The Fault In Our Stars - John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

I first bought this book for my cousin, having seen it decorating every bookshop for several months. Looking at the blurb, though, I didn't really have any urge to read it myself - young love, cancer? It all sounded a little pre-teen, a little American.

At this point I slipped into the kind of person I have despised for so long - a literary snob. Blghrrrr. So after seeing it's huge success and hearing nothing but high praise for this novel, I decided I really should have a go and damn it, it really is good.

Sure it is a little teenagery but it's done with such heart (and not the gooey fluffy kind, grittier and more painful than that). The protagonist, Hazel, has all the wonderful grumpiness and pretentiousness of that breed of teenager but she is not a caricature and I feel that must have been extremely important for Green when writing her. She's funny, she's intelligent, she has things she likes and things she doesn't, she's desperate to be understood but also desperate to be misunderstood, and she gets into grumps like any other person, teenager or otherwise, but actually has a *reasonably* decent excuse. The love interest, Augustus, is perhaps a little too perfect. But that's ok. Why? Because if Hazel is me, then in my little moment of escapism, there's an Augustus for me too. It's as simple, as cheesy and as sugar-sprinkled as that.

There is something about going through something awful like a serious illness, death, war, whatever it may be, that is very dreamlike; you don't ever believe it will happen to you, even when it has. Therefore, while my cynical side rolled its eyes at the seemingly perfect love story, the other part of me felt that it all kind of fits - cancer, love - they're pretty much both dreams, albeit opposite ends of the spectrum. Ok so now I sound like the pretentious teenager with very poor vocab but I hope you see what I'm getting at.

One of the best things about this book, and I think what makes it feel all the more real and not what I would call 'cancer-schmultz' is that Green and his characters are not afraid of humour. Nothing like a bit of black humour when everything is going wrong. Sure, it isn't for everyone, but it sure as hell is the drug for me.

By the end, though, I have to say I felt angry. Not at having wasted my time or anything - this was a beautiful book, it was funny and touching, enlightening and well-written - but because I felt manipulated. How dare Mr. Green make me feel emotional. Streaming with black mascara tears at various intervals, it felt like I had been drugged by Nicholas Sparks and that I was getting emotional against my own will. But actually, if I'm honest, sometimes that is exactly what I want - to be able to get in touch with those emotions in a safe environment. And there's no better way than reading this book. And it's not trashy, either. It's good quality, literary YA fiction that should be read by everyone. Ultimately, kids books do things that adult books can't. I can't put my finger on it but this book is surely a perfect example.

9/10

Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis

So I know I told you all about my weekend in Bath last week but what I didn't say was my highlight: finding a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Latin... who knew?! No offence to Caecillius, but Latin could have been a whole lot more interesting learning about Dominus et Domina Dursley and Harrius Potter.

JK Rowling's Potter series has been translated into over 70 different languages and variations now but just how do you translate all the spells, incantations and place names? To readers of English, the latin phrases are, in most cases, recognisable without too much explanation, but what if you're reading in Asia or Africa? Of course you could just leave the words as they are but some translators have gone the extra mile and created different names that have more meaning to their readers. For instance, in Hindi editions of the novels, the Sanskrit has been used to create the same effect.

   

   

Shakespeare's Birthday Whirligig

We know when he was baptised and we know when he died but no one knows exactly when Shakespeare was born. That said, we could hardly have let Shakespeare get away with no birthday... everyone needs a birthday... so we just swap them round and party on his deathday instead. Got to love our resourcefulness... even if it is, perhaps, a little morbid. But, with that logic, Tuesday 23rd April this year supposedly marks his 449th birthday and he's still looking pretty good, it has to be said. Sexy earring I think you will agree...

Anyway, to party in style, The Globe Theatre on London's Southbank is throwing some Birthday celebrations. Between noon and 5pm, it's family fun with all of Shakespeare's marvelous worlds coming to life with witches and fairies and spirits floating around. There are to hourly performances of Shakespeare's most famous supernatural scenes, children's masterclasses in Shakespearean magic (age 6+) as well as the chance to perform on-stage. 

Don't worry adults, no need to steal other people's children in order to celebrate. From 7pm there will be performances from Barry and Stuart running still with the same magical theme from the afternoon. There will be comedy from Piff the Magic Dragon and Chris Cox and this is all topped off with the fantastic sounding ‘Birthday Whirligig’ which will feature music from Johnny Flynn who himself acted in the West-end productions of ‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘Richard III’ last year, and The Magic Numbers.

Surely unmissable?

Shakespeare's Globe21 New Globe Walk
Bankside
London
SE1 9DTwww.shakespearesglobe.com

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.

