Jaques Cousteau

Ms Hughes in English says.

"I was reading at the age of 12ish - would probably be one of  Jacques Cousteau's books 'The Silent World' - I was crazy about the oceans and seas and the world that existed beneath the surface."

Favourite reads as a child!

We are restarting the My Favourite read for all School Staff. Visit the label "As a child" to see what your tutor or favourite member of the Administration staff read when they were about your age!

First is Staff  Mrs Hughes IT

"I read many books as a child, like Mrs Nichols I read the Chalet School books and I also enjoyed many Enid Blyton books. "

"The books I remember most are the Barney Mysteries and 'Secret' series, both are about a group of children who have adventures whilst solving mysteries all over the world."

Wish for a Pony

Mrs. Adams from the PSC says.

 "As a Child mt favorite book was called Wish for a Pony but I can't remember the author for sure, though it may have been Monica Edwaards. The book had been given to my sister as a present, but at eight years old and as I was horse mad, it was soon swapped for my Bunty Annual.

I read this book more times than I can count and took it everywhere I went.

I think it eventually fell apart.

The story was about local two girls who helped out at a stables in Hastings because they were also horse mad. They groomed the horses every day and during their summer holidays were allowed to exercise them on the beach.

One of the girls, Tamsin, was given the chance to ride the horse she loved most at gymkhanas and was very successful. This horse was called Timpani because his hooves "drummed" across the sands.

At the end of the book the owner died and left Timpani to Tamsin in his will as long as her parents agreed, which of course they did.

This was my childhood dream and could almost have been written about Pam instead of Tamsin. She had all the aspirations and wishes that I had as a child to own my own horse, a dream that started with watching the two white Shirehorses pull the coal cart up and down the road where I lived.

I even tried to convince my parents that the coal house would have made a suitable stable because it had a split door! I had no concern as to where the coal would be kept instead. And the fact that we lived in an end terrace house just didn't figure in my thinking at all.

 

Eventually, my horse loving dreams were realised when Peter Dicken opened North Farm on Whitcliffe and I was old enough to "earn" some money within the family business to pay for lessons.

I still love horses even though my riding days are far behind me."

To Kill a Mocking Bird

Mr Poulton says:-

"Without doubt , my favourite book through childhood, and into adult life, is To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. It was also a GCSE text book, and even friends who weren't really into books really got into it. The story, told through the eyes of a child (Scout), gripped me with every page. I could relate to so many of the stories told, and the images that the language used conveyed are still with me now.

However, it was the underlying messages that really held my attention - prejudice, family, the trials related to growing up, inequality and human compassion. It is an exciting book, as sad book a joyful book. The best film vesrion of the book, in my opinion, almost did it justice, with Gregory Peck doing a fine job portraying Scouts father, Atticus Finch.

I would urge anyone to read this book, and I would challenge them to be able to put it down"

The Patchwork Quilt

Mrs Hearle says

"My favourite read was a book of poetry called "The Patchwork Quilt" and other poems. I adored reading it with my mum as a sat up in bed. She tells me now that it was a gift from an Aunt when I was about 6 and when I opened the present I was really disappointed, so she made a concerted effort to get me enjoying it. My favourite poem was about a water nymph and a goblin who fell in love with the nymph's "green glass beads on a silver ring". My mum used to do brilliant voices - all scraggy and evil for the goblin and beautiful and lilting for the nymph!"

Chalet School

Mrs Nichols (Lab Technician) enjoyed the Chalet School series of books by Elinor m Brent-Dyer as a girl and says:-

" I had no wish to go to boarding school, but liked reading about girls who did and I loved the location of the school. I have vivid memories of running with my friends to the shelf in Seven Kings Library in Essex to see if a new one had arrived"

*** The previous book in the lists of books 'I Liked as a Child' were all quite famous so needed no comment at all. This series was completely unknown to me so, curiosity being a trait of mine, I felt the need to research the author and the series.

There were 58! books in the series (more than The Famous Five and Secret Seven put together!) all written between 1925 and 1970. The books seem to mirror society and history of the time in many ways with the school even moving from Austria, to Gurnsey, Herefordshire and then onto Wales because of tuberculosis, the rise of the Nazi party and the second world war.

Throughout the series, various girls arrive at the school with personal problems, bad attitudes or behavioural issues. As a result of the ministrations of better-behaved classmates and the teaching staff, they all tend to discover the error of their ways and become model pupils, or 'real Chalet School girls'.(very much like life at Ludlow School today !)

Mrs Nichols was not the only person who mentioned this series so she maybe interested in starting a branch on the Friends of Chalet School Society.

The Hobbit

My Favourite childhood book

Mr Doran says:

"My favourite childhood book was the 'The Hobbit'. I read it when I was about 12 and read it a couple of times since. I've no particular reason why other than the story and the way it is written was like nothing I have read before. I still like that fantasy/historic/legends type genre "

Kidnapped

Mr Rees says:

 "Kidnapped was a favourite of mine. I had the pair with Treasure Island, a book full of adventure and escapism for a typical boy. I used to read it early on a Saturday or Sunday morning instead of waking up my Mum and Dad! Soon it'll be my boys reading it !"

I-Spy book of Planes

Mr Walker says:

As a child I lived not too far from Heathrow Airport and on weekends or school holidays I would be able to cycle up to the airport fence and watch planes taking off or landing.
One day my mother gave me "The I-Spy book of Planes" so I then spent a great deal of time looking for tridents and dc-8's or spotting a particular BOAC or BEA plane. It also gave me a great desire to travel and see the world which I still have today.