I think I was about 6 or 7 years old when I learned to read and it was momentous. We were encouraged to read for pleasure at school and I took to it like a duck to water.

I can vividly remember saving up for five weeks to get a particular paperback book, The Children Who Lived in a Barn. Finally, I received my pocket money on Saturday as usual and I thought I had enough money but, when I counted it, I was one penny short. I was so upset. Luckily, my aunt was visiting us and she not only gave me the penny I needed, she gave me the whole amount. Virtue rewarded!

To show how long ago this happened, the book cost 2/6 as we used to write it which was two shillings and sixpence, the equivalent today of about 22.5 pence (50 cents approx). I got sixpence a week pocket money which is how I know how long I’d saved. I can still remember the book today and was amazed to discover that it’s been reprinted in the UK by Persephone Books and is for sale on Amazon.co.uk.

I love poetry and have many books of poems which I dip into often. My love of poetry began at infants school when we were read poems like Edward Lear’s The Jumblies and The Owl and the Pussycat.

I always encourage children to read and love books. I give any children of family and friends books as Christmas or birthday gifts. The only surprise for them is which book or books they’ll get. It seems to have worked well because those children that are now grown up all love to read too but I can’t take all the credit. Their parents encouraged their love of reading and books by reading to them and taking them to the library to borrow books. There have always been lots of books in their homes too and their parents set them a good example by reading a lot themselves.

My Squidoo lens about some of my favourite children’s literature:
Classic Funny Poems for Kids
The Dark is Rising Sequence
The Wind in the Willows
Richmal Crompton, author of the William books