I was asked today about which stories I had read as a child had influenced my writing… hmm, tricky, because ever since I answered, other tales have been popping into my head. I said ‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis Stevenson, and ‘Great Expectations’ by Dickens – not really a child’s book but it starts with a child hero.
In today’s paper there was a column by Philip Womack which considered just this, and he mentioned books he still had from his childhood which he still enjoyed reading…. and I thought he had a pretty good list, which I agreed with all bar one which I hadn’t read:
- The Once and Future King – T.H. White
- King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Tale – Roger Lancelyn Green
- Lord of the Rings – J.R.R.Tolkein
- The Prisoner of Zenda – Anthony Hope (I’d add ‘Rupert of Henzau’ by Hope as well)
- The Five Children and It – E. Nesbit ( and the other two in the trilogy ‘The Phoenix and the Carpet’ and ‘The Story of the Amulet’ – I can hardly believe they were written over a hundred years ago)
- The Scarecrows -Robert Westall (really creepy!)
Of course there are loads of other books, but I was just amused that Philip Womack came up with a list containing so many of my favourites. Now I shall spend a happy time thinking of other favourites!
Oh, and the one on his list I hadn’t read? Albion’s Dream by Roger Norman.
Lois Elsden 