The Brief

“Exercise 1: Influential books
Consider the importance of books to you both personally and within a broader
global sense.
First of all, think back to the earliest books you came across as a child, through
your teenage years and early adulthood to where you are now. There may be
half a dozen books which stick in your memory or are important to you in some
way. There may be many more than that. It may be an early reading book, a
particular image or short rhyme which helped you recognise letterforms. It may
be the distressed metallic silver cover of a Salinger novel you read as a teenager,
or the book you bought on impulse after work one day, seduced by the tactile
quality of the cover.
Identify these books in your learning log, use photographs and annotation to
create an illustrated list documenting the books that are important to you, for
whatever reason.
Now, connect your influential books to those with a more global reach. Identify
seminal works that have informed or challenged some of the areas you have
identified. These may be scientific, artistic, historical, political, geographic,
fictional, poetic or religious texts. For example, a book from your childhood could
connect to other seminal children’s books by association, such as Heinrich
Hoffmann’s Der Struwwelpeter / Shockheaded Peter (1845) or Charles Perrault or
the Brothers Grimm. Likewise a book featuring dinosaurs might connect to
Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species.
When we appreciate the breadth and influence of books, we begin to appreciate
the extent of a book’s potential impact. Books carry and communicate ideas;
powerful messages can be contained within seemingly innocuous bound paper
pages. In your learning log, create another list of books, with accompanying
images and annotations, which you believe to be more globally important, but
connect to your first list in some way.
This activity will feed into your first assignment, so document your ideas in your
sketchbooks and learning log to refer back to later.”

My Influential childhood books

I quite like this first starter exercise; and believe me I definitely have enough content for it!!

My Mum made sure from an early age that I engaged in reading; she always felt that reading was vital for my English and so that I progressed in reading at school. When I was very little I read exciting stories with enchanting illustrations and then as I got older into my later years of primary school Mum was always pushing me to read challenging books – particularly ones without pictures and a lot of small text on the pages! I didn’t mind this though because I had a vivid imagination, At bedtime I would sit in bed with my bedside lamp on and I would escape into an imaginary world, I imagined every character, every scene and every place in every book. I really feel now as an adult that I am as creative as I am because I had these experiences with books when I was younger. When I look back now at the covers of the books that I used to read, I can remember exactly how I pictured the story in my head many years ago. All of these books hold fond memories or remind me of time and places in my childhood, even the memory of some of these books remind me of what they used to smell like!! There used to be an old book shop in my town that Mum used to take me to when I was in my last years at primary school; I used to like going in there on a Saturday morning and remember feeling excited searching for all the Famous Five books with their exciting covers that I had not yet read. The shop smelt of really old, fusty books and the pages of the books smelt the same.. there was something quite special about this smell though and I can still remember it today!

I shall go through below the main books that I remember growing up, luckily my Mum boxed them away and saved them for me.. In my teenage years where I used to have friends and boys over was embarrassed at my book shelf filled with childhood, immature books – It wasn’t very cool and I tried to give them away to charity!… All were saved apart from my Babysitter Club books – I was OBSESSED in my early teens! Mum however was not, she deemed them as “Americanised slang” these sadly did not make the box. I shall delve more into these books later on!…

Town Mouse and Country Mouse

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This is probably my earliest memory of reading books. I was 4 years old and learning to read. I have this memory captured on video back in the day that I have recently had converted. I was 4 years old in Los Angeles, America at the time and I remember vividly that there was an earthquake -well, actually there was a few while I was over there!- This one was the Big Bear Lake quake of ’92, it measured 6.5 on the Richter scale. I have a memory of me and my parents stuck inside our hotel room and on the TV were news reports of the earthquake with images of the seismic waves. (Me and my Mum were creating a holiday book with pictures and writing at the time and I remember us drawing these waves in it.) The morning of this quake I sat in bed with my Mum while my dad filmed it with the camcorder, me reciting after her the pages of Town Mouse and Country Mouse. I bought this book about a year ago for my boyfriend when we first got together as he referred to me as the “City girl” and him as the “country boy” it reminded me of this story! I only recently when telling my Mum about this exercise realised that she still had the original copy!

**** INSERT PHOTOS OF AMERICA HOL BOOK

I would have inserted the video here of the memory but WordPress demanded that firstly I pay £78 for the privilege… so instead here are some screenshots from that video of me as a teeny bopper learning to read with Town Mouse and Country Mouse!

The design process; What I think to the book cover design

This is an old cover design; as I said I have had this book since I was at least 4 years old. It is very simplistic in design and uses a very limited colour palette (Blues and Yellows) for its design. The triangular border helps attract the reader to the cover and provides colour contrast (pop!) against the cool blues. The illustrations (although not my cup of tea!) are detailed and engaging as they allow the reader to look at them and engage with the characters emotions and actions.

I am not 100% on the typography used for this cover… “read it yourself” I am not sure whether should have a capital “R”. “Town mouse and country mouse” is written in a very condensed typeface; one that springs to mind is Din. The tracking though is very tight and considering this is a childs book that has been written to be able to help children read, I feel like they would have been better using a more rounded typeface (Gill Sans Infant?) and for the tracking to be spacious like what appears in the title.

The book is A5 in size which is the ideal size for a young child to be able to grip, hold and read easily themselves. One area of study in book design that I need to learn and be more familiar with is the construction of books and the weights and types of paper and card. With my lack of knowledge in this area I can say the cover is a hard board that has been covered and printed and the pages are a light weight textured paper. I imagine by the basic way in which this book has been constructed and the quality of the pages on the inside of the book that the book was produced quite cheaply. The limited colour palette will also help to ensure that the book is relatively cheap to print.

