School holidays have been over for a week now and I made up a large portion of them with my nose in a book. I also did some reading to the boys. Reading aloud to my children is one of the parts that I love SO much about parenthood. So you can expect a load of reviews coming your way. This week I am going to focus on books for children.
First off the pile was Jacqueline Wilson's offering Wave Me Goodbye.
Wilson is obviously a very well known and published author but I must confess I haven't actually picked up her books before. I think she was garnering a lot of popularity while I was at home changing nappies and if I'm honest I've always looked at the cover art of her books and assumed the'd be fairly light and fluffy.
Not that there is anything wrong with light and easy to read. It is actually a really good thing for emerging readers but it's not usually what I am likely to pick up for myself or for reading aloud to children.
Wave Me Goodbye is centred around the action of the evacuation of children from London in WW2. It follows ten year-old Shirley as she is sent to a small village with all the other children from her school and others around.
The story is lovely. It is easy to read and there are a good number of illustrations to help the narrative flow. Shirley is a likeable, if quirky, character and I think a lot of children would relate to her. She ends up being put in a house with 2 boys from her school. There are adventures, friendships, failures and misunderstandings along the way. The two women who run the household are their own kind of quirky and there are some truly touching moments in the story.
I really enjoyed this book. I can see why Wilson has such a following and I think she does justice to the historical events of the novel while delivering a book with a timeless feel. Perfect for any reader who likes to escape into their own world.
Details - Penguin Random House - Doubleday, May 2017 RRP $30
love you more than being a brilliant dancer, in my imagination xxx
