gigaball

Has anyone else read this very quaint gem from the seventies? I fell in love with it as a child and eagerly bought a copy when I saw it back in print in Waterstones. It's a very simple story (or maybe series of stories) about a girl called Susan, who meets a dragon when she's on holiday in Cornwall. Her parents give her free reign of the beaches and caves (a different era!) so she visits him most days, usually bringing biscuits or a bun. He either takes her for a ride to see something (like Tintagel Castle or a mermaid) or else tells her a tall tale, and at the risk of underselling it, that's pretty much all that happens! There isn't much in the way of action or adventure here, but the charm of the book lies in the dialogue between the heroine, Susan, and her unusual new friend. It's worth explaining that the dragon is a charming, very cultured, sometimes laugh-out-loud ludicrous dragon who learned his manners at the court of King Arthur. He occasionally talks with regret about the maidens he devoured before he was taught to behave by a Cornish saint. Re-reading it as an adult, there's definitely a lot less actually plot than I remembered, but every page managed to raise a smile, and it was a joy to revisit this old favourite. They certainly don't make 'em like they used to (not that modern children's books aren't good - they're excellent - but I can't see something like this getting published nowadays). Did anyone else read this back in the day or am I the only one?

A lot of that is the tone of the narration I think. The radio play I mentioned above does great things with that by having two narrators: a storyteller, and Bilbo himself who keeps interrupting. Bearing in mind that the Hobbit is meant to be Bilbo Baggins's memoirs ("There and Back Again: A Hobbit's Adventure") I think the film could do something similar to explain the lightness of tone compared to the Lord of the Rings. If they went the other way and tried to make it more like LoTR, I think that most of it could translate (with minimal work) into the style and tone of Lord of the Rings, with one glaring exception: the encounter with the trolls. I think in The Hobbit they're called Burt, Bill, and Tom Huggins or something. There's no way that could possibly gel with the trolls as presented in LoTR, so they would simply have to completely reinvent the scene.

Sadya, if you go on iTunes you can download an excellent (full cast) radio play of the Hobbit that your children might enjoy. The actors are excellent. I'm a lot older than 11 and 13 and I still get a buzz out of listening to it from time to time Curious to hear what they made of the Silmarillion - was it not a bit dry for them>

I'm very envious of you, getting to read them for the first time. How have you found them?

I voted for The Magician's Nephew. Second favourite is probably Dawntreader. Here's a question for you guys. What order would you recommend for reading them? Chronological order (from The Magician's Nephew to The Last Battle, which is how they're normally boxed) or the order of publication (starting with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)? I would recommend reading them for the first time in the order of publication, because all that stuff at the beginning of The Lion... is just the perfect iconic intro to Narnia. But I would always re-read them in chronological order, because it's a real treat to follow the whole cycle from genesis to apocalypse.

I picked this up when I saw a twin-pack of two Wooding novels for 99p in TK Maxx. I'm not sure how he found himself in the bargain bin because he's a great author. Storm Thief was nominated for the Carnegie Medal (thanks Wikipedia!) and I can see why. The book is set in a dystopian future world, where the inhabitants encounter powerful relics from a more advanced past (known as "fade science") and are plagued by unpredictable probability storms. The storms are strange phenomenon where literally anything can be changed forever. They can rearrange cities or make people wink out of existence. The main character, a street urchin called Rail, has to wear a respirator because one storm randomly robbed him of the ability to breathe properly. The drama of the book comes when Rail and his female companion, Moa, are hired by crimelord Anya-Jacana to steal a powerful piece of "fade science". They go on the run with it and learn how to use its power, but in doing so attract the attention of the secret police. Villains in the novel include the hideous mozgas, who are out of sync with time - randomly moving super-fast or in slow motion - as well as Anya-Jacana's favourite henchman, Finch. This is a great, really imaginative book. It does have some flaws however. Wooding is a good writer, but sometimes, instead of taking a step back and describing something so you can really picture it, he just bombards you with impressive-sounding similes that don't add up to a coherant picture. There's something quite chaotic about his descriptions, and it's occasionally hard (especially when he's trying to be impressive and dramatic) to resolve them into a vivid mental image. Also, there's a twist at the end that disappointed me. It didn't seem like something that would actually happen, even within the fiction of the book (more like something an author would invent to convey a message). But there are some fantastic ideas and characters in this book, and I was touched by the relationship between Rail and Moa (not to mention the poor gooseberry of a golem, Vago). I tore through it in a matter of days and heartily recommend it. I think Chris Wooding is quite a young author and expect him to improve with age. Suitable for older independent readers (e.g., early teens). **** out of *****.

I read and thoroughly enjoyed one of the Bartimaeus books. I think it was actually Book II in the original trilogy, but I was able to follow the plot. It was a fantastic read for anyone of any age and I'd completely forgotten that the whole trilogy was on my "to read" list, so thanks for the reminder!

Wow - the Beano is still going?! Is it any good nowadays?

I believe they're written by a team of people (all writing under one pseudonym, which explains why there's at least 40 of them so far!) and were created after market research into what boys would enjoy. That makes me a bit cynical, but on the other hand, I hear younger readers lap them up and even learn new words. I think anything that keeps children reading is probably good for them. I'm afraid I don't know whether they stand alone or not, but if it helps, the first three books of the first series are Ferno the Fire Dragon, Sepron the Sea Serpent, and Arcta the Mountain Giant. There are at least eight series with six books apiece.

I keep meaning to read these 'cos I enjoyed the film so much. I thought it would be a Harry Potter rip off, but I enjoyed how they swapped typical British locations with American ones to give it a fresh feel (e.g., instead of a boarding school, they had a summer camp; instead of pubs and castles they had Mount Olympus in the Empire State Building, Hades under Hollywood, and the legend of the Lotus-Eaters transposed to a casino). The books are definitely on my list!