Kingcup Cottage – by Racey Helps

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This book always makes me feel really, very sad! – As a young child this was probably one of the first times I remember looking at the crying face and the big tears of the main character Francesca the frog and feeling great pity and empathy. The illustrations in the book also by Racey Helps are also absolutely gorgeous and really bring to life the storyline. As a small child this book really struck a chord with me and I guess taught me how to respect and care for others feelings.

The story is about how Francesca the Frog lives in a very damp house in the pond, although her house is watery and wet she takes great pride in it and really loves having people over for tea. It is her birthday and she invites all her fellow animal neighbours to come and celebrate with her, however, they all discard her invitations ignorantly and without care as they do not want to get wet. Francesca plans her party with great care making sure there are place settings and lovely food and drink – no-one turns up! When Francesca is seen sobbing by herself near her house it is only then that the other animals realise that they have not been very nice or fair to her, they then go about planning her a second party (somewhere dry!) which has a happy ending and turns out to be much better. (Even writing about this storyline and picturing the illustrations from the book evoke emotions!!) It is a storyline that came back to me when I organised my 30th party 4 years ago! – I kept saying to my Mum “I hope It’s not going to be like Kingcup Cottage and people actually turn up!!”- It is definitely one I shall read my future children about the importance of respecting other peoples feelings and being kind.

The design process; What I think to the book cover design

The book cover is beautifully illustrated with the 2 main characters of the book Pinny and Francesca and Kingcup Cottage itself which is the house in the damp, wet pond. This instantly gives the reader an idea of what kind of place Kingcup Cottage is and who lives there. It is a nice introduction to the characters and what the story may be about. The cover is bright and bold which makes it appealing for children to want to pick up and look at or read. The illustrations themselves have emotion; as I mentioned earlier, the illustrations in this book made me feel empathy and sadness for the character from how they are illustrated in the book.

The Untidy little hedgehog – By Molly Brett

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This book is another one I remember for having beautiful illustrations! I remember Mum brought me a lot of books similar to this one especially for the illustrations! This story is all about an untidy hedgehog who gets turned away by all his friends and neighbours for being unclean! The one thing that stands out from this book to this day though is the scene of Bonfire night in the book where the hedgehog hides himself in a bonfire and it is about to be lit by spectators – it taught me the importance as a young child that people should check bonfires or anywhere that animals may hide. I still think of this to this day when I think of Bonfire night or having a bonfire. The illustrations of the bright fireworks on this particular page though are beautiful! I also have the memory of where my Mum bought this book from – The Butterfly Park that used to be near where I live.. It shut down years ago sadly but I have many memories of going there as a child.

The design process; What I think to the book cover design

Timothy finds a playmate-By Truda Mordue

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This is another book similar to the last two books; It was also bought for me as a child from The Butterfly Park! I can’t remember who bought it for me, my Mum or Grandma but I have the memory of reading it with both of them. I really liked this book as a child again, for the gorgeous illustrations but also becasue I remember the excitement reading it of the cats that go on an adventure far away from their home. I remember thinking at the time how cool it would have been to have gone away from home on an adventure by myself or with a friend. I have always loved cats too so I really liked this story about one lonely cat who really wanted a playmate to explore the world with.

Saturday at Blackberry farm – Jane Pilgrim

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This was one of my favourite books as a child. My mum bought this book from a Deer park that we visited for a day. Again, there are scenes in this book that made me feel really sad!! – The illustrations in it are beautiful and really show emotion and tell the story! It is about a young squirrel who gets pocket money from his mum and dad but he loses it, He is really sad and ends up crying because he can not buy what he wants anymore. The young squirrel ends up doing jobs for the neighbouring animals to gain back the pocket money he lost. It shows him doing errands and Saturday jobs so that at the end of the story he can buy all the treats that he wants to buy himself. It teaches children the importance of money and how it isn’t just given out for free; that you have to work for what you want in life. I liked the part of the book where it lists out and illustrates what he bought himself and for how much (I guess this was the start of my love for shopping and buying nice things!!!)The book is exciting for young children I suppose because it shows the character earning his own money and then being able to have the freedom to buy what he wants with it; something which as a young child is a very grown-up exciting prospect!

Lucy and Toms Christmas – Shirley Hughes

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

These books by Shirley Hughes were massively popular when I was at primary school – (mainly through the use of the lovely illustrations again!) I loved this book simply because of the illustrations. Me and my mum bought this book second hand from a school fair from what I remember; it was Christmas time when we bought it which made it seem all the more special. The story is about 2 children called Lucy and Tom and their family at Christmas. It shows how the children have thought carefully about what to buy or make for each relative and then shows each one opening it on Christmas Day. I used to love making things as presents when I was younger and I remember at the time feeling inspired by this book and the things that were made and found for each relative; such as a handkerchief for Grandma with her initials stitched on the corner. There was so much detail in the illustrations too, each time you open the pages there is something else that you missed from the last time you opened it. Even today I am massive on detail; I love intricate objects or books that are detailed beautifully with thought.

Molly’s Supper- By Jill Dow

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

I remember this book mostly because of the title; Molly was my Grandmas name and I remember how odd it was that a cat in a story was called by the same name!! Again as always this was a firm family favourite because of the illustrations and also because I am from a family of cat lovers! It is a lovely story of Molly who lives on a farm and one day she is desperate for some milk and has to find a way to get some for herself.. it shows her adventure throughout the day on her search for milk amongst all the farm animals and machinery. Eventually at the end of the story when it is dark her owner lets her inside in the warm and gives her a saucer of warm milk.

