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| Teaching children the facts of life Non-fiction was always part and parcel of my childhood reading, but how can I inspire my nephew to enter the world of facts?"I like adventures. Not atlases!" was my 11-year-old nephew's reaction to recent probing by this auntie of his reading habits. I should have known better. Anthony Horowitz warned in a recent interview about the perils of "auntie's choice" when it comes to what kids read: "Children choose the books they want to read. Children's books belong to children; they're not something that your auntie picks out for you at Christmas any more." And of course said nephew is a big Alex Rider fan. But perhaps I could persuade him to broaden out into the world of non-fiction if Anthony Horowitz follows through on a suggestion that came up at the Battle of Ideas festival. When an audience member raised the question of non-fiction for children, Anthony responded that he had long considered writing something for children about the Trojan wars or perhaps even biography. Excited by the prospect? You betcha. And it brought back all the non-fiction books which formed part of my childhood reading.I'm not talking here about school textbooks, but about those books that sit by your bedside, dog-eared, well-thumbed, chocolate-stained. In a child's world these books reach across interests and genres. I loved dance (from a non-dancer distance) as a child and had a book about ballet purchased from Marks & Spencer's (!) bargain bin that took you through the history of ballet, detailed the narratives and key performances from the major ballets and had a glossary with the major positions and steps, all with glossy photos. The companion piece to that sophisticated work was Tales from the Ballet, by Louis Untermeyer, beautifully illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen. I would prop open these books together, working out how the gorgeous fairytales of the Provensens' illustrations became reality in the art of the dancer's five positions.I was always criss-crossing from fiction to non-fiction as a child. I had a battered old Pears Encyclopaedia that I used to check facts and figures from fiction, be it the location of Wisconsin when reading Little House in the Big Woods or what exactly the "croup" was when a child was stricken with it in Anne of Green Gables. Authors themselves also criss-cross that line, bringing dry facts to splendid, imaginative life. Charles Dickens's A Child's History of England is hardly what you would call an impartial account. But it is all the better for that: fizzing with a wit that carries you along, making the facts of history alive in the very moment of reading. Indulge yourself for five minutes and read Dickens's opening paragraphs in the chapter on Charles II, or the merry monarch, with Dickens putting the boot good and proper into Charles's shenanigans: "The Merry Monarch was so exceedingly merry among these merry ladies, and some equally merry (and equally infamous) lords and gentlemen, that he soon got through his hundred thousand pounds, and then, by way of raising a little pocket-money, made a merry bargain. He sold Dunkirk to the French King for five millions of livres."The ability to open up worlds distant in time and place to a child's eye has been with us since the 'first' children's 'picture' book, the Orbis Sensualium Pictus. But perhaps one way of bringing non-fiction to life is to use a little local knowledge. I was delighted when Jan Bowman's This Is Birmingham landed on my office desk, a book very much continuing that tradition of imaginative non-fiction at its best. Stunningly illustrated it brings to glorious life the sights and sounds of Brum so familiar to my nephews. But the real genius is that it sneaks in some hardcore social and political history, starting with Birmingham's Lunar Society and broadening out into the American, French and industrial revolutions, taking in immigration and urban development along the way. And the whole thing, my middle nephew will be pleased to learn, reads like an adventure through time and place.But there must be more out there for young Brummie lads – and other lads and lasses too. I'd be very pleased to hear your suggestions.Children and teenagersShirley Dentguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Ten of the best chases Metamorphoses by OvidOvid gives you any number of chases, usually with an alluring female pursued by an impassioned male deity. Escape comes only via metamorphosis. The pattern is set in Book 1, where Daphne is the object of Apollo's fiery affections. As she makes a run for it her garments blow aside: "She seemed most lovely to his fancy in her flight." He is about to catch her when her father, a river god, turns her into a laurel.Frankenstein by Mary ShelleyWalton, a polar explorer, sees a strange, huge figure sledding across the trackless snows. A few hours later he meets the pursuer, a crazed scientist called . . . Frankenstein. He is chasing a monster that he has created, a nameless being who has killed all those dearest to him. The chase is destined to end in a meeting deadly to the Faustian creator.The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore CooperIf Hawkeye and his friends are not being chased, they are chasing in this tale of 18th-century colonial wars in the American wilderness. When two English girls are caught by the dastardly Hurons, Hawkeye goes in pursuit, saving them from a fate worse than death (if not, in the case of one of them, from death).Oliver Twist by Charles DickensThe hunting down of Bill Sikes is all the more brilliant for making you feel guilty at your own desire for vengeance. The vile Sikes is chased by the forces of law and order, and finally, terrifyingly, by the righteous mob of Jacob's Island. "Of all the terrific yells that ever fell on mortal ears, none could exceed the cry of the infuriated throng".Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas HardyA chase in which you know there is no escape. Tess has bumped off sexual predator Alec d'Urberville and is on the run from the law with the man she loves, Angel Clare. Blundering through the Wessex night they come upon "some vast erection", that "hums" strangely in the wind. It is Stonehenge, where they are cornered as Tess sleeps.The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan"I felt the terror of the hunted on me. It was not the police that I thought of, but the other folk, who knew that I knew Scudder's secret and dared not let me live". Richard Hannay is chased over the Scottish highlands by ruthless agents of a foreign power. Luckily he is fit and clever, with "the eyes of a kite". The book is even more fun than the films.Rogue Male by Geoffrey HouseholdAn English country gentleman has tried to use his hunting skills to stalk a foreign dictator. Now the tyrant's secret police are after him. Much of the novel is a pursuit, a memorable section of which involves our hero being chased through the London underground and killing one pursuer at Aldwych station.The Lord of the Rings by JRR TolkienCripes! The black riders are after them. Frodo, Sam and the mysterious "Strider" are chased by the ring wraiths, who have sold their souls to the evil Sauron. Frodo is carried across the river Bruinen by the elf Glorfindel. When the nine dark riders follow a huge wave carries them away. Hooray!Lord of the Flies by William Golding Once Ralph was the leader of the boys on the island. As blood lust and savagery possess them, he becomes their prey. We are with Ralph as he flees their spears, desperate and terrified. "The ululation rose behind him and spread along, a series of short sharp cries, the sighting call". He "became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet".The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman Lee Scoresby, accompanied by the mysterious Professor Grumman, is being pursued by the forces of the Magisterium in their Zeppelin-like flying machines. They knock out three Zeppelins, but as their balloon crashes, the last one closes in . . .Thomas HardyMary ShelleyCharles DickensJRR TolkienWilliam GoldingPhilip PullmanJohn Mullanguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Authors Guild Fights Back on E-Book Rights The Authors Guild posted a memo to its Web site on Tuesday disputing efforts by Random House to claim e-book rights on old titles published before 1994. feeds.nytimes.com |
Linklog: Enemies of books, sex and the modern male novelist, and more Enemies of Books catalogued – mine, I can say with some assurance, are definitely safe from housemaids and overzealous binders.• In defence of the manliness of contemporary American authors.• Tip: if Andrew O'Hagan fails to compliment your book, don't complain.• Writers and their doggy doubles.Peter Robinsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Who Declares War? In new books, John Yoo celebrates and Garry Wills denounces the rise of presidential power at the expense of Congress. feeds.nytimes.com |