A Visit from St. Mary's

Inspiring a new generation of book lovers

The second week of October has long been celebrated as Children’s Book Week by the reading charity Booktrust. They aim to promote a love of reading in children and to provide opportunities for disadvantaged children to access books and literary experiences.

This year Booktrust produced a list of the best 100 children’s books from the past 100 years and divided the list into four age categories. Any list that claims to contain the best in children’s books will have its critics and most people will have a handful of books they feel ought to have been included, nonetheless almost all the books on the list brought back fond memories and many of them still adorn my bookshelf. Inevitably any list of children's fiction limiting itself to books from the past century, thus eliminating Alice, Peter Pan, Peter Rabbit and The Wind in the Willows, feels rather incomplete. 

I believe quite passionately in the benefits of reading for pleasure and am a great advocate of engaging children in the delights of the printed word from an early age. So this year we decided to mount an exhibition in our Henley shop of first editions and special copies of some of the greatest children’s books ever.

Yesterday we had a visit from the year four pupils of St Mary’s School a local primary school. The prospect of sixteen eight years olds was somewhat daunting and I was unsure what they would make of an “old bookshop”. However, my fears were ungrounded as each and everyone one of the children approached the visit with enthusiasm and genuine interest.

They loved learning about the history behind some of their favourite stories, reading the Peter Rabbit picture letter to Noel Moore, then comparing the privately printed edition of Peter Rabbit with the first published edition. They were impressed to see an original water-colour Christmas card painted by Beatrix Potter, just like the ones they were making in their art lessons they said. Less impressive was Roald Dahl’s scrawly handwriting, which they felt sure they would never get away with.

The children were delighted to discover that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was written by Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond and that Roald Dahl’s screenplay for the film introduced the character of the child-catcher. I was pleased to hear that one of their Daddys liked James Bond books!

 A literary treasure hunt had them energetically debating the story lines of books from different eras. Was a shard of ice likely to appear in The Snow Queen or The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe? Were bears most likely to enjoy marmalade or honey? Great mirth ensued when the teachers failed to recall which children’s novel was likely to feature goats and cheese – I’m sure all readers of this blog would know that one!

At the end of the day they went away to design dustwrappers for their favourite books and I am really looking forward to seeing the results next week.

By the end of the visit I was exhausted, but elated – how do primary school teachers do this every day?  The visit had surely spawned the next generation of book lovers and collectors!

 This morning I received a note from their teacher , “The children certainly gained a great deal from their visit and I could hear them chatting later about the books you had shown them. They particularly enjoyed the treasure hunt.”