It’s all done. I have finished the Hunger Games trilogy. I thought it was really pretty good stuff. The plot is stellar with lots of excitement in this tranche of the story and, finally, I actually like Katniss. I know; it was a momentous breakthrough read.

Previously, and sometimes in this book too to be honest, Katniss just came across a little arrogant and always acting the martyr, which I find a little tiring… “Oh how will anyone be able to live if I do not protect them?” This time, though, a mixture of influences let me see that she’s not really that bad. First influence? My sister. She sat me down and explained the complexities of her character, what drives her and pointed out that really there were quite a lot of reasons why Katniss might not have turned out to be the most appealing person – extreme tragedy in her childhood, having to be an adult for her family since she was a tiddler, oh and the whole being forced to leave home and kill loads of people… so I start to sympathise.

Second influence? The writing just isn’t amazing, ok? So her narration was never going to get off to a good start. Don’t get me wrong, and I’ve said this before, amazing writing isn’t the primary concern for a kids book, but it did let Katniss down in this one aspect, I felt.

Third influence? Watching the film because Jennifer Lawrence is just so blooming awesome that there is no way anyone with a heart couldn’t like her. Simples.

Now, to the plot: No Hunger Games this time (for whatever reason you want to assume, people who have not read it) but that is not to the detriment of the action, I promise you. The Gale/Peeta conundrum heats up. President Snow is still an absolute a-hole. It’s all go go go! What I think I liked most about Mockingjay was the increased focus on Panem’s politics.

Overall I felt that although I was perhaps cruel about the writing and unfair on Katniss and her predicament in the first couple of books, the trilogy really is a masterpiece of imagination. Most importantly, it feels like it really could be real. I think that must be the key to the success of the top fantasy franchises – be it Potter, Twilight or Hunger Games – you have to believe these people exist and that the threats are very real. Suzanne Collins, for me, does this entirely.

Really enjoyed this and nothing like taking a break from the world of adult books for a bit. Really shout do it more often… Mockingjay gets 8/10!

Keep Anne Ginger campaign!

Red heads are often missing from literature. Perhaps it's the author weighing up in his/her mind what the biological chances are that this character would be ginger? (Turns out about 1-2% in the world at large). Regardless, there are a certain few characters that we like to hang onto... The Weasleys... Pippi Longstocking... anyone played by Lindsey Lohan pre-crazy (aka. Parent Trap...think that's about it)... and Anne of Green Blooming Gables! So when someone tries to steal away the ginge... we're not too happy about it and start screaming 'THIEF' or 'RACIST' from behind our books.

And that's exactly what happened (not the screaming 'racist' bit...). A new edition of LM Montgomerey's childrens' classic, Anne of Green Gables, has been released via Amazon's CreateSpace program and somehow in the process Anne has been bleached! Her "very thick, decidedly red hair" and "much freckled" face has instead become a buxom blonde suductress. Just so you know, in case you aren't already acquainted, Anne is supposed to be ten years old at the start of the novel...

Anyway, it sparked [red fire joke insert here] a red riot with a 'Keep Anne Ginger' campaign and several highly intelligent (as a race, we are pretty damn smart I'll have you know) moments of comic genius:

'This book is supposed to be Anne Of Green Gables NOT Anne Does Green Gables!'

'For those of you who have not read this series, I will give you a summary: Anne is a young red-headed orphan sent to live on a farm on Prince Edward Island. Unfortunately the adoptive family wanted a boy but she does her best to fit in and warm their hearts. However, after coping with her feelings of abandonment and insecurity, getting her best friend drunk, getting teased by a boy in school, and losing the only real father figure she's ever known, she dyes her hair blonde, dons a plaid shirt and becomes the town whore of Avonlea'

Monica Hesse of the Washington Post writes:

'We shall overlook the clingy, farm-girl plaid shirt (no, really, we shan’t; that shirt is an atrocity), and we shall do our best to ignore the come-hitherness of the stare, with the bedroom eyes and the bee-stung lips, and we shall even forgive the fact that the girl on the cover of this new, horrid edition of the book that we used to re-read until the pages fell out is raking her fingers through hair that cascades loose down her back as if she’s a Canadian Rapunzel. But the hair itself. The hair cannot be ignored. Anne of Green Gables has red hair. And this saucy impostor is a blonde.'

Ohhhh the hilarity. Do Google this if you want some other nuggets of genius on the subject...

What to read when it's snowing?

