| ALL over the country adults are rushing out to buy Harry Potter, anything by Roald Dahl and other children's favourites in an effort to reclaim the magic of their childhood. But what is it that makes us remember those first books ,and why do we never forget the tales they tell? Features editor Rachael Gordon and Chris Sealey report.
LIFE is not like a fairytale. None of us have a fairy godmother with a magic wand to wave to make our wishes come true.
There is no yellow brick road or pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and realising that is one of the first hurdles that a youngster has to get over in life.
But in the happily-ever-after stories of childhood there are often a few parables and pointers.
Lessons we can all learn to help us survive the ups and downs of life in the real world, when pumpkins stubbornly refuse to turn into golden carriages and broomsticks stay firmly grounded.
The trouble is that you have to be grown up to understand that.
So does that mean the magic is out of reach in adulthood and you become too old to wish upon a star?
Well, if the reading habits of today's big kids are anything to go by, maybe not.
Surprisingly, many grown-ups are re-discovering the joy of believing in things that can't be explained by logic alone by picking up some of their childhood favourites.
And the magic and mystery in Harry Potter's adventures seem to mesmerise as many adults as children.
Following the release of the eagerly awaited fifth Harry Potter book, The Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling, in June, shops around the city filled with children all keen to see where Harry's adventures would take him next.
But as well as kids grabbing copies of the book, just as many were sold to adults.
Lindsey Easson, assistant manager at Waterstones book store, in Bridge Street, said the reason so many adults had started reading Harry Potter was because it was a classic tale of good versus evil.
She said: "I think it really caught children's imaginations and adults wanted to see the phenomenon for themselves.
"It's a different world that they can go into: it's a form of escapism, and tells the classic tale of triumph over adversity."
Pete Aldridge, young people's services librarian at Central Library, in Broadway, Peterborough, said: "Harry Potter's popularity is also down to the way the books are marketed. There are adult editions as well as the children's editions, which do not look like children's books, so adults do not feel embarrassed reading them on the train.
"Also a lot of people see the films and then buy the books to see if they are as good."
Miss Easson, who names her favourite childhood story as Gobbolino – The Witch's Cat, by Ursula Moray-Williams, added that the reason people remembered their first childhood story was because it made them think of their carefree early years.
She said: "I think it is a fondness thing, people remember their first book and think about all the good times they had when they were kids."
Mr Aldridge (41) said that it was the magic of children's books that made them so special.
He said: "I still read Winnie The Pooh now sometimes, because they were really good stories. And when I was growing up, I read Enid Blyton's Famous Five series over and over again because they were a really good read – real page turners.
"And children's books are a bit of escapism. I think people like them because they are innocent and an antidote to real life. And authors like Terry Pratchett write books for both adults and children anyway, and the line between the two is very thin."
Valerie Alston, of Papyrus Way, Sawtry, near Peterborough, is a children's author who recently published her first book.
She says that children often remembeed their first books because of the worlds they describes.
"I remember Hans Christian Anderson's Hansel and Gretel. I was probably about five or six-years-old when I read it.
"The reason it sticks in my mind was because of the setting, I love woods and forests.
"I loved the feel of it, it took me out of myself and I was transported to a different world
"I imagined I was in the forest with Hansel and Gretel and that I was taking part in the story. It made me forget everything around me."
Miss Alston (63) is the author of children's book Bip and Bop, a story about two elves lost in a forest.
She said her main aim was to write a traditional tale which would appeal to as many children as possible.
She said: "Because Bip and Bop was my first book, I basically wanted to give a child happy thoughts.
"I wanted to write something that was both soft and gentle.
"I hoped that when a child read it they would act on the things in the story. That's what inspired me."
She said that she wanted her book to teach its young readers to be caring and considerate.
"You want your book to have an effect. If it makes one child a better person it would have done its job."
But Miss Alston is unsure of any one thing that helps children remember their first book.
She said: "It's difficult to say what sparks children's imagination. I don't think you can put your finger on it."
But she feels that two factors do definitely help capture children's imaginations.
"I think that illustrations do play an important part, they jerk the imagination into action.
"Children also love to be scared. I think a gentle scare or a fantasy scare is OK, but not in big doses.
"I think children should be children."
Heather Walton, head of reader services in the city, believes the first books you read stay with you forever.
She said: "My father read Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows to me, and when I came to read it myself it had a double impact."
She has also noticed that parents' own childhood favourites were returning as they gave them to their children to read.
She said: "The Jennings and Just William books are very popular. Another big influence is film and TV tie-ins, which we whole-heartedly support. Anything that gets kids reading can only be good news."
Children's books make the top 100
A THIRD of the books that made it into Britain's 100 favourite reads were children's books.
The BBC launched The Big Read earlier this year to find Britain's favourite books.
And the first four Harry Potter books made it onto the list.
The boy wizard was a favourite with the 140,000 people who voted in the poll.
AA Milne's Winnie The Pooh, also made the list along with Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree, CS Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and Roald Dahl's Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
First books a great investment
As well as awakening the imagination treasuring your first book can often prove to be a good financial investment.
A recent survey found that a first edition copy of Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit fetched £50,000 at auction.
Catherine Porter is a leading authority on modern publishing working for Sotheby's auction house in New York. As you can see from her top ten of valuable children's first editions, a book's cover is the way to tell its worth.
1: Beatrix Potter – The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901): Privately printed 1901 edition £50,000; 1902 Warne Edition £10,000.
2: Kenneth Grahame – The Wind in the Willows (1908): £50,000 with dust jacket; £6,000 without.
3: J.R.R. Tolkein – The Hobbit (1937): £30,000 with dust jacket; £6,000 without.
4: J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (deluxe first run 1997): £25,000; 1999 edition: £500.
5: Arthur Ransome – Swallows and Amazons (1930); £15,000 with dust jacket; £2,000 without.
6: E. Nesbit – The Railway Children (1906): £10,000 with dust jacket; £1,000 without.
7: A.A. Milne – When We Were Very Young (1924): £8,000 with dust jacket; £2,000 without.
8: C.S. Lewis – The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (1951): £5,000 with dust jacket; £1,000 without.
9: Phillip Pullman – Northern Lights (1995): £4,000 with dust jacket; £1000 without.
10: Roald Dahl – The Gremlins (New York 1943): £2,500 with dust jacket; £750 without.
03 October 2003 | |
