RUPERT Bear, The Secret Seven, Dimity Drew, Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School and Just William are among the children's books series that come under the spotlight in Belfast author and literary critic Patricia Craig's latest book.
Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading gives readers a glimpse into the world of children's books and the libraries of 1950s Belfast.
“Bookworm is about celebrating the immense enjoyment I got from reading these wonderful books and the effect they had on me," says Craig, who in her book confesses that even as a five-year-old books were more important to her than sweets or toys.
Best known for having edited seminal collections such as The Rattle of The North: An Anthology of Ulster Prose (1992) and The Belfast Anthology (1999), Craig admits writing this autobiographical book was "quite a frivolous undertaking and a joy to write".
Through memories of her almost daily journeys to several Belfast libraries, Craig encapsulates a social history of pre-Troubles Belfast, with corner shops and children skipping on the streets. And while she recalls that she and her contemporaries were "well schooled in sectarian expediency", she was determined to try out all the Belfast libraries – be it in the Falls or the Shankill, once inside her beloved reading room there was no sense of difference.
"You just succumb to that wonderful atmosphere and possibility of what you might light on."
Craig says she was an "alacritous picker-up of every variety of enchantment to be found between the covers of a book". Not influenced by genre or gender stereotypes, she is unable to name an all-time favourite book from her childhood, though she veers towards the more adventurous stories.
"One of my favourites were Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School by Frank Richards. I was always eager to follow rambunctious characters on swashbuckling adventures and humorous escapades that afforded a real escape. And Just William was a great favourite of mine when growing up. The funny thing about books by Richmal Crompton was that a lot of boys read them, not realising the author was actually a woman."
Even at an early age Craig showed signs of having strong opinions and was turned off by the "wham-bang antics" of the Beano and the Dandy comics, much beloved by many of her generation. “Slapstick was never my solace. I preferred the sedateness of Rupert to the rowdiness of Biffo the Bear."
Rupert was five-year-old Craig's first literary hero. "I liked the drawings, the appearance of the books and the amazing adventures that Rupert had. At that age I just relished them completely.
"You do grow out of these things and then you go back to them and try to understand why they had such an impact in the first place," adds Craig, who regularly re-reads children's literature from the mid-20th century. "Children’s authors like E Nesbitt (The Railway Children) – they are completely readable on an adults terms. You pick up things you missed as a child and you can see the craftsmanship that went into them.”
Although her patience as an adult leads her to leave Enid Blyton on the book shelves, that eminent author did provide Craig with much delight during her childhood, in particular the Famous Five and The Castle of Adventure series'. “Other forms of literary nourishment might, and did, work at a deeper level, but for high-definition, unnuanced entertainment, Blyton (for a time at least) reigned unopposed.”
While thrillers now fill the escapism void in Craig's life, she has dabbled in modern teenage fiction, including JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. "The first novel was very readable and enjoyable and by far the best as I think the whole series got convoluted later on," says Craig, whose favourite current children's author is Philip Pullman.
She is passionate about the importance of literary escapism for children's well-being today. "I think it’s absolutely essential as it provides a light relief from all the trials of school. There are still lots of good libraries around and the internet has opened up a lot of territory for children. They can read new up-to-the-minute books and they can get hold of all these books that were popular in the past."
Craig still fuels her book addiction through visits to her local library, as well as regular Amazon deliveries. While she hasn't succumbed to using a Kindle, she is considering it as her Co Antrim home is filled from floor to ceiling with over 10,000 titles, including many first editions children's classics with dust-jackets, which she has been collecting since the age of 25.
“I have all the original E Nesbitts, which were published around the 1900s – the first was 1899. I have a lot of Blyton first editions in dust jackets and the Williams, of course, and CS Lewis' Narnia books."
And has she been tempted to write her own children's novel? “I haven’t absolutely given up the idea. It’s rather late in the day, but it might come to fruition.”
:: Bookworm – A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Patricia Craig is available now from book shops or online at somervillepress.com.