Cats know best– By Eisler Colin and Ivory Lesley Anne (Illustrator)

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

On the theme of cats still.. This is a book with very limited text, It was a second hand book that my Mum bought when I was very little! I was probably just a toddler when it was bought. It was bought for the illustrations again because they are exceptional! There are several cats in this book which we referred to and likened to our own family cats. It is a battered and bruised book – some of the pages have been torn and cellotaped back together and it has a very distinct, rich, old smell to the pages. It is very loved though. The book features all kinds of breed and colours of cats and in a witty way shows the wisdom and behaviour of cats. To this day I look at my cats and can hear the words to this book when they do something similar to the cats that feature in the story!

Miss McTaffety’s cats – Liz Underhill

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

My Grandma bought me this book, The book was released in 1993 and she met the author and had the book signed for me. I was 6 or 7 at the time.. I think she went on a trip with one of her women’s clubs and this author obviously did a talk about her book. I remember her gifting me the book and telling me how the author had signed it especially for me which instantly made the book very personal and special. It is an absolutely stunning book. The pages are beautifully illustrated as all the books I have written about are but this one has cut out pages which then when you turn the page link to the next scene; For example one page shows the inside of the big house and Miss McTaffety looking out the cut out window to the outside and on the next page it shows the cut out window with people on the outside looking inside to see Miss McTaffety looking out. It is cleverly pieced together! The pages are printed on really high quality glossy thick paper too. It is a story of a sad, lonely old lady who lives alone in a big, empty house. No-one wants to talk to her and I think now as an adult I realise she had a bit of social anxiety!! – eventually she forces herself out the house to go and eat in a fish restaurant that she always liked the look of but never dare go in. The author portrays the character as very shy and nervous.. because she is so shy and nervous she cannot finish her meal sitting inside the restaurant, the restaurant chef gives her the food parcel to take home. On her route home she attracts the local stray cats who are tempted in by the smell of the fish. Miss McTaffety dishes out the remaining fish from her parcel to all the cats and as it turns out the cats never then go home or return to where they came from. Miss McTaffety houses all the cats in her big house and then becomes the affection of the people who live near her in town, she gets presents from people for the cats and visitors turn up at her door to talk to her and see the cats and in return she gains confidence and happiness. I always related to this story when I was younger as I was painfully shy and didn’t have a lot of friends…(When I was single I always joked with my Mum that I would end up like her!!). It was a firm favourite with me and my Mum and was read a lot over the years.

The Midsummers Banquet – By John Patience

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This was from a series of books called “Tales from Fern Hollow” and I think I had most of the books from this series. This one though holds the most memories for me and was my favourite. Immediately when opening any of the books from this series you are greeted by an enchanting map of Fern Hollow; the imaginary countryside village of animals. The map is in the style of a treasure hunt map and shows a detailed illustration of the village and all the characters houses and key buildings that feature in the story. This map really gives a sense of the place setting and the characters before you even dive into the pages. This story is about Lord Trundle and how he finds the secret hidden castle and then decides it is the perfect venue to hold a Midsummer Banquet for the village. I was intrigued by this hidden castle and even today I am fascinated by recovering old artefacts or finding lost treasures!- (again, I think this is another factor from reading exciting books like this when I was younger!) The illustrations again in this book really suck you into the story. It must have been Christmas time when I first read or received this book because one of the pages in this story of the bright, sparkling outdoor hanging lights always takes me back to a time in my life where I must have been about 8/9 years old and it was Christmas and I was going up town with my parents, little sister (well she was little back then!) and grandparents to see the Christmas decorations in real life. After we went to see the lights up town we went back to my grandparents and my Grandma fed me so much yummy treat food that I couldn’t sleep all that night because I felt so sick!! We ended up going through old antiques and antique decorations at my Grandparents that night and I ended up coming home with and antique bell from what I can remember.. In my head I associated the bright, pretty lights in this story to the Christmas lights I was going to see in town that night. There is also a tree in a garden down the road from my mum which always had (and still does!) really big, bright, round outdoor hanging lights in all rainbow colours that always reminds me to this day of this book!

Oliver all alone– By Christine Harris

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

I remember buying this book at Christmas time, I think my Mum wanted to get some books that were Christmas themed for that time of year. There was a book shop in town at the time which now I can only describe as being just like The Works of the day.. This book was released in 1994 which would make me 7 years old at the time and again the illustrations drew us in! This story is all about a young Labrador puppy called Oliver that a family buy for Christmas, the family have to pop out for the day and unfortunately have to leave Oliver at home… The story shows the adventures he has in the empty house while his owners are out. He is so small and young and it shows how he is scared of shadows on the wall and thinks that they are monsters (It turns out it was the shadow of a plant). I remember that on each page there is a little teddy bear that follows him around the book, I don’t think it was intentionally illustrated to be hidden and found on each page but every time I read the book I used to point out where the bear was hiding; this was something again that fascinated me.

The Runaways – By Ruth Thomas

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This was a book that my Mum bought as a present for me from my little sister for my 11th birthday. My sister was 3 at the time and signed the inside of the cover in her scribbly toddler writing and the letter “S” in her name backwards which as a young child was a trait of hers! At this time my mum was buying me books with very limited pictures inside, she was trying to build up my English and reading skills. I liked books about adventure and this book was another one of them.. It is all about 2 children who are the complete opposite to each other in personality, race and gender but connect together because they just do not fit in with other children their age and because of issues at home. It was a different book to the ones I read at the time, I was used to The Famous Five or quite childish adventures whereas this book hit harder and more grown up issues. The story is set in London and as a young 11 year old it was a whole world away from what I was used to growing up in a very sheltered life in the countryside.

