Hello! Hope you guys are all okay and all good and welcome back to Book Break.
The perceptive among you will notice that, NO, I am NOT Jean. I am subbing in
for Jean today because apparently I didn't mess it up last time I did this.
My name is George Lester. You can find me in most places @TheGeorgeLester and
all links to my social media places will be in the description box below. I am
here today to talk to you about children's classics. As somebody who works in
children's books, as a child I had not actually read any or many classics at
all. When I was growing up they honestly came across to me is really quite stuffy
and old-fashioned and I wasn't really interested in anything that wasn't Harry
Potter or A Series Of Unfortunate Events. Now that I'm a little bit more grown-up
I am now discovering the sheer joy that is children's classics, so I am here to
tell you that one) it is NEVER too late to start reading children's classics and
two) here are some of my favorites to get you started. A really good place to start
when it comes to reading classics is to go for something a little bit familiar
so a really good place to start would be The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. There
are so few people I know that won't have seen the animated version of this or
even the live-action version that was done by Disney just last year. The most
surprising thing when it comes to reading The Jungle Book for the first
time is that it's actually more like a book of short stories. While it does still
follow the familiar characters of Mowgli, Bagheera and Baloo the Bear, there is so
much more to this book than what you get in the Disney film. If anything I would
say that this book is actually suited more to older children than it would
be to perhaps the younger children that the film is geared towards. There's so
much that you can take from the lyrical and actually occasionally quite
beautiful prose of Rudyard Kipling, so not a bad place to start with The Jungle
Book. In keeping with the theme of things that are familiar to you, I would thoroughly
recommend The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. I'd had this edition on my shelf
for quite some time and never got around to reading it. I only read it in the last
year or so. It would appear that the classic film featuring Judy Garland
actually stayed a lot more true to the original story than The Jungle Book did.
There is so much of this that I can still recognize in the film and so much
of it that actually gets left out and it was an absolute joy to visit Oz in this
way. But anyone who is a fan of the film, for anyone who is maybe even a fan of
the musical Wicked on in the West End, this adds a completely new dimension to
my understanding of the wonderful world of Oz. The film actually sticks so close
to the story that is told in this book, with one exception being the red
ruby slippers. The iconic red ruby slippers which are in fact silver in
this book. I loved revisiting the world of Oz in this way and found absolute joy in
Dorothy's story and the adventure that she goes on with the Tin Man, the
Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion. I thoroughly recommend this as both a lover of
The Wizard of Oz, a love of the musical Wicked and just a lover of books in
general, it's a gorgeous little nugget of children's literature that I cannot
praise highly enough. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
The next book on this list would be Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. Another book that
was adapted into a gorgeous, light, fluffy and fun Disney film that actually has a
much darker undertone to it. I was incredibly surprised when I first read
this book. Actually, I listened to this book; I listened to the audiobook which I
listened to an edition that is read by Jim Dale. I was incredibly surprised at
how dark it was but also how beautiful and whimsical J. M. Barrie's writing is.
It's a really interesting contrast. There's some really dark moments in it
some really quite brutal content but then you have this gorgeous writing that
runs through all the way from the start right to the very end. It still tells the
story of the Darling family and the children who don't want to grow up and
aren't quite ready to grow up and the boy who visits them in the middle of the
night and whisks them off to Neverland. Peter is as impetuous and impulsive as
ever! The carefree eternal child that we all know and love. Although this childish
obliviousness actually lends itself more to like a selfish attitude that Peter
has and you even get that in Tinkerbell who's often shown as quite kind-hearted
in the film, even though she's a bit mischievous, in this she's quite
treacherous and quite dark hearted and it's very very interesting to read and
the dynamics of all the characters in that way changes and it changes the way
you look at Neverland in general. It's truly brilliant and I just again I can't
speak highly enough of J. M. Barrie's writing in this it's so light and airy
it just kind of floats across the page. It's stunning. Next up on this list is
the Milly Molly Mandy's story book by Joyce Lankester Brisley. This edition
actually features illustrations from Joyce Lankester Brisley herself:
gorgeous black and white line out of the girl in the iconic pink and white candy
striped dress. This features 21 of the twee little adventures of Millie Molly
Mandy, her little friend Susan and Billy Blunt. I say twee
but I mean it as a good thing. It harks back to a simpler time of Famous 5-esque
adventures of blackberry picking and running a shop, and the writing style is
really quaint and quite sweet of this tiny little town where everyone seems to
know each other. It's nostalgic and stunning and iconic and I wasn't even
aware of it until quite recently and I'm so glad that I know of it now.
And last, but by no means least, and this list I feel for me would not be complete
without this book on it. I have been a huge fan of this for a very, very long
time and I remember I studied it for my A-Level English and that is Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland. Now, this is not the most practical edition to be
carrying around with yourself if you want to start reading classics. There are
much smaller editions that will fit into your bag. However I couldn't resist the
opportunity to show off the sheer gorgeousness of this book. I feel like
there will not be a single person watching this video who would not have
heard of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Whether it's from the Disney
film or the Tim Burton adaptations, wherever it is that you have found Alice,
I am sure that she is possibly one of the most iconic classic children's
literature characters out there. The original story, let me tell you, it's
quite a trip. The language is odd and playful. Alice is brattish and
occasionally spoiled but, for me at least, I am intrigued by her and I'm absolutely
fascinated about her journey through Wonderland and all of the different
characters she's meeting from the Mad Hatter, to the March Hare, to the Mock
Turtle, to the absolutely iconic Queen of Hearts. Every character is more
eccentric than the last and the sublime nonsense that Lewis Carroll creates in
this book is just an absolute sight. I feel like I found in these books as an
adult something I would not have found in them as a child; it is never too late
to start reading children's classics and brushing up on your knowledge. Thank you
so much for watching this video, I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, don't forget
to put a like on it, to subscribe if you want to see more from the lovelies at
Book Break. Leave us a comment down below and let us know what your favorite
children's classics are. I have been George, this has been Book Break and with
any luck, I will see you soon. Byeeee!