all my Enid Blytons since we were stuck inside.  My sister offered me her Christie to read.  I remember that I fell for all of Christie's wiles and didn't even get close to the truth but fell for the red herrings. Likewise, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.  When I first read Curtain, I was fully versed in Christie and had perfected the art of recognising who dunnit although I didn't get this one!

Rereading all three, I saw the clues clearly as to who the murderer was (with the exception of Curtain which is just genius)

In the ABC Murders,  Christie takes an interesting narrative device by including some chapters written in the 3rd person about the actions of one, Alexander Bonaparte Cust: we don't know who he is or what he's up to, but I haven't experienced another Christie where we meet a character like that in the 3rd person in between 1st person narrative.  In the rest of the chapters, we revert to the 1st person narrative of Poirot's old friend, Captain Hastings, who is visiting from his home in South America and is seeing Poirot who has received a strange letter from the mysterious ABC who is telling him about something that is going to happen in Andover on the 29th of the month. It seems like a madman. It transpires that a murder happens there, to a lady whose name begins with A.All of a sudden, the police take it seriously.  Subsequently, a murder happens to a B in Bexhill.  It seems incredible that anyone could solve these murders since the murder could be anywhere, mad since they are picking random people with the correct letters.  When C is murdered in a small village, and the letter has gone amiss so it only turns up on the day of the murder, they are furious!
I have to say, the solving of this murder, the motives behind it, STAGGERED me as a child and I really appreciated the small details and clues that Christie gives you as an adult. The book STILL captivated me.  Who is the murderer? Who is ABC? Why is he doing it?  Why did he send Poirot the letters? Is he really mad? And what has Cust to do with it?  The murderer is a CRUEL person.

Next, I revisited Curtain. This is Poirot's last case.  She wrote this long before she had written all of the other adventures and it was only published posthumously.  Again, Christie makes a really interesting murder here.  The premise of this book is that Poirot has returned to Styles, the scene of his first book murder case (and the second book I ever read).  Hastings has returned from South America as his wife is now dead and his daughters in the world.  Poirot has asked him to come and stay at Styles which is now a nursing and boarding house. Poirot is the shell of his former self, reduced to a wheelchair as he cannot walk.  He is on the hunt of a murder he is certain will happen at Styles. BUT- though he knows/suspects who the murderer is, he will not tell Hastings. He wants to prevent the murder but he's not sure of who the victim will be.  This is an interesting murderer who in the past, has been present at the scenes of many other murders but is never implicated and there is always a murderer who confesses or there's no shadow of doubt.  The perfect murderer in other words.  Strange things happen, emotions run high and eventually, a couple of murders occur including a devastating one!  The denouement is pretty shocking in this book but utter genius!  Again, strongly recommended.

The final book of my Christmas holiday reading, The murder of Roger Ackroyd, is considered to be her finest book.  And I must agree.  On first reading this, I was devastated by finding out who the murderer was.  Reading it this time, I saw the clues.  Poirot has retired to grow vegetable marrows. In the village, Mrs Ferrars has committed suicide.  But it appears she had a dark secret- she murdered her husband.  Then 2 days later, her love, Roger Ackroyd is murdered!  But it appears, a blackmailer is involved.   It is left to Poirot and Dr Sheppard, who is the 1st person narrator, to discover who the murderer is. The denouement of this book is again, so clever.  Christie dangles so many juicy red herrings and conceals the truth.  BUT, if you have a suspicious mind and trust no one, then you might just get an inkling of who the murderer is.

I thoroughly enjoyed rereading these three books. Now I long to reread all the others.  If only my Mum hadn't chucked them all out!

Travels through words

I keep putting off this post but finally I must publish it.  Very sketchy but it will do!
I've read some great books recently and if you're wondering what to read, might I suggest some of the following...

30.  Edward Marston The Railway detective in: Murder on the Brighton Express

I am a creature of habit and if I like an author, in some sort of obsessive vein, I regard it as my life's duty to read all the series by that author.  I definitely will be doing this with Mr Marston's Railway detective series. Set in the 1830's, the Railway detective had the magic and brilliance of Agatha Christie and others but a different era.  Great characterisation and an interesting twist and SUCH an interesting intended victim! Considering this cost me 10p in a library sale, I consider this money well spent.

31.  Georgette Heyer Frederica
Another classic Heyer.  Great heroine, great hero, lovely plot which though drawn-out, seems to pass by very quickly without any repetition or boredom.  Love it!

