Sep10ber: Tell us about your Perfect 10s
We're now 10 days into Sep10ber, and already it's proving to be a great month full of shared reading activity - there really is no better way to celebrate all the fun, power and positivity of Get Into Reading than to get along to one of the many groups currently running across the country every week. Don't forget, you can keep voting throughout the month in our big birthday poll to find the ultimate book and poem of the past 10 years of Get Into Reading, as well as let us know about who your ideal reader would be.
As well as asking those big questions, we're also marking Sep10ber by searching for some Perfect 10s - asking some reading-related questions centred around that all important number. Each week in Sep10ber, we'll be giving you a new literary teaser to ponder.
This week's question is sure to conjure up some nostalgia; we want to know:
What was your favourite book when you were 10?
So many to choose from, and there's sure to be some brilliant and varied choices from across the generations. Perhaps you share the choice of The Savage author and The Reader Organisation patron David Almond, who was thrilled by the magic and adventure of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green.
(We're quite sure that David's new book, The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas, will prove to be a present and future favourite for many 10 year olds...)
Another TRO patron, Blake Morrison, had a particular preference for Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island.
Now that you've been inspired, we want to hear from you about the book you loved when you were 10. Take a trip back in time and then tell us all about your choices by leaving a comment below, tweeting us or posting on our Facebook wall throughout the week.
We had an overwhelming response to this question across Twitter and Facebook: you gave us enough books to fill a library more than fit for any 10 year old! Thanks for sharing all your wonderful memories with us, here are just a few selections:
Anne of Green Gables. I loved the feisty protagonist, Anne-Shirley, that L.M Montgomery created.
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield. I so wanted to be one of those Fossil girls.
Matilda by Roald Dahl. Read it numerous times and never got fed up. #Sep10ber
The Secret Garden: loved the idea of being away from adults and I have a memory of clearing away a tangle of weeds leaving bare soil from which anything was possible.
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8 thoughts on “Sep10ber: Tell us about your Perfect 10s”
When I was ten I was given a book called Peggy of the Chalet School by Elinor Brent-Dyer I know this because the date is written in the front. It began an obsession with reading about boarding school – lots of Enid Blyton’s Mallory towers books after I had got through dozens of Chalet School books. There were more than 60 with titles like ‘Lavender Leigh at the Chalet School’, ‘Eustacia Goes to the Chalet School’ and ‘Carola Storms the Chalet School’. What I remember most about the books are the exotic names of the girls. In “Peggy’, I was captivated by a girl called Lala Winterton not to mention the mysterious Eilunedd Vaughn and there was a Deira, a Thekla and a Gisela, not to mention Bride Bettany, Elfie Woodwood and someone called Lilamani. Any one else old enough to remember these books??
You’re not alone, Angie: see this comment from one of our Reader tweeters: “Devouring entire Chalet School series. Only No 21 eluded me. Kids love long series & prolific authors #Sep10ber”
You might also be interested to know that there’s a website devoted to the ‘Friends of the Chalet School’ – http://www.chaletschool.org.uk/ – worth revisiting those memories…
I have very fond memories of Enid Blyton as my eldest cousin gave me a huge selection of the books when she had grown out of them,I did not stay enthralled with them for long as got annoyed they had adventures every school holiday and I would wonder round Rock Ferry for hours lo oking for criminals burt never found any (this is very hard to be believed) although did find a tramp in a deserted house ! and just screramed and ran (wont sleep tonight)
I liked so many books it is difficult to choose but just thinking of Midnight is a place sends a shiver down my spine can still still the scary front cover of the Fire , I was obsessed by fire as a neighbour at the back had a chip pan fire and my bed room overlooked the house ! !
(deffo wont sleep tonight) , I used to like reading about evil kids and awful disasters , have no idea why ??
MY middle neice is currently just 10 but although we really get on it is is sad that she does not read at all unless about pop stars although she does not mind me telling her a story from my head , told her a sad true story about a bookshop being turned into a Pizza hut , “that not sad not many people like reading but everyone like pizza , I very rarely eat pizza but was by this stage of the day TIRED and let her win !
The Enid Blyton books were another firm Sep10ber favourite with lots of people on Twitter and Facebook. Your adventures might not have been as many as the Famous Five, but the adventures you get from reading are definitely worth having! And there’s still time to convince your niece – making up stories is a good start (although we’d like the bookshop to stay as it is…!)!
When I was 10 my favourite book was Thackeray’s ‘Vanity Fair’ – I thought Becky’s Bolshy attitude was great. Yes, I was a weird kid!
Starting on the good stuff early! It’s not too strange: we also heard from people who were enjoying Animal Farm and Twelfth Night when they were 10 – we’re a little astounded but very pleased! But did Becky’s attitude match up in the recent film adaptation…
[…] your favourite book when you were 10 – this created a huge response on Twitter with some clear favourites including Roald Dahl and Anne of Green Gables […]
[…] Sep10ber (#Sep10ber), to celebrate Get Into Reading’s tenth birthday, got our social media channels buzzing with our ‘Perfect 10s’ questions – asking such things as ‘What was your favourite book when you were 10?’ […]