Well-versed in the classics and other tales

THE prospect of holidays divides the human race. One species (usually

female) consists of those whose packing centres on clothes, with a

sub-species (usually male) whose chief concern is preparing sporting

equipment. Those whose first question is what books to take are a wider,

less categorisable group which includes a surprisingly large proportion

of children. It's a trait which should receive discreet encouragement

not only, but not least, because it holds the priceless promise of

peaceful interludes.

There are unexpected hurdles before that stage is reached. Almost all

under-fives enjoy a romp through the picture books, but six-year-olds

who had shown every sign of enthusiasm for independent reading can

suddenly baulk for no apparent reason. It may well be frustration. While

vocabulary and comprehension must outstrip reading ability for a while,

many of the stories devised for this age-group suffer from the

irritating banality of the poorer school text books. Even the passably

humorous tend to belabour the point so that they are dismissed as

babyish. Among the jollier of the new crop of paperbacks are The Pop

Concert by Jean Wills, and Blue Magic by Hazel Townson, both from the

Red Fox Read Alone series at #2.50.

Seven weeks of summer holidays is the time to take out the stress and

put the enjoyment back into reading and an opportunity to move from

little books to novel length. Listening as opposed to reading is the

easy way to build up reading appetite for the five to eights at the rate

of a chapter or two a night. The vital factor is less the level of

difficulty than the level of satisfaction.

Since the daunting wealth of children's titles makes success something

of a stab in the dark, and since enthusiasm is infectious, the best bet

is to go for something the adult is will enjoy. Reading to more than one

age-group calls for a strong storyline which allows individuals to take

or leave difficult words, philosophical passages and detailed

descriptions as appropriate.

Family favourites for this treatment last summer were two Kelpie

paperbacks by Kathleen Fidler: Flash the Sheepdog and The Desperate

Journey. Both are suggested for eight and over, but have a strong appeal

to younger readers despite the wealth of detail and are well-used in

schools with a much wider age range. Add to this category Judith

O'Neill's deservedly acclaimed So Far From Skye, also on the theme of

exile from Scotland, which has just been issued in paperback by Puffin

at #3.99.

A step backwards to Johanna Spyri's Heidi found the old magic still

there. It is a simple story, but remembering the sequels by Spyri's

translator as aimed at a slightly older age, I gave in to demands for

them with some doubt to find the enjoyment criterion was not age but

gender. Even so the dismissive male crept back for the denouement.

Feeling the need for something a bit more substantial, we moved on to

The Hobbit. There are plenty of editions to choose from following last

year's Tolkein centenary. The Harper Collins paperback with

illustrations by Michael Hague suited our purpose, the full page

pictures in glowing colours holding the six-year-old's interest when the

text became a little dense. As well as a touch-paper to the imagination,

it provided a first taste of that thoroughly satisfied feeling of

sticking with an author through thick and thin. Just how vital the

pictures were became clear only later, when a Beowulf tape from the

library was uncompromisingly rejected after less than ten minutes.

Others who feel that legends should be absorbed in childhood, will

welcome the re-issuing by Floris of The Children of Odin, Padraic

Colum's 1920 version of the Norse sagas. The language tends towards the

archaic, peppered with wilts, dosts and arts, making it more suitable

for the tens and over, but the magnificence of the tales is lovingly

wrought.

The great other world order for children is CS Lewis's Chronicles of

Narnia available in several editions, but the Lions paperbacks offer a

good size of type plus line drawings. We failed at the first attempt at

the first in the series, The Magician's Nephew, but reading The Lion the

Witch and the Wardrobe after seeing the television version led to

working through the series. Life is never simple, though, the older

child, frustrated by the slow pace, charged through several books on his

own, while the tenacious younger one has insisted that she and I start

all over again at the beginning.

Television exposure has given an immeasurable boost to children's

stories which have the kind of linguistic generation gap which can be

daunting for younger readers. A firm grasp of the story gives them the

confidence (and incentive) to overcome it. E Nesbit's The Railway

Children and Five Children and It have also benefitted recently.

It's hard to beat a brand new paperback for holiday reading and Puffin

has pulled out the stops with its current Reading for Fun campaign based

on compelling new tales from the current big names, such as Dick

King-Smith and Anne Fine. Kingsley Amis's We Are All Guilty is aimed at

young teenagers, but like all well-crafted work cannot be pigeon-holed

by age alone, and is thought-provoking with refreshing dips into parody

which distinguish it from the proliferating heavy-message school of

teenage writing. Ann Pilling's Vote for Baz is an enthralling school

story with a difference which examines issues of idealism and fair play

with an upbeat confidence.

A verse or two to tuck away whether in the suitcase or in the mind is

perfect holiday fodder. Jeanne Willis's ToffeePockets, illustrated by

George Buchanan (Red Fox) offers a range of thoughts -- mainly on

grandparents -- from the mundane to the big questions:

Where do people go to when they die?

'I can't be sure,' said Grandad, 'but it seems,

They simply set up home inside our dreams.'