Book at bedtime - what was your favourite? (From Bournemouth Echo)

Book at bedtime - what was your favourite?

8:00am Saturday 6th March 2010 in

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IT may be only 244 words long, but that hasn’t stopped The Very Hungry Caterpillar from being voted the greatest-ever bedtime story.

In a poll conducted to mark this month’s World Book Day, parents said the Eric Carle classic was more popular than Winnie the Pooh and Thomas the Tank engine.

We asked some of the Daily Echo’s writers what was their children’s favourite bedtime read.

Here’s what they said...

• Columnist Faith Eckersall loved reading Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are to her two sons.

“It’s 17 years since I first read this book to my son, Zac. He loved it so much I had to read it to him every night.

“In the end I memorised the book, so I could recite it, half asleep, at 5am in the morning when he crept into bed demanding a story. Now I am renowned among younger relatives for being able to instantly re-tell it, without having the book in front of me!

“My sons loved the idea that a naughty boy who was sent to bed early could sneak off and become King of the Wild Things, while I loved the idea that in the end, the little boy came home because he wanted to be with his mum again. And we all adored Sendak’s illustrations. It was perfect.”

• Women’s editor Nicky Findley has just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate factory by Roald Dahl to her son.

“It was one of my favourite books when I was a kid, and it was the perfect choice for Joe as he has such a sweet tooth – and there’s a good moral to the tale too. With my daughter, any book about dogs is a hit.

“When she was little, she particularly loved Hairy Maclary from Donald-son’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd because the words rhymed and there were lots of pictures. I can still remember most of it off by heart.”

• Chief reporter Darren Slade says he couldn’t wait to read Dr Seuss to his children.

“Sure enough, they loved the books, and one particular rhyme in One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish prompted the biggest laugh I’ve ever heard them emit.

“For older kids, I haven’t seen much to match the excitement of Lynne Reid Banks’s The Indian in the Cupboard and its sequels.”

• Sub-editor David Ross says he particularly enjoyed reading to his daughter from the Rupert books.

“What made them special was the way words and pictures worked together to light up her imagination.

“There was one particular adventure which I remember from my own childhood in which Rupert catches an underground service – operated by moles, I think – to go to London to join in the Queen’s Coronation celebrations.

“What made me chuckle was that while my daughter had no trouble in taking all the fantastic elements on board – the elves, imps, dragons, magic carpets and so on – she could never understand why Rupert and his pals all wore exactly the same type of white boots.

“I told her there was only one shoe shop in Nutwood and that was the only type they sold.”

• Supplements editor Debbie Moore’s daughters loved the wit of Janet and Alan Ahlberg.

“We all loved Burglar Bill, the tale of a bad man who, every night, eats a stolen dinner before going out stealing things.

“One night he accidentally steals a baby, which leads to his eventual redemption and happy ending.

“The girls appreciated its sense of the ridiculous and I loved the dramatic opportunities (‘That’s a nice tin o’ beans, I’ll ’ave that’).

“The Ahlbergs’ The Jolly Postman was also a classic to share, with its tiny envelopes and letters to open and fantastic attention to detail.

“They’re both still in print so they must have struck a chord with generations of children.”