Today is World Book Day, in case you didn't know! With many schools celebrating with children dressing up, I was slightly disappointed to discover that my son's school just bring their favourite book in to school with them. However, thinking about it, this saves me a lot of hassle on the outfit front! This evening he has chosen his favourite book to take in and it took absolutely ages. We read every night to both children at bedtime, it's part of our routine and there are an awful lot of favourite books. Often we read the same one over and over again and then we don't read that one again for months! In the end he chose The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson. I am still not convinced it is his absolute favourite. Certainly the one we have read the most is It's the Bear by Jez Alborough. I used to read this to my half-sister when she was young so I knew it by heart before I even had children. When my son was born, I googled an excerpt in order to find what the book was called.
When I was little, my absolute favourite childhood book was 101 Dalmations. I must have read it over 50 times. Maybe more. I still have my old copy, and my mum bought me a copy as a wedding gift when my husband and I got married nearly 11 years ago. I also used to adore Roald Dahl books, particularly Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda and The BFG. That feeling of completely immersing yourself into a world which is personal to you and only you is amazing. Losing yourself in your imagination for an hour or two a day is wonderful. I read so many books as a child. Since having my own children, I read a lot with them, but don't have much time to do any leisure time reading myself. Possibly my favourite book I have read as an adult is The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Attwood, a wonderfully moving book.
Books are powerful. They offer such a wonderful escape! I wrote this Gallery post about books in 2012 and I was amazed at how much emotion they created in me. Thomas Cook have a fun new app on their website which you can find here, if you input your holiday destination and genre, it will then suggest the perfect book for your holiday. I love being able to read and relax on holiday. I do so much reading for university that it isn't that much fun until term has finished! When I put in my holiday destination of the Canary Islands (there was no option for France, which is where we are actually going, and my favourite genre adventure, I got Canary Island Song by Robin Jones Gunn. Not quite what I expected, but I will certainly give it a go this summer!
How about you? What was your favourite book as a child? What kind of books do you like reading now?
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.