Charlottes Web

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

I first came across this book in Year 4 at primary school, our teacher Mrs. Cowlan used this book as the class reading book and used to read it to us for 15 minutes a day. I loved this story and after we had finished reading it in class I asked my Mum to buy a copy for myself. I have always been a life long lover of animals and at the time Mum used to buy me Animal Action magazine to make me aware of animal welfare and the importance of looking after animals at a young age; this book tied in with that. The story of Wilbur the pig who born a runt was destined to be killed but a clever spider called Charlotte helps to keep him alive. This book really makes you feel empathy towards animals and to understand that they are just like us; they require love and affection, they breathe the same as us and they have feelings just like us.

The Silver Sword – By Ian Serraillier

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This is another class book that was read to us by our teacher in Year 6 at primary school. It is another book that I asked Mum to buy me for Christmas that year as I really enjoyed it and wanted to read it again by myself. I was really interested in History when I was younger and this story tied in well with the subject of World War that we were studying in History at the time. I also used this book in my previous course; Core Concepts as part of a book cover design exercise as it ties in beautifully with Swiss typography and Swiss Graphic Design. It is the story of a family who were separated in Warsaw during World War II. The Dad was a teacher in a school and was the main character of the story trying to locate his family members. His wife was taken away to a concentration camp and his 3 children ran away trying to escape. It shows the struggle and great journey that they all embarked to be reunited in Switzerland many years later.

A Patchwork of Ghosts – By Angela Bull

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This was a book that I rented out from the library at least 2/3 times. I loved a good ghost suspense/ thriller even when I was little! (I was about 8/9 when I first read this book!) I still like watching ghost thrillers today, even though I get scared by them afterwards!!

On this occasion the book cover design did not attract me to the pick the book up, it is a strange cover – it shows the ghost of the girl who is in the story and a patchwork design which is crucial to the storyline, the design isn’t particularly eye catching or attractive for a childs book but the story was amazing at the time when I was younger! I remember reading this for the first time and getting really scared when I put the book down! My Mum used to say to me “If it scares you why do you carry on reading it?” my reply was that it was too good to put down and not know what happens! I remember when I used to go to bed and read it my mum used to pull my bedroom door ajar and I hated it because it was so dark upstairs on the landing and it felt really eerie reading this book! (The arguments I used to have with my Mum trying to make her keep my bedroom door wide open!!) – I used to find comfort when the neighbour next door to my Mum and Dad used to go into their office and put the light on which faced the landing and shone into my bedroom! (He was an architect and worked for hours on end at his desk!) The storyline of the book is all about a ghost of a girl that is communicating to the living girl through a patchwork quilt… whenever the living girl wraps herself in the patchwork quilt and falls asleep the ghost of the girl comes through. When the girl wakes up she has to piece together what she has “dreamt” and try to work out the mystery behind the house. At the end of the story it tells how this rustly, noisy patchwork quilt was actually full of diary entries from the dead girl that she hid inside the quilt. I remember my Grandma Holmes made a patchwork, crochet quilt that used to come out on cold nights to put on top of the quilt on my bed as extra warmth and this reminded me of this story!

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The Secret Garden– By Frances Hodgson Burnett

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

I watched the 1993 adaptation of the book before I actually read the book but I really loved it. I was 7 years old and when my sister was born in November 1994 and it was first present my Mum bought me from her for being a new older sister. It is the ladybird edition and it came with a audible cassette tape so that I could listen or read along by myself. I don’t think I ever listened to the tape, I always preferred to read and use my imagination. The story revolves around a key that was found and then finding out eventually that the key unlocked a hidden garden that was hidden away out of grief. The children in the book restore the garden to its former glory so that it can be used and loved once again. Even to this day I like unearthing hidden treasures or anything that old that has beauty in it that has been hidden away or needs restoring. or finding detail in objects or anything old and intricate and I think that this is hugely influenced by reading classics like The Secret Garden.

Secrets – By Enid Blyton

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This was one of my favourite books when I was in my later years of primary school. The story of a group of children who leave home and make a home on a deserted island by a lake. As a young child it was exciting to read about a group of children the same age as me living by themselves and adapting to life on an island without any grown ups. They have to keep their own animals and sell their own produce as well which was something that you don’t think about as a young child! I remember my Mum bought this book for me from a book shop in Peterborough when we went for a day trip out on the train together. Mum did read a few pages at bedtime to me but this was a book I liked to indulge in myself and create an imagination in my own head of what the characters and the places looked like. The cover of this book was also exciting as it shows the children escaping on a rowing boat with all their food and possessions. The detail of the artwork in the cover really sets the narrative for what is happening in the story.