There are plenty of stereotypes about the Brits - I'm sure we don't know most of them - but one that I am particularly fond of is our complete and utter obsession with the weather. We can't have a conversation without mentioning it, we are the first to jump out into the parks and onto the beaches as soon as it gets over 15 degrees, we deny profusely that it rains all year round (particularly when it's raining) and by God do we love talking about snow.Well, as it's been snowing quite a lot more than we are normally used to in London, I thought we needed a suitably snowy post. Here are three books that we should all get off the shelves when everything goes white and all we can do is snuggle down and read:

The Classic:

Dracula by Bram Stoker

"We are in Transylvania, and Transylvania is not England. Our ways are not your ways, and there shall be to you many strange things. Nay, from what you have told me of your experiences already, you know something of what strange things there may be."

Collected inside this book are diary entries, letters and newspaper clippings that piece together the depraved story of the ultimate predator. A young lawyer on an assignment finds himself imprisoned in a Transylvanian castle by his mysterious host. Back at home his fiancée and friends are menaced by a malevolent force which seems intent on imposing suffering and destruction. Can the devil really have arrived on England's shores? And what is it that he hungers for so desperately?

I'm a big fan of this book. It's a bit long but it really is all it's cracked up to be. For me, it is one of the few old fashioned scary books that is actually pretty scary. Oh, and it's absolutely swelling with innuendo...

The Costa:

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penny

“Clearly the secret of happiness...is a variation on the general principle of banging your head against a wall, and then stopping.” 

1867, Canada: as winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a man is brutally murdered and a 17-year old boy disappears. Tracks leaving the dead man's cabin head north towards the forest and the tundra beyond. In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the township - journalists, Hudson's Bay Company men, trappers, traders - but do they want to solve the crime or exploit it? One-by-one the assembled searchers set out from Dove River, pursuing the tracks across a desolate landscape home only to wild animals, madmen and fugitives, variously seeking a murderer, a son, two sisters missing for 17 years, a Native American culture, and a fortune in stolen furs before the snows settle and cover the tracks of the past for good.

I absolutely loved this book. So much so that there is already a review of it on this blog! It's a real quiet, un-wordy book, which is sometimes just what you need - especially when it's snowing. It's also set in a very wintery landscape in northern Ontario. Read my review here.

The Children's Book:

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

"You are so young, Lyra, too young to understand this, but I shall tell you anyway and you'll understand it later: men pass in front of our eyes like butterflies, creatures of a brief season. We love them; they are brave, proud, beautiful, clever; and they die almost at once. They die so soon that our hearts are continually racked with pain."

Lyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. The destiny that awaits her will take her to the frozen lands of the Arctic, where witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight. Her extraordinary journey will have immeasurable consequnces far beyond her own world...

You can't get more snowy than the Arctic and that's exactly where you're taken in this absolute classic. I don't know anyone who has read this book and hasn't fallen completely in love with Lyra's world. It is simultaneously one of the most exciting, terrifying, emotionally testing and beautiful worlds you could come to in a book. I feel these kinds of worlds are reserved just for children but really we should all be reading them if we ever missed them as a child. Just to put a stop to all that squishiness, this trilogy is also flipping brutal. Perhaps that's why only kids should read it...

Day 24: 'Twas The Night Before Christmas

My illustrated edition of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas was one of my favourite poems as a child, so I had to share it. The poem was written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822 and also goes under the title A Visit from St. Nicholas. It has become a real tradition for many families, particularly in America, and depicts the Father Christmas that we know today. Interestingly Saint Nicholas had never been associated with reindeer or sleighs until Clement Clarke Moore's poem!

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

and now it's over and out from me until the New Year! Merry Christmas everyone x

Day 22: What to watch?

This Christmas is going to be a quiet one for me. Just immediate family. No screaming children, no awkward conversations with the elderly, no bucket-loads of presents under the tree which will only be disappointing on Christmas day because only two of those are for you. One of the benefits of having a quiet Christmas though I feel is the fact that you can, largely, do whatever you want. What do I want to do? Get stuck into some Christmas TV. We've got Christmas Downton Abbey, a spot of Call the Midwife and a whole selection of literary adaptations ready for us to consume. Here are just a few to put into your diary for Christmas this year:

Christmas Eve:

8pm, Channel 4 - The Snowman and the Snowdog. So I've already gone on about this sequel to the Raymond Briggs classic for a whole blog post, but just a reminder - tune in!

Christmas Day:

8.20am, Channel 4 - Horton Wears a Who! What's Christmas without some Dr Seuss? Who cares about the Grinch, let's watch an adaptation of a book that I have no idea what it's about but has a wonderfully ambiguous title.