32.  Eva Ibbotson The Secret Countess
I feel really greedy in this post listing all my favourite authors. I seemed to save them up for the holiday.  Ms Ibbotson is one of my 'obsessive must-read list' (But I like to draw it out, so I don't read them all in one go).  This is a real Cinderella story telling of a Russian countess, who in the revolution and her Father's subsequent death in WW1, finds herself in England having to work as a servant.  It is totally Downton Abbey with a mean villainess who is going to marry the hero because he has no money and has to save the property when we really want her to marry our heroine.  A beautiful love-story, told in a gentle manner.

33.  Doctor Who The Completely Useless Encyclopaedia by Steve Lyons and Chris Howarth
This is one hilarious book about the most random Doctor Who trivia!!
Bloomin heck, when I checked the exact title on Amazon for this one, someone is selling this for £45!  Wow, I could make a mint on my £5 investment!  I bought this shop on my first trip to the Who shop in East Ham when I was about 15!  I went with my friend from school called Ruth- we discovered that apart from a passion for singing, we also loved Doctor Who equally!  We marvelled at the Tardis and daleks you could stand by and a whole myriad of items available!  It's moved to Upton Park now, but it's well worth a visit!
Anyway, this book totally and utterly pokes fun at/slags off Doctor Who but in a meticulous, affectionate and loving way which suggests these guys totally love it!  I learnt all sorts of random facts and laughed lots!  The best things are the 10 things about Doctor Who, e.g. '10 things that mean Doctor Who fans aren't as sad as other fans' or '10 names that could have been named by Doctor Who fans'.  This book is absolutely worth a read if you are a fan or not (and just want to mock Doctor Who. Don't worry, the authors do that in droves!) and I have enjoyed reading it again!

34.  Alexander McCall Smith La's orchestra saves the world.

Classic AMcS:  Heartfelt, witty, beautiful description, philosophising and a love story that you longed to happen throughout the book.  A beguiling heroine, interesting characterisation and includes reference to classical music and flutes:  I was bound to love it.
35.  Laura Ingalls Wilder Little house in the Big Woods
I loved the Anne of Green Gables series and in a sense this reminded me of those.  This is a classic child's book- it tells of life in a woods for a little girl a long time ago.  In an Enid Blyton-esque way, it was the description of food that really interested me (so sad!) and I loved how self-sufficient this family were and how they used, made and made do.  It really made me smile and imagine life for a little girl.

36. Laura Ingalls Wilder Little house on the Prairee
Likewise, I enjoyed the second book in the series.  I think that her Papa must have had great luck not to be eaten by a wolf or bear on many occasions- he must have been an amazing man!  Again, lovely description of family life:  I particularly liked thinking about all the tasks that Mama and Papa did on a daily basis!  They worked hard!

37.  Frank L. Baum Glinda of Oz.
I recently mentioned wanting to reread the Oz books again- this is the only one I have in my possession at the moment as I lent them to a little girl at church some years ago.  On second reading, I didn't find it as silly as I did the first time.  It is the last book that Frank L Baum wrote before he died and I believe it was published posthumously (he died in 1920).  It tells of how Ozma, the ruler of Oz went to quell a war between to of the strange groups of people who she had never met in the far-reaches of her kingdom of Oz with Dorothy.  The book reunites all the old favourites from all the Oz books and has an interesting storyline.  I think the thing that made me feel it was a bit silly the first time I read it was how you always know that Ozma and Dorothy will get out of every predicament- they seem invulnerable so nothing will hurt them so it lacks the suspense or worrying about what is going to happen. I suppose books were more tame for kids then but I found it lacking excitement.  However, still an imaginative read and if you love Oz, you'll forgive it these shortcomings.

38.  Noel Streatfield Ballet shoes for Anna.
I'm always SO excited to find a new Noel Streatfield book I haven't read and moreso in this case because I'd forgotten I'd bought it and for some reason, put it in my underwear drawer!!!!
The heroes of this book are three orphans who spent their life in Turkey and have to go and live in England with a mean Uncle who refuses to let Anna, the girl, continue her ballet lessons. The premise is that the 2 boys have to try and earn money for her lessons somehow.  Again, it had a difference to her books and yet that familiarity of the 'show biz' element and the grit and determination to succeed in the arts that characterise her other works.  Definitely worth a read if nothing but to laugh at the rebellious Gussy!

39.  Georgette Heyer Black sheep.
Again, finding another Georgette Heyer to read (in a charity shop is always exciting) is always a delight and finding one in our French cottage was fabulous!  Like the Streatfield, it contained the finest of Georgette Heyer's usual form but had a difference and a uniqueness.  Regency heroine meets Regency hero is the basic plot- but so fun and unconventional.  Definitely worth reading.