Just as long as we’re together – By Judy Blume

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

This is one of the books that probably meant the most to me growing up. It is still one of my favourite books. I read it and I am taken back to the time in my life when I first read it. I bought this book in Skegness for my 11th birthday. I hated primary school in year 6 because I was badly bullied by a group of girls, I was painfully shy and I didn’t fit in. Sports Day at primary school always fell on my birthday; July 9th and I absolutely hated it!! Luckily for me my parents always allowed me to have the day off and have the day out somewhere to escape it! This particular year in 1998 was a day to Skegness! I remember I got £50 for my birthday and it was the greatest feeling ever! – usually my parents were strict on what I was allowed to spend or buy (My Mum is very much a saver and I am the opposite!) but this day I felt so rich and that I could buy whatever I wished! I went into WH Smiths and bought a copy of “Just as long as we’re together” I’ll admit I was usually drawn in by the covers of a book, the cover of this book was just a girl in the foreground and 2 girls behind her. I remember the book cover design gave me moody feelings. The storyline of the book is based around the main character Stephanie and her friendship with 2 girls and transitioning from a child into a teenager. The storyline seemed appealing to me because I had never fitted in with a group of girls, I had had “best friends” who liked me one minute and then the next moment I was off school sick or went away on holiday they swapped and traded me in for another mate. I longed for a good group of long term girl mates. I had this title on my bedside table until the summer holidays of year 6 going into year 7 secondary school, I remember I still had another book to finish so this one stood still on my nightstand for the time being. I remember the cover was very significant to me. I was very naturally skinny as a child, you could see my ribs! I used to eat whatever I wanted and never put a lb of weight on! (something I wish I still had the ability to do today!!) I was not the most fashionable child; I was a tomboy and had no clue about fashion.. My Mum was also strict that she didn’t want me growing up too quickly dressing in older girls clothes and also money was tight for my parents back then (I went to a school disco in adidas popper trousers and bright orange trainers to give an idea of how ungirly I was!!) I was bullied for being lanky, uncool and not having a great fashion sense. I had buck teeth and my feet were huge! I had tall, dangly long legs, huge boat feet and a bowl cut haircut and fringe! One of the cruel comments I got one day was that my shoulders were so bony. I remember looking at the cover of this book and seeing the girl with her perfect rounded, healthy shoulders and crying wishing that I could just be “normal”. In the book Stephanie was described as being “chubby”, she was also a tomboy and didn’t care much for fashion. When I started reading this book in the summer holidays before secondary school I felt like I related to her (apart from the so- called “chubby” part!). I hoped that when I went to my new school I would find a group of girls who I would fit in with and that I could live a similar life to the 3 characters in the book. Luckily for me, I did! Apart from a few blips with a few bitchy girls in the early years of secondary school, I went on to have 5 amazing years at secondary school with a good group of mates.

The Babysitters Club – By Ann. M. Martin

The memories and thoughts behind the book and story

I save the best until last because I absolutely LOVED this series of books! – I still do at 34 years of age! I am gutted that I never kept any of these from my childhood. This series has become popular once again though, as it has now been turned into a modern day Netflix series with influences still from the 80s/90s (It is watchable by the way but I am not in love with it..)

This was the book series that me and my best friend at the time stumbled upon completely unknowingly.. It was the school book fair in our old school library and we were browsing the shelves with our £5 vouchers on what books to buy. We were very close and would usually buy the same things so when we found this series of books with the same characters but different storylines we knew that we could buy one book from the story each and still relate to each other and our books. I cannot remember which title I bought first.. but I do know that I absolutely loved it! My mum was very anti Babysitters Club, I allowed her to read through a few chapters to make sure that it was “age appropriate” for me and that she approved. Mum read through sarcastically in an american accent a few pages and then came to the conclusion that the books were “too Americanized” and that they wouldn’t challenge my reading and vocabulary enough! I loved the books though and she could see that so I carried on reading them! There was also a Babysitters Club, Club that I could have joined at the time, it gave the reader a new book from the series a month alongside a host of other goodies such as stickers and stationery.. – sadly though at £60 it was too pricey at the time for me to join. I was gutted though!

***PHOTO OF ADVERT IN BSC BOOK FOR BSC CLUB

I built my collection of books up to about one shelf full on my bookcase. The books were about £5 each at the time and It was possible for me to buy one every couple of months. I borrowed a few from the library as well but that just didn’t feel as good as owning my own copy, plus the covers of the really old 1980s copies always had really old, aged designs for covers which put me off reading them which sounds silly but I loved the bright, vibrant, modern happy covers of the copies that I owned. It didn’t matter what sort of bad day I had experienced because when I looked at these covers I instantly felt happy and comforted. I looked at the illustrations of the characters on the covers and it gave me a cool idea of who the characters were! – It let my imagination run wild! There were illustrations of Dawn who was the gorgeous, Blonde, Californian surfer type girl with her wavy, beachy hair and then there was Claudia who was the arty, kitsch, cool girl that everyone wanted as a friend…

The books were so detailed into the characters lives, personalities and appearance. It was like you got to know them so well that you could have actually been a part of their group; there were times where I wished I could have been a part of their group or at least had a group who were as cool as what they all were together. The books covered lots of teenage topics which at the time I related to so well. There was at least one character in the series that every girl in the world could relate to. I flitted between Claudia because I was always very arty and Dawn, just because she was beautiful, cool and Blonde – (at the time I wanted long blonde hair!). I found myself in the late 90s/00s when I was a teenager trying to live my life like the girls in the club.. One of my other best friends at the time, Liz, was a lot like Claudia in the fact that she had a super cool bedroom. She was allowed snacks and sweets up there and she had her own phone in her room too which was seriously cool. Mobile phones at the time were not even really a thing. The phone she had at the time was the phone they now actually use in the Netflix series – a Vintage Retro Mybelle Transparent phone which flashed every time it rang! (There is one on Ebay that I have my eye on – even though I don’t even use my landline!!) I have seen stickers made of this too that are being sold on Etsy and online marketplaces to celebrate this series of books! These weren’t just books – this was a lifestyle!

Since the Netflix series hit, there have been new books especially written for adults now who read the series as children and teenagers – I myself am interested in reading them! There has also been a short documentary on Netflix based around Claudia Kishi and how her character positively impacted so many Japanese/American girls who struggled to fit in at the time and how it made them pursue creative careers.

The modern day cartoon style covers they have designed for the series though I absolutely HATE!!! They have turned the books into adaptation, comic strip style stories which completely takes away the imagination from the reader and replaces it with absolutely awful illustrations (in my opinion!!) It came to light when watching The Claudia Kishi Club documentary that one of the Japanese/American women they interview who used to religiously read the series as a teenager actually is the designer of these covers… Bring back the old covers!!!