9am, Channel 5: Gone With the Wind - Now here's a book that epitomises the term 'brick'. In the modern world we live in now, film producers of the likes of Potter and Lord of the Rings have managed to condense the contents of some of the longer books on offer for the screen. It seems that in the earlier days of film - 1939 to be precise - this wasn't possible. Thus, we have Gone With the Wind - an absolute epic that lasts 238 minutes and will air from 9am to 1.15 on Christmas Day for your enjoyment.

4.35pm, BBC1 - Room on the Broom - This year, like the last five arguably, has been another stellar 365 days (366 given the leap year...) for diamond duo, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. To celebrate, BBC1 are showing the acclaimed Room on the Broom (which is now a stage production I have you know). The story from the creators of The Gruffalo follows a kind witch who invites a number of unusual guests to join her on her broom, but her cat isn't very happy about it. A top voice cast of British actors from Martin clunes and Gillian Anderson to Sally Hawkins and David Walliams, from Rob Brydon and Timothy Spall to Simon Pegg who narrates the tale from start to end.

7.30pm, BBC1 - Call the Midwife. If you're going to watch one program this Christmas (aside from Downton Abbey), then this is the one. I don't care if the fact that this was adapted from a seemingly unexciting misery memoir, this is totes emosh stuff that must be watched. Even Vanessa Redgrave thinks so, who narrates it, thus giving it its important additional credibility.

4.20pm, Watch - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So I know everyone loves Johnny Depp and Tim Burton and that the recent version of Roald Dahl's classic is pretty good viewing, but nothing will beat the magic and fear conjured up by Gene Wilder in the 1971 adaptation.

27th December:

9pm, 27th December - Restless. It's 27th December and you're feeling 'restless' and despondent. Turkey curry is pretty tasty but it's just not going to make you feel any better about the fact that the day you have been preparing for for weeks has gone and all those cheering decorations in shop windows need to come down to be replaced by bright red 'sale' signs. Need to feel a bit better? Let's all make a pact that we will sit down and enjoy a William Boyd adaptation featuring an all star cast from Downton's Michelle Dockery to Hayley Atwell, star of last year's Boyd adaptation, Any Human Heart. Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell and Charlotte Rampling turn up too in what promises to be a great two-part drama. I wish I could join you all but with Restless sitting on my wishlist, I'm desperately trying to stop myself tuning in before I read the novel. It shall be on record, though. Who am I kidding? It's not even New Year yet, I'll probably tune in too!

Day 20: Grimm's Fairy Tales

When I went to Cheltenham Literary Festival earlier this year, I went to see literary legend, Philip Pullman. He was there to talk about his latest book, his version of Grimm's Fairy Tales. I absolutely loved hearing from a writer that I followed so much as a child and even had the chance to ask him the question, why have fairy tales transformed from the horror of Grimm to the more quaint, Disneyfied children's stories of today?

For those of you who haven't read Grimm, you will understand what I mean when you do. Today marks the 200 years of the Grimm Brothers' Die Kinder und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales), a collection of 86 stories that would shape and inform storytelling for centuries. At university even, I wrote my dissertation on the reasons behind and effects of modern reworkings of myth and fairy tales.

Although the likes of Angela Carter have formed adult interpretations that are, arguably, closer to the originals in tone, they have become more and more associated with children. Dare I say, they've even become 'Christmassy' with their traditional style and associations with family. Really, though, they are pretty grim (there was no way I was going to get through this entire post without using that terrible pun...). Being called 'Children's and Household Tales', though, meant that many changes were called for in the first volumes. It is thought the wicked stepmothers in stories such as Snow White and Hansel and Gretel were originally simply wicked mothers but it was thought to be inappropriate for children...

Here are some fairy tales, some Grimm, some not, that are not quite as sweet as Disney makes us believe:

Sleeping Beauty? Not kissed by a charming prince, but raped by the King. She then, still asleep, proceeds to give birth to TWO children.

In two different version of the Three Bears, Goldilocks either gets ripped apart and eaten or brutally breaks her neck in the process of fleeing the animals out the window.

Cinderella Grimm-stylee? The stepsisters proceed to chop off parts of their own feet so as to fool the prince by fitting into the slipper. The prince finds out though and punishment comes to the sisters in the form of two pigeons who peck out their eyes so that they live the rest of their lives as blind beggars... lovely!

The story that Philip Pullman talked about in his talk and is arguably the most gruesome: The Girl Without Hands - need I say more?

