Reading the Classics {+ Giveaway!}

I’ve got some serious bookworms in this house.

Not that I’m complaining, especially since I’m the one feeding the habit! I don’t shop a lot these days (except to clear my endless grocery list, alas!) but if there’s one thing I love to buy, it is BOOKS. Specifically books for the kids. It is all too easy these days to pop a few books in my cart over at Amazon, and the next thing I know, we’ve got new books to fit into our bulging bookshelves.

Just the other day I had an amusing conversation with Noey where he told me that his form teacher asked him how many books he has at home. “I told her, THOUSANDS!” he said. I had a god laugh and we both concluded that she asked him that question because he is always bringing different books to school for silent reading.

Well, I’m honestly all too happy to keep supplying him books for silent reading! Since Noey started reading fluently, I’ve dug deep and resurfaced some of my old favourites for his reading pleasure, with some hits and some misses. He’s not too keen on Enid Blyton, sadly, though he wolfed down all the Roald Dahl titles. Judy Blume’s Tale of A Fourth Grade Nothing and the rest of the series got the nod, he liked Encyclopaedia Brown, and Tintin and Asterix comics were immediate hits.

The latest books that I’m trying to interest Noey in are Children’s Classics. My own collection of Puffin Classics which I had as a child was much treasured and I was excited to introduce the same books to my son. Why the classics? Simply because they are great literature. Many of these titles have stood the test of time and being widely read, they form part of cultural references which one can only truly appreciate if one is familiar with them. I did wonder if some of these stories might belong to an era that kids today might find too alien to connect with. But I believe great stories and good writing also have the ability to reach out and draw us in, to transport us into different lands and expose us to new ways of thinking from where we sit on the couch.

When I first suggested Noey try some of these books (more of my favourite titles below), he was not very enthusiastic. He mostly felt a bit intimidated by the length and would complain that the books were too thick and difficult without even trying them. I’ve tried various means to help him on this journey, and these have included:

• Introducing illustrated or abridged versions of the titles first. There are plenty of versions of classic stories, many illustrated and for the longer titles, abridged. Illustrations are of course enticing and help with visualisation, while abridged stories help to introduce the story first and make the original a less scary read. We have many books from the Great Illustrated Classics series that used to belong to my brother and I have these a good length for 6-7 year olds. Of course, there is a possibility that after reading the abridged versions, a child might have less of an interest in reading the original since he already knows the story. My mum always complains that that is what happened with my brother! I still think that abridged versions can be enjoyed in their own right, especially if kids have not reached the fluency and maturity for the original, but choose and use wisely!
• Watching plays and dramatisations of the stories. Watching a play or tv production is another great way to introduce some of these old favourites. The good thing is that it isn’t too difficult to find some of these since classics are popular stories! The NLB’s audiovisual department is a good place to trawl for such treasures. My own introduction to some of these stories started with the TV. There was a cartoon series (Jap anime dubbed in Chinese!) of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess that I absolutely adored when I was a child, and I was so thrilled later to discover the book. And everyone from my era would probably remember The Wind in the Willows with its iconic theme song. We were fortunate to catch The Wind in the Willows on stage recently and so when I got the book, he was much more amenable to reading it. We’re also looking forward catching the latest adaptation of Treasure Island by the Singapore Repertory Theatre which started its run recently.
• Reading short stories. I personally like short story collections because they make for quicker and more effective bedtime reading. So Tales of Greek Heroes has been popular with us, and Ruyard Kipling’s Just So Stories. I’m also looking to add Tales of Ancient Egypt, to the list. Short stories are easy to read and finish, or put down and pick up. I’ve found it good to intersperse some of these shorter stories with longer ones to keep the children interested.
• Listening to audiobooks. Noey was not a fan of audiobooks until my father-in-law gifted us a set of Roald Dahl audiobooks. He loved it. I did too! This is a great set with 10 unabridged stories and we would listen to them on our car rides and in the afternoon. It was this that started Noey reading Roald Dahl a couple of years ago.  We started with the thin titles first (Esio Trot is best — short and the kids invariably love it) and worked up to the longer stories. We also started reading Just So Stories thanks to an audio disc I found at our neighbourhood library. It was certainly much easier than me having to read the books aloud! So I’m a fan of audiobooks!Apart from discs, I considered an Audible membership but found it a bit expensive. The monthly credits are good value especially when you use the credits on good anthologies, but you have to wait a whole month to get one and I found it a bit tedious.
• Reading aloud. Without audiobooks, good ol’ reading aloud to the kids is still one of the best ways to get them interested and sustain their interest in a book. I started reading The Chronicles of Narnia to Noey earlier in the year and he loves it. I then went on to borrow some of the audiobooks from the library instead! But reading is a great bonding activity, and so I plough on. The challenge is to find books that both my kids can enjoy, which isn’t always easy. Those short stories I mentioned earlier? Those are great for including the little ones too.

Choosing books isn’t always easy, but the good thing about classics is that they are mostly well-loved! These are the books on our reading list for the rest of the year and next, which I picked based on what I enjoyed as a child and what I think a 7-year old can manage:

• The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
• King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green
• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• Aladdin and other tales from the Arabian Nights
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

If you have any good recommendations of old (or new) favourites, do share!

GIVEAWAY!

As mentioned earlier in this post, The Little Company (by the Singapore Repertory Theatre) is staging popular all-time children’s classic Treasure Island from 30 Oct to 13 Dec 2015 and we’ve got good news: a family pack of 4 TICKETS to Treasure Island on Sat 14 Nov, 2.30pm to give away to one lucky reader!

A new adaptation of Robert Luis Stevenson’s popular novel of the same name, Treasure Island follows the adventures of Jim Hawkins (who will be portrayed as a girl in this version), a lion-hearted 13-year old who receives a treasure map from a kooky old seaman. Jim is tasked to help find the hidden treasure, but the road to riches is never smooth sailing.

A swashbuckling, action-packed musical about friendship and trust that is touted to keep the whole family at the edge of their seats!

To enter this draw to win those tickets, you have to complete the following steps:

1. Visit the Singapore Repertory Theatre Facebook Page

2. Visit the Life is in the Small Things Facebook Page

(While you’re there, we would greatly appreciate it if you could “LIKE” these pages!)

3. Comment on this Facebook post telling me why you want to watch this show, AND Tag 2 friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You have to complete all 3 steps to qualify so don’t miss any out! Use the Rafflecopter widget below to indicate that you’ve done the above. You can also get additional chances by completing the rest of the steps.

This draw will close on 12 November 2015, 12PM and is open to Singapore residents only. No changes to the date/time of tickets will be entertained. The rest of the usual terms and conditions will apply. Good luck!