Stories that Stuck

By Amy North

So originally, I asked our Weparaplan team to provide me a list of their favourite books, to which most of the team replied, “Who has the time” or “I don’t read much anymore”. I can’t help but feel that it’s such a shame that we (myself included) no longer have the time to read for pleasure.

Thinking back on my own childhood, It wasn’t very often that I didn’t have a book on the go, and with no Netflix or social media there was very little distractions from the fictional worlds that I was absorbed in.?Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five was my go to series. A group of friends, camping, going on adventures in caves whilst drinking lashings of ginger beer? Yes please. But the one book that I will insist my daughter reads is Little Women. I first read this when I was 12, I think? I instantly fell in love with the March sisters and their devotion to each other, ?all whilst dealing with the struggles of life in New England during the Civil War.

Remember the episode of friends where Joey had to put the book in the freezer? I had just finished reading it, and could relate to Joeys pain at poor Beth dying, (sorry, spoiler alert).

So, I went back to our team and reworded the original question. What was your absolute favourite book as a child. Everyone instantly had a answer, and here’s a few of the responses.

Paul Kenworthy

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone – J.K. Rowling

This book really resonated with me because I was about Harry's age when I first read it. Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy - until he is rescued by an owl, taken to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns to play Quidditch and does battle in a deadly duel. It just felt like such an amazing world that I would have loved to spend time in.

Kathryn Taylor

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

This is a absolute classic that I studied for O level English. It has stuck with me throughout, as it takes the reader through all the different parts of human behaviours: compassion, cruelty, love and hatred. This book is an emotional masterpiece, and the 1962 film with Gregory Peck playing Atticus Finch is a must see.

Tony Slimmings

The Lord of the Rings Series - J.R.R. Tolkien

This has to be one of the greatest trilogies of all time, and has set a unreachably high benchmark for any subsequent fantasy novels. I loved the whole journey into Tolkien’s mystical world of make believe and fantasy, with the One Ring to rule the other Rings of Power as the ultimate weapon in Lord Saurons campaign to conquer and rule all of Middle-earth.

Hannah Keane

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis

I fell in love with Narnia, and the land beyond the wardrobe door, a secret place frozen in eternal winter. It’s a magical country, waiting to be set free from the evil White Witch. This story follows the Pevensie siblings through their journey to free Narnia alongside my absolute favourite character the lion Aslan.

Lucy Wylde

Ballet Shoes – Noel Streatfeild

In 1936, when Ballet Shoes was published, it became an immediate best seller. It was the first known book to be set at a stage school, the first ballet story to be set in London, the first to feature middle class society, and probably the first to show children as independent and able to survive without running to grownups when things went wrong.

Pauline, Petrova and Posy are orphans determined to help out their family by attending the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. Each girl must find the courage to follow her dream. My primary school teacher read this to me when I was 9, and from then on I dreamed of ?becoming a Ballerina. Who would of thought I would end up Paraplanning instead!

What are your stories that have stuck?