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prescriptionbooks's review
4.0
Absolutely fascinating to read. Love learning about the history of children's books.
emmax12's review
4.0
Absolutely fascinating to read. Love learning about the history of children's books.
emma_em's review
4.0
Absolutely fascinating to read. Love learning about the history of children's books.
blakeney_clark's review
informative
medium-paced
4.75
10/10 Best book I’ve read this year.
In it, Pollard talks about the stories behind popular children’s picture books and in light of this, offers new readings of them. I particularly liked the segments on the Mr Men books, The Lorax and Not Now Bernard, all so much darker than I remember them being. The books are grouped thematically (there are sections on sausages and poo for instance) in order to unpick why these books are so formative to us and what their role is. I am in awe of how much research Pollard draws on and her amazing witty yet sentimental writing style which seamlessly brings everything together, gahh I could go on and on.
Off to re-read all my old children's books..
In it, Pollard talks about the stories behind popular children’s picture books and in light of this, offers new readings of them. I particularly liked the segments on the Mr Men books, The Lorax and Not Now Bernard, all so much darker than I remember them being. The books are grouped thematically (there are sections on sausages and poo for instance) in order to unpick why these books are so formative to us and what their role is. I am in awe of how much research Pollard draws on and her amazing witty yet sentimental writing style which seamlessly brings everything together, gahh I could go on and on.
Off to re-read all my old children's books..
farahmendlesohn's review
5.0
At its best when at its most personal. I definitely recommend it for a lovely exploration of *re-reading* and of the shift between childhood reading and adult reading.
Pollard does a lovely job of sifting through some very silly academic interpretations of famous books (tho personally I do wonder if The Tiger Who Came to Tea actually began as a mish mash retelling of the feeding of AA Milne’s Tigger when he first arrives in The wood, no one seems to have noticed it’s the same story).
Although Pollard cites Jacqueline Rose the book - for me - demonstrates what I’ve been arguing for a while: children aren’t a separate species. We are the child we were; the child we were is us.
Full disclosure. After reading this book which i’d bought *entirely* because it sounded good, I looked up the author and realised I’m an idiot. She’s the fantastic editor of Magazine of Poetry in Translation (which is why the consideration of children’s poetry here is superior to anything else I’ve read) and I am a Trustee of MPT.
Pollard does a lovely job of sifting through some very silly academic interpretations of famous books (tho personally I do wonder if The Tiger Who Came to Tea actually began as a mish mash retelling of the feeding of AA Milne’s Tigger when he first arrives in The wood, no one seems to have noticed it’s the same story).
Although Pollard cites Jacqueline Rose the book - for me - demonstrates what I’ve been arguing for a while: children aren’t a separate species. We are the child we were; the child we were is us.
Full disclosure. After reading this book which i’d bought *entirely* because it sounded good, I looked up the author and realised I’m an idiot. She’s the fantastic editor of Magazine of Poetry in Translation (which is why the consideration of children’s poetry here is superior to anything else I’ve read) and I am a Trustee of MPT.
bew's review
5.0
I don't often review books, at least only the dire ones!
However this book is far from dire, it's an exquisite telling of the tales behind the books of our childhood, some familiar and some unfamiliar. I chose to buy it with my audible credit for the month and listen to it on Father's Day, my first Father's Day since my Dad died earlier this year. It was an emotional read and I will confess there were a few tears along the way but that was a reflection on the day and not on the book. I doubt I could have chosen a better book to listen to today of all days and yet it was a book I hadn't heard of before yesterday. Normally I read books on my kindle rather than listen to audio books but I actually think this book is better on audio than it would have been if I'd read it, the author's own voices adds something to the experience and what better book to be read to you than one about books which are written to be read out loud.
Everybody should buy and listen to this book.
However this book is far from dire, it's an exquisite telling of the tales behind the books of our childhood, some familiar and some unfamiliar. I chose to buy it with my audible credit for the month and listen to it on Father's Day, my first Father's Day since my Dad died earlier this year. It was an emotional read and I will confess there were a few tears along the way but that was a reflection on the day and not on the book. I doubt I could have chosen a better book to listen to today of all days and yet it was a book I hadn't heard of before yesterday. Normally I read books on my kindle rather than listen to audio books but I actually think this book is better on audio than it would have been if I'd read it, the author's own voices adds something to the experience and what better book to be read to you than one about books which are written to be read out loud.
Everybody should buy and listen to this book.