Day 14: Christmas at Hogwarts

Christmas is one of those occasions that can be the happiest time of the year for some, and the saddest for others who have no one to share it with. That seems a bit depressing and serious for a Christmas blog post but I do think it's important to remember. For me, one of my favourite Christmas passages in a book is in an extremely well-known children's novel  (you've probably guessed it already if my hugely original title is anything to go by...) but it doesn't actually reference Christmas at all. When I first read it, though, I think it was the first time that I, as the particularly naive child that I was, realised that Christmas wasn't necessarily fun for everyone...

“She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes -- her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Bright green -- exactly the same shape, but then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time. The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just like Harry's did.
Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.
"Mum?" he whispered. "Dad?"
They just looked at him, smiling. And slowly, Harry looked into the faces of the other people in the mirror and saw other pairs of green eyes like his, other noses like his, even a little old man who looked as though he had Harry's knobbly knees -- Harry was looking at his family, for the first time in his life.
The Potters smiled and waved at Harry and he stared hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it and reach them. He had a powerful kind of ache inside of him, half joy, half terrible sadness.”

~ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

So that was probably my cheesiest post yet, sorry. That probably should have come with a cheese warning for those of your with literary lactose intolerance, but Christmas is definitely a time for cheese... But it was a bit sad... for which I also apologise, so I think I'll finish with a slightly more cheerful, if brief, quote that comes just a few pages on and a video.

"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."

Day 10: Little Women do Christmas

One of my favourite films to watch at Christmas has got to be Little Women. Louisa May Alcott's original book captures Christmas over several years in her protagonists' lives and each one has a different tone. Books feature pretty heavily in the novel as well as Josephine 'Jo' March, the second eldest, is said to be in love with literature - both reading and writing.  I wanted to share this lovely passage from the novel that captures one particular Christmas and conveniently just happens to mention some books...

Jo was the first to wake in the gray dawn of Christmas morning. No stockings hung at the fireplace, and for a moment she felt as much disappointed as she did long ago, when her little sock fell down because it was so crammed with goodies. Then she remembered her mother's promise, and slipping her hand under her pillow, drew out a little crimson-covered book. She knew it very well, for it was that beautiful old story of the best life ever lived, and Jo felt that it was a true guide-book for any pilgrim going the long journey. She woke Meg with a "Merry Christmas", and bade her see what was under her pillow. A green-covered book appeared, with the same picture inside, and a few words written by their mother, which made their one present very precious in their eyes. Presently Beth and Amy rummage and find their little books also, one dove-colored, the other blue; and all sat looking at and talking about them,. while the East grew rosy with the coming day.

Day 9: The Snowman (and the Snowdog)

When you look back down Nostalgia Way, peering through those foggy windows to the past, I'll bet you remembered at least one book that you absolutely loved being read to you. I can think of loads - my mum snapping the book like a giant wolf's mouth at my grinning face in What's the Time Mr Wolf?, reenacting No Jumping on the Bed and being completely in awe of The Wish Factory. The list goes on but I can tell you one thing they all had in common, my parents absolutely loved them. That, in my view, is the key to a successful book for young children - the parent has to enjoy it too on their own adult level. And that goes for films as well. (By adult level I don't mean porn by the way... just to set that straight after my slight concern on reading that back. I'm not about to be the one who is seen to say let's introduce Page 3 to the kiddies... Ok, I'm going to stop digging a hole for myself now.)

Anyway Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas (1973), which came out every Christmas in book form and the video in our house, was no exception to the parent rule. "Another bloomin' Christmas" was Santa's saying and the whole story managed to tickle my parents year on year and continues to make me smile now.

Briggs most famous story though is, of course, The Snowman. Published in 1978, this wordless picture book has captured the hearts of children and parents alike for decades. In 1982 it inspired Britain's Channel 4 to adapt it into a 26 minute wordless classic accompanied by its famous theme song, Walking in the Air. This adaptation went on to be nominated for an Academy Award and has been credited by many industry professionals as one of the best films ever made.

Every year The Snowman continues to draw in audiences all over the world. Its stage adaptation in London sold out this year way in advance (yes, so I may have tried to get tickets. shh) but don't worry if any of you were disappointed. After thirty years since the release of the short film, Channel 4 have announced that this Christmas Eve they will be broadcasting the original film followed by a brand new sequel called The Snowman and the Snowdog.

The new film will be set thirty years on from the original and follows another boy who, while mourning the death of his dog one snowy day, he comes across an old scarf with snowmen printed on it, left behind by another child long ago...! Subsequently he goes outside and begins to build a snowman and a snowdog for his companion. Sounds adorable and we know it's going to be 'super' because Raymond Briggs himself said so. So there. Don't miss it.