40.  James Herriott Every living thing.
As a child, I adored the TV show, All creatures great and small  which told the life of Yorkshire rural vet, James Herriott.  I subsequently read and adored all the other books he'd written.  This, possibly the last one, didn't fail to disappoint.  The anecdotes and stories of Herriot's veterinary life do not fail to touch, amuse and beguile on.  I was rolling around laughing at his tale of a pair of trousers he had been given that had been made for a corpulent man and he felt like he was going to explode with the heat in an important meeting!  I've had that feeling in clothing before- where you are just so hot but you can't do anything about it.  I found myself on the verge of tears when he consoled with those who lost pets and rejoiced with every victory in saving an animal.  This book as a lot of heart, and totally worth a read.  There is a great sense of the change of times and technology from the previous books and seeing the 'grown-up' Herriott family!  This is a beautiful read.

SO.... have I
a)  made you go to sleep
b)  made you want to read one (tell me which!)
c) made you totally bypass this post in your Googlereader!?
d) read something you've already read?!

A minx and a brideshead dancing at midnight!

No, I haven't gone mad!  It's the books I have been reading over the past 4 weeks or so. I seem to be really behind with books so far this year and I keep misplacing them in the middle of reading!

4.  Julia Quinn Minx.

This the second book of hers I have read.  If you like the Regency era Bridget Jones and Mills and Boon, then this is a sure winner for you.  The third part of a trilogy, it begins with a notable rake, Dunster, being challenged by his friend Belle, recently married, that he will be leg-shackled within the year too.  He scoffs of course! Then, suddenly, he is made aware that he is heir to an estate in Cornwall.  However, in addition, he later finds out that he is also guardian to a young adult, Henrietta, unconventional, head-strong, organised and boyish, someone who dresses in boy's breeches.   He goes to visit the estate, where a hilarious series of incidents ensure where Henry ("Everyone calls me that") desperately tries to convince him to leave the estate to her and get lost back to London.  However, they become attracted to each other gradually and give into their feelings.  However Dunster is dismayed to find out then, that he is to be her guardian and feels he must turn her into a lady and present her to London.  Instantly, a success, knowing their feelings for each other and constrained by a sense of doing right thing and then a terrible misunderstanding, a continual series of incidents and difficulties befall them along the path to true love.

This book was funny, I enjoyed the characters and the plot. The pace moves fast and there is excitement and intrigue.  The only thing is, I like Regency romances such as Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer for their innocence in not portraying the intimacies of relationships, so that part marred it a little for me, not really interested other people's intimacies, but otherwise, an excellent book, well worth reading.

5.  Julia Quinn Dancing at midnight.

Confusingly, this is the prequel to Minx but I read that one first.  Another regency romance, the aforementioned Belle is unmarried and staying with her cousin Emma in the country.  She's considered a bit of a blue-stocking (too clever) by some society mothers and she has spurned a dozen proposals during her London season, so in the country, completing her endeavour to read all of Shakespeare's plays, she doesn't expect to be intrigued, annoyed and seriously attracted by a mysterious neighbour John Blackwood.  He is an ex-soldier, seventh son, haunted by terrible memories of events in Spain, which have set a deep-rooted loathing of himself inside and bearing the legacy of being an unloved, unimportant child.  Their acquaintance grows as do their feelings and acting on those feelings.  When finally they are in London, brought together by a variety of means, as it seems they might be happy, disaster strikes as an old enemy turns up igniting those deep-rooted fears, causing mischief and threatening their relationship!

I liked the tension in this one about the enemy, it was an intriguing tale with some brilliantly witty characters and funny parts! Again, I'd say my reservation is like the previous one but all in all, an excellent, easy read.

6.  Evelyn Waugh Brideshead revisited

CBC has talked about this book for ages and I am pleased to have already tackled 3 modern classics this year including this.  It is told from the point of view of Charles, a painter.  He begins the story arriving with his WW2 batallion to a location unknown in England.  To his amazement, it is Brideshead, a place he knows well.

We flashback to his youth, where you the reader, delight in the wonderfully evocative description of his University days in Oxford, where he meets Sebastian Flyte, a young eccentric, part of the family who live at Brideshead.  He soon develops an infatuated friendship with Sebastian, who seems to have issues connected to his family.  As a series of events happen, we encounter the whole family at Brideshead, all equally idiosyncratic in their ways.  Charles' connection with the family continues, particularly as Sebastian begins to become more and more disconnected with the world at large, trying to escape his Catholic upbringing and yet staying devoted to it in some ways.  The character development is intriguing and as the book continues, Charles path seperates from Sebastian and becomes interwoven with his sister Julia. 

The book ends back in the present and ends on a lighter note.

I cannot extoll the virtues of the description enough here.  It is such a wonderful book in such a unique way.  I wont say anymore, but read it!

Go on then- who's read any of them.  Would you after my highly waffly summaries?

Thanks to http://www.amazon.co.uk/ for the images, where you buy them if I've tempted you enough!