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UK Children''s Books

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Pandora II

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Hi Harriet!

My favourites as a child:

Noel Streatfield - Ballet Shoes, The Painted Garden, White Boots, the Gemma series, the one about the historical Pageant... I was addicted. Ballet Shoes I had 3 copies as I read the first 2 to death - I really wanted to be a ballet dancer (5ft 10" with 2 left feet it didn''t work out!)

Enid Blyton - The Chalet School series, Mallory Towers, Famous Five, Secret 7 - although I preferred the Famous Four of to the last two.

Arthur Ransome - My father used to read these to us when we were on holiday - fantastic stories. I especially liked Missi Lee and Swallows and Amazons.

Diana Wynne Jones - The Charmed Life series was a great Harry Potter predecessor, The Ogre Downstairs is also great and made me long for a chemistry set - though mine wasn''t nearly as fun as theirs!

must be hundreds of others ...

For younger children I loved the Beatrix Potter books and the now rather controversial Little Black Sambo books. They were written by one of my ancestors Helen Bannerman who was a missionary in India. She wrote the books to amuse the local children. I was brought up in Micronesia and the kids there loved them as they had brown children in them and weren''t full of animals or cars and buses etc that they had never come across. In the UK they are now pretty much banned as being racist.

I went to an all-boys school for a while and read a lot of Jennings and Biggles books there.

Which ones do you collect?
 

Harriet

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Date: 4/17/2007 6:38:59 PM
Author:Pandora II
Hi Harriet!

My favourites as a child:

Noel Streatfield - Ballet Shoes, The Painted Garden, White Boots, the Gemma series, the one about the historical Pageant... I was addicted. Ballet Shoes I had 3 copies as I read the first 2 to death - I really wanted to be a ballet dancer (5ft 10'' with 2 left feet it didn''t work out!)

Enid Blyton - The Chalet School series, Mallory Towers, Famous Five, Secret 7 - although I preferred the Famous Four of to the last two.

Arthur Ransome - My father used to read these to us when we were on holiday - fantastic stories. I especially liked Missi Lee and Swallows and Amazons.

Diana Wynne Jones - The Charmed Life series was a great Harry Potter predecessor, The Ogre Downstairs is also great and made me long for a chemistry set - though mine wasn''t nearly as fun as theirs!

must be hundreds of others ...

For younger children I loved the Beatrix Potter books and the now rather controversial Little Black Sambo books. They were written by one of my ancestors Helen Bannerman who was a missionary in India. She wrote the books to amuse the local children. I was brought up in Micronesia and the kids there loved them as they had brown children in them and weren''t full of animals or cars and buses etc that they had never come across. In the UK they are now pretty much banned as being racist.

I went to an all-boys school for a while and read a lot of Jennings and Biggles books there.

Which ones do you collect?
Hi Pandora,
I''m collecting Noel Streatfeild. My favourite is "The Vicarage Family." I''m also searching for the Lorna Hill ballet series. Are you familiar with them?
I''ve read the Enid Blytons, and of course heard of the Beatrix Potters. But, I''m not familiar with the rest you mentioned.
Of the contemporary authors, I really enjoy Helen Cresswell''s Bagothorpe series.
What an interesting and controversial ancestor! Where in Micronesia did you live?
Oh, and there are some old Aussie books I''m looking for.
 

Harriet

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Come on, Maisie.
 

Harriet

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Pandora,
I was at an antiquarian book fair yesterday and so quite a number of "Little Black Sambo" books. I guess they''re not banned here. Are they still banned in the UK?
 

Harriet

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Bumping for Pandora.
 

Pandora II

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Hi Harriet,

They are only banned in schools, you can still buy them on ebay but not sure on amazon.

A Vicarage Family was NS''s autobiography. The other books of hers are different, but fun. Don''t think I know Lorna Hill...

I grew up on Tarawa which is the biggest island in Kiribati - then the British Colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. it was the site of a huge battle between the USA and the Japanese in WWII. Sadly whoever organised the US invasion got the tides wrong and the marines landed when the tide was out and many hundreds were killed before they even reached the main island. There were still loads of tanks and aeroplanes rusting away.

It was a fairly idyllic place to grown up - bit like Blue Lagoon, I didn''t even own a pair of shoes till I was nearly 8! Boy was returning to the UK a culture shock - and sooooo cold!
 

Harriet

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Lorna Hill wrote the Sadler Wells series. Still doesn''t ring a bell?
Ignorant me will have to look up Kiribati. The UK is not so cold.
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Maisie

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Ooh I didn''t see this thread!

I used to read loads of Enid Blyton as a kid. Loved the Mallory Towers series and also the Famous Five books!

You know I can''t think of anything else off the top of my head. I must be getting old lol! I will think more and come back to this.
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Harriet

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Please do.
 
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