I wish I’d written…


Kate Milner, the winner of the 2018 Klaus Flugge Prize revels in the rhythm and images of Dr Seuss.


Kate Milner won the 2018 Klaus Flugge Prize with My Name is Not Refugee (978-1911370062) published by Barrington Stoke.


The book I wish I had written is Green Eggs and Ham by Doctor Seuss. This is such a special book to me. As a child it got into my head in a way that nothing else ever has. I often find myself unconsciously reproducing the shapes I first saw in this book. The Dr Seuss trees, for example, with their gloopy, saggy curves balanced on impossibly thin trunks. Or his train tracks twisting out across the white page, impossibly high, impossibly far. The way Sam-I-am pursues the narrator with his pile of green eggs and ham does have the qualities of a nightmare but I quite enjoyed that sense of threat. What I didn’t like, as a six year old, was the number of words on each page, it would take ages to read all that! But, luckily, I was usually read to, and then all those words made sense. The rhythm created by those repeating rhymes is so powerful, it feels like an express train gathering speed. There is such a sense of manic energy in the words that when the break comes and the characters fly off into mid air, the silence, the absence of words is very powerful. It makes the reader hold their breath.


Good Reads


Green Eggs and Ham (978-0007355914) is published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, £6.99


Our Good Reads were chosen by young people at Humbie Primary School, East Lothian. Thanks to the pupils and to the school’s head teacher Karla Pearce.


Quick Quack Quentin Kes Gray illus Jim Field, Hodder Children’s Books, 978-1444919578, £6.99


This is a book about a duck who lost his quack. It was good because it had a happy ending and it was funny at the zoo part. You should read it because it is so funny and the author lost the ‘a’ in his name too!


Freya


The Lottie Project Jacqueline Wilson, illus Nick Sharratt, Yearling, 978-0440868538, £6.99


This is a story about a girl called Charlotte who has a new teacher. Her class is learning about the Victorians and Charlotte wants to do it differently from everyone. She wants to do it as a diary. How will she get on with life as it goes through the hard times? I really liked this book because it funny and griping.


Lilli


Operation Bunny Sally Gardner illus David Roberts, Orion Children’s Books, 978-1510101142, £5.99


This is the tale of a little girl called Emily Vole who was adopted by jealous people. When she grows up they realise that she is not exactly what they want. But can next door’s cat Fidget come to the rescue and show her a magical world she never knew existed? A fairy hating witch, a mischievous set of golden keys and a train full of brightly coloured bunnies are just a few of the things that happen along the way.


Ailsa


Sam: The Cat Burglar Tracey Corderoy, illus Steven Lenton, Nosy Crow, 978-0857634832, £6.99pbk


Shifty McGifty and Slippery


This a story about lots of dogs and a robber cat called Ruby. The story takes place in a cake shop with a secret tunnel. Where will this lead and what will they find? It’s a fun book because they bake lots of cakes. It’s exciting too!


Maisie Books for Keeps No.232 September 2018 17


Goodnight Mister Tom Michelle Magorian, Puffin, 978-0141354804, £6.99


This story is set in the Second World War, where a boy called William Beech, an evacuee, gets moved to Little Weirwold. He stays with a man called Tom Oakley, a gruff but kind man, and his dog Sammy. This is a story of Tom and William and how together they learn to overcome their pain in their life. I love this story, it has everything you would want a story to have: happiness, sadness, love and loss. Once you pick up this book you can’t put it down!


Orran


Oi Frog Kes Gray illus Jim Field, Hodder Children’s Books, 978-1444910865, £6.99


I like this book because it rhymes. It’s silly and fun. It’s mostly about an unhappy frog on a log. You’d need to read it to find out if there’s a happy ending.


Iona


Freya


Ailsa


Maisie


Orran


Iona


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