Global impactful books

The next part of this exercise was to look at global impactful books and relate them in some way to the titles that influenced me as a child. This is the part of the exercise that I found difficult to start with. How do you relate cat stories to an globbally known impactful book?! The Babysitters Club.. How is that related to something globally impactful?… I am not a massive reader now that I am older and had no idea or knowledge of the most impactful books! I decided to start the search on Google with ” global impactful books”:

The 50 Most Influential Books of All Time

A lot of these titles and authors I had already heard of.. the issue was how on earth my books related to these? The books on this list are mostly impactful to the world as they were written at the time that something revolutionary happened within its sector. Issac Newton wrote about the theory of gravity right about the time he discovered it and as it was revolutionary to the world. I asked my fiancé to find me a revolutionary, impactful book about felines and the best we could offer was Jackson Galaxy (“my cat from hell” tv series!) and the fact he revolutionizes training your naughty kitties worldwide!!

What I found though is that I was overthinking the process and trying to constrain all the books from my childhood in a box with all the 50 influential books I found online. What I realised I should be doing is what I do best! – Research. Once I delved into the background of my childhood books, the stories and the authors what I found were links to other sources, authors and books who have made an impact somehow in literature.

Let me show and tell and link some of my childhood books to something more on a global reach!…

Town Mouse and Country Mouse – This book in my opinion means “There’s no place like home” which I suppose I could relate to the Wizard of Oz but the storylines are completely different. Town Mouse and Country Mouse in my opinion is about accepting that not every 2 people (or mice!) are alike and that we come from different backgrounds and different places and that we should be accepting of all different personalities and ways of life. This subject could tie in closely with topics around race, age, gender, religion… equality for all.

However when I googled the book I found information about the origins and adaptations of the story that I never knew! The meaning behind the story was completely different to my view on the book. All my life I have just thought that the story was a nice little tale of 2 random mice written to help small children to read and how I bought a copy for a joke present for my fiance when we first started dating because I was the “city mouse” always busy and awake all hours and he was the “country mouse” in bed quietly by 10:30pm! The story though actually originates from classical Greek times in the form of one of Aesop’s Greek fables. Aesop was a slave and a storyteller believed to have lived in Ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BC. He wrote a collection of fables which during recent, modern times have been adapted and reinterpreted into modern fiction; The Town Mouse and Country Mouse being one of them! The story in Aesop’s time was of the two mice but one of the mice who was rich and lived a luxurious lifestyle and ate bread and wine all day and the other mouse who was poor and lived on a diet of raw beans. The rich mouse lived in the same environment as the cat who killed his Mum and Dad and family and who frequently attacks the mouse. The poor mouse declared that “I’d rather knaw on a bean that knaw on continuous fear”. The moral of the story I guess in this instance is that “money cannot buy happiness”!

Horace, the English speaking Roman lyric also included it in one of his humourous plays at the time comparing town living unfavorable to living life in the country. Another key figure from Roman times involved the story in his personal writing too; Marcus Aurelius – A Roman emperor and philosopher from 161-180. He was one of the rulers known as the “Five good Emperors” bringing stability and peace to the Roman empire.

In later years Beatrix Potter adapted the story in her story “The tale of Johnny Town Mouse” in 1918. Her version of the story relates to my initial opinion of the story that tastes and opinions differ.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Town_Mouse_and_the_Country_Mouse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop%27s_Fables

Kingcup Cottage – In my opinion this book is all about creating friendships and respecting others. It is about having empathy and understanding how your actions can affect the lives and feelings of others. In a superficial tone it is also about birthday parties and party planning! Maybe pond life also?… (the book circles around Francesca the Frog who lives in the swampy pond). I had no idea what to link this title to in a global sense…

I decided to look into the author and illustrator Angus Clifford Racey Helps (1913-1970) to see if anything that he did linked to anything more global. He started his career by reading stories to his daughter every night, when he had to go to war he would write the stories down to send her with some accompanying illustrations. He was located in the UK in Barnstaple, Devon where the scenic landscapes helped the creative process of storytelling more. Nothing that I researched about the author linked me to anything more global though… However I did stumble upon an article online stating what should have been the most obvious question to ask?.. What is a Kingcup? A Kingcup is another name for a Marsh Marigold otherwise known as a Caltha Palustris. Caltha Palustris is commonly used in English literature; Shakespeare’s and Charlotte Bronte’s work being some that include it.

The first writings of this plant came firstly from Joseph Pitton with his book called Populago. The first accurate description of Caltha Palustris came from Carl Linnaeus in 1737 with Genera Plantarum but he redescribes the species under the correct name in Species Plantarum in May 1753.

Species Plantarum lists every species of plant known at the time the book was published in 1753. They were classified into genres and it was the starting point for naming plants.

https://kids.kiddle.co/Caltha_palustris

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racey_Helps

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_Plantarum

Saturday at Blackberry Farm – Blackberry Farm is the fictional farm in which the series of 25 books written by Jane Pilgrim were based. The stories and series followed the animals who resided on Blackberry Farm. The stories were first published in the 1950s and retailed at one shilling and sixpence. (This old currency decimilisation appears in Saturday on Blackberry Farm). In my opinion this book teaches life skills and taking responsibility and ownership for money and things that you own. The book has a very “tough love” approach but teaches the skills needed for growing up in a work environment.

Reading bedtime stories to her young children inspired Jane Pilgrim to create her own stories. Jane was inspired by the farm animals that she had known and loved as a child on Exmoor and in the Lake District. The farm animals and their adventures are brought to life with exciting, engaging and colourful illustrations by F Stocks May. F Stocks May Illustrated many older children’s books during the 1950s including ‘The Boys Book Of Heroes’ and ‘Heroes Through the Ages’.

