This blog on the Guardian books blog caught my eye, talking about the shared culture that comes from reading. I’d have to agree that the Harry Potter phenomenon has brought this into the world of the younger reader in a way that didn’t really exist when I was a child; there were books that girls read, and presumably boys’ favourites, but nothing that crossed boundaries like HP. Children’s fiction has always been a good starting point for language learners (I cut my teeth reading Spanish translations of the great boy-wizard and his cronies), and I imagine JK Rowling and Philip Pullman form part of many students’ introduction to English writing. Back in the dark days before this though, what books did you used to recommend students start out with?
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Life before Harry Potter | Macmillan…
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and similar. (This is what I read. Wasn’t a teacher before Harry Potter.
‘Animal Farm’ was one of my favourites: short with very clear and relatively simple language.
I noticed that English speakers tend to say “blog” as a synonym for “[blog] post”, and indeed you started your piece by saying say “This BLOG on the Guardian books BLOG caught my eye”. Maybe the Macmillan Dictionary should record this new trend in the relevant entry,
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/blog ?
“Mary Poppins” by P.L.Travers. Wonderful book, not only for kids, the same with “Harry Potter”.And science -fiction.Back then , kids were reading a lot…Fantasy and adventure books.J.K.Rowling has opened again the gate to reading books.
Great to see all your comments, keep them coming!