You may have noticed that I have changed my main picture from Forest Palace to one taken from one of my favourite stories of the ones that I read to my children and that is, 'The Monster Bed'. Basically, it is the tale of Dennis the Monster who lives in a cave in a dark, scary wood and who is terrified of humans who his Mother reassures him don't exist. Eventually Dennis comes face to face with a boy who is equally terrified of monsters as Dennis is of humans. The story is beautifully illustrated and as it is in rhyme I can still recite whole chunks by rote much to my very grown up now children's amusement.
I also remembered the last story that I read aloud to my son and that is Tolkein's 'Smith of Wooton Major'. Now a lot of people find Tolkein a little ponderous but this is delightfully written and understated, I won't describe the plot in detail but in brief concerns a mortal man who can vist when he wishes to the land of Faery and how eventually he has to relinquish his gift and pass it on to another child. We also discover that perhaps the King of Faery lives amongst us in a guise that would cause most people to pass him by.
And I was wondering which children's story that you most love reading to your children and why you hold it in such affection?
This is so sweet, Tim. My daughter has a whole library and we read it all passionately. I love reading to her. It takes into a different world.
Recently, she insists on reading to me, which -with her reading skills - is a bit of a ... um... tall order. But we're having fun/
X