There was not a lot to link back with for this title, I struggled to find a link to global influences. The only other thing I could think to relate the book back to was something relating to endangered Red Squirrels as the main character is one. I then went back to my original thoughts of teaching children the understanding of working for their money and that relates to Plato (Greek philosopher) and his educational philosophy – Plato believed that the interests of the state are best preserved if children are raised and educated by the society as a whole rather than by their biological parents; what this means in short is that he believed that children should be pushed to become members of society rather than to be mothered by their parents all their life. This is similar to Hazel the Red Squirrel where she has to learn the importance of money through earning it herself and to not have it given her easily by her parents.

Platos most famous book is called The Republic and it was written in 375 BC. It is Plato’s best-known work and has proven to be one of the world’s most influential works of philosophy and political theory, both intellectually and historically.

https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Complete_Tales_of_Blackberry_Farm.html?id=dm7bPAAACAAJ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackberry_Farm_(books)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_(Plato)

Lucy and Tom at Christmas – This book shows the lead up and excitement surrounding Lucy and Tom preparing for Christmas Day with them stirring the Christmas pudding, making cards, paper chains, choosing a tree and writing letters to Father Christmas. Similar to Saturday at Blackberry Farm it teaches children the importance of giving and thoughtfulness towards others; whether that be giving homemade gifts or shop bought gifts. Once again though I struggled to link it to a globally impactful book. The most obvious stories to try and link it to would be something Christmas themed such as the nativity or the Bible Christmas story with Baby Jesus or the story of St Nicholas.

I looked into St Nicholas and early stories and books. I came across “A visit from St Nicholas” poem written anonymously in 1823, which is the early version of what we now know as “Twas the night before Christmas“, it was later published in 1837 by Clement Clarke Moore who took ownership of the story.

The poem has been responsible for all of the conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century until present day. It had a massive effect on the history of Christmas gift giving which links back to the story of Lucy and Tom at Christmas which focusses around them picking gifts for everyone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Visit_from_St._Nicholas

Cats know best – This book I imagine mainly exists because of the beautiful illustrations! – The storyline focusses on Cat behaviour; how they eat, sleep, play, interact with other cats, interacting with humans… The only subject to link this book to would be something related to cat psychology or behaviour. Jackson Galaxy is a popular choice for present day; with his program on TV for training AWOL kitties and his accompanying books but I decided to look for earlier writings of cat psychology.

I googled “earliest books on cat psychology” and it led me to Old Possum’s Book of practical Cats published in 1939 by Faber and Faber which is a collection of light poems by T.S Eliot based around feline psychology and sociology. This book was the storyline for Andrew Lloyd Webbers 1981 musical Cats.

The poems were first written in the 1930s in the form of letters to his godchildren. The name Old Possum is assumed to have been his nickname. They were collected and published in 1939 with cover illustrations from the author and then republished soon after in 1940 fully illustrated. The poems were republished again in 1982 and 2009.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Possum%27s_Book_of_Practical_Cats

Miss McTaffety’s Cats – The story of the old lady who lives by herself in a big old house isolated, alone and lonely. No-one notices her and nobody talks to her until one day she feels brave and ventures out for dinner and ends up adopting a houseful full of cats. The only links I could think to associate this title with is anything to do with looking after the elderly, depression, loneliness or social anxiety because the main character really had to pluck up great courage to venture out the house.

I went onto Google and came across a publication called “The Social world of older people; understanding loneliness and social isolation later in life“. I have copied the blurb of the book from Amazon below:

“A timely and welcome contribution to the research on loneliness and kindred phenomena.”
Lars Andersson, International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 2010.

Developments to the physical environment, scientific and technological innovation, the reorganisation of work and leisure and the impact of globalization and global capitalism have all influenced the nature of the world in which we now live. Social engagement and relationships, however, remain important at any age and their quality is a key element contributing to the quality of life of older people.

This book provides a detailed account of loneliness and social isolation as experienced by older people living in Britain. The authors consider the incidence and effects of isolation and loneliness, identifying the factors which lead to such experiences and considering potential interventions. They also argue that these feelings are experienced at all stages of the life course and not unique to the social world of older people.

Victor, Scambler and Bond rationalise that this is an important area, as both loneliness and social isolation are negatively associated with both quality and quantity of life – whilst the maintenance of social relationships is seen as a key component of ‘successful ageing’.

The Social World of Older People is important reading for students of social work, gerontology, community care and social policy as well as being of interest to policy makers and practitioners in these fields.

The Midsummer Banquet – This is a story that always fascinated me whenever I read it. The main thing I loved about the story was when Lord Trundle found the map that led him to discover the hidden, derelict gem of Fern Hollow Castle. The story went onto explore the hidden artefacts and heirlooms that had been hidden and totally forgotten inside the castle. As a young child reading this title it was the excitement of finding lost treasure! Even to this day as I mentioned above, I like old artefacts and vintage finds with a story behind them! – My dad redecorated his 1600’s cottage and when he was peeling off layers of wallpaper and rebuilding the main staircase he found some brightly illustrated wallpaper from the time that the house would have been built; this fascinates me! – I now needed to link this book to another global read… my main thoughts were books on medieval times, old castles, banquets..

I decided to use Google to help my findings, I searched firstly for “medieval castle and banquet books” which led me to some modern day stories about castles and knights and princesses. I then decided to search for “famous medieval castles” which led me to Warwick Castle which was built by William the Conqueror in 1068. William the Conqueror leads us to the Battle of Hastings and the Bayeux Tapestry which gives me a wide scope for book titles relating to this subject!

When I did another search for “best books on the Battle of Hastings” this is the title that kept appearing in the searches; The Battle of Hastings by Jim Bradbury. The blurb below is the description of the book seen on Amazons website.

“The Battle of Hastings is probably the best-known and perhaps the most significant battle in English history. Its effects were deeply felt at the time, causing a lasting shift in cultural identity and national pride. Jim Bradbury explores the full military background to the battle and investigates both the sources for our knowledge of what actually happened in 1066 and the role that the battle plays in national myth. The Battle of Hastings starts by looking at the Normans – who they were, where they came from – and the career of William before 1066. Next, Jim Bradbury turns to the Saxons in England, and to Harold Godwineson, successor to Edward the Confessor, and his attempts to create unity in the divided kingdom. The core of the book is a move-by-move reconstruction of the battle, including the advance planning, the site, the composition of the two armies and the use of archers, feigned fights and the death of Harold. This is a book that anyone interested in England’s most famous battle will find indispensable”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Castle

http://www.patience.co.uk/

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Battle-of-Hastings/Jim-Bradbury/9781643136325

Charlottes Web – The story of how a spider saved the life of Wilbur the pig from the fate of slaughter. The story revolves around the main characters Fern and Wilbur but really the star of the story is Charlotte the Spider. The book as well as being a charming story is also quite informative about Spiders and this is where I think I would link it to further global reading but I also read interesting details about the storyline on Wikipedia which I have quoted below as these could also link to other global reads;

“Death

Death is a major theme seen throughout Charlotte’s Web and is brought forth by that of the spider, Charlotte. According to Norton D. Kinghorn, Charlotte’s web acts as a barrier that separates two worlds. These worlds are that of life and death. Scholar Amy Ratelle says that through Charlotte’s continual killing and eating of flies throughout the novel, White makes the concept of death normal for Wilbur and for the readers. Neither Wilbur nor the rat Templeton see death as a part of their lives; Templeton sees it only as something that will happen at some time in the distant future, while Wilbur views it as the end of everything.

Wilbur constantly has death on his mind at night when he is worrying over whether or not he will be slaughtered. Even though Wilbur is able to escape his death, Charlotte, the spider who takes care of Wilbur, is not able to escape her own. Charlotte passes away, but according to Trudelle H. Thomas, “Yet even in the face of death, life continues and ultimate goodness wins out”. Jordan Anne Deveraux explains that E.B. White discusses a few realities of death. From the novel, readers learn that death can be delayed, but that no one can avoid it forever.

Change

For Norton D. Kinghorn, Charlotte’s web also acts as a signifier of change. The change Kinghorn refers to is that of both the human world and the farm/barn world. For both of these worlds change is something that cannot be avoided. Along with the changing of the seasons throughout the novel, the characters also go through their own changes. Jordan Anne Deveraux also explains that Wilbur and Fern each go through their changes to transition from childhood closer to adulthood throughout the novel. This is evidenced by Wilbur accepting death and Fern giving up her dolls. Wilbur grows throughout the novel, allowing him to become the caretaker of Charlotte’s children just as she was a caretaker for him, as is explained by scholar Sue Misheff. But rather than accept the changes that are forced upon them, according to Sophie Mills, the characters aim to go beyond the limits of change. In a different way, Wilbur goes through a change when he switches locations. Amy Ratelle explains that when he moves from Fern’s house to Homer Zuckerman’s farm, Wilbur goes from being a loved pet to a farm animal.

Innocence

Fern, the little girl in the novel, goes from being a child to being more of an adult. As she goes through this change, Kinghorn notes that it can also be considered a fall from innocence. Wilbur also starts out young and innocent at the beginning of the novel. A comparison is drawn between the innocence and youth of Fern and Wilbur. Sophie Mills states that the two characters can identify with one another. Both Wilbur and Fern are, at first, horrified by the realization that life must end; however, by the end of the novel, both characters learn to accept that, eventually, everything must die. According to Matthew Scully, the novel presents the difference in the worldview of adults versus the world view of children. Children, such as Fern, believe killing another for food is wrong, while adults have learned that it is natural.”

From reading this blurb on Wikipedia I decided to go down the route of linking Charlottes Web to pieces of writing relating to death and dealing with the eventuality that it will happen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte%27s_Web

https://www.joincake.com/blog/books-about-death/

The Secret Garden – The Secret Garden is the story of Mary Lennox who moves from India after her parents die and has to climatize to Yorkshire living. She goes on the hunt for a Secret Garden that was hidden and the key buried somewhere due to a family tragedy. In the hunt for the secret garden she makes friends with a Robin who visits her and the garden regularly. Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote a sequel to The Secret Garden in response to a readers letter called My Robin which leads me to the first link connecting it to books more global. In My Robin Burnett reminisces about her love of English robins and how a robin was so significant in The Secret Garden. Burnett was also inspired by the work of Emily Bronte with her famous titles Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre; both were set in the Yorkshire Moors and both story narratives were about orphans sent to mysterious mansions. I think Emily Bronte therefore is my global link to this book!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Garden

Final thoughts

The first half of this exercise was nice, easy and enjoyable!- (I am thankful to my Mum for saving all of my childhood books!) but the second half of the exercise required more thinking power for me! In my adult years I am not much of a reader and I do not have a great deal of knowledge of books in a wider sense. The only knowledge of books I have are of children’s books I read when I was little and of design books that I read now to help me with my course. From digging deeper and realising that books hold hidden meanings, powerful messages and communicate ideas with wider issues explored and doing some background research relating to that, I was surprised at just how much a lot of authors and titles relate and link back together and how much they all draw inspiration. A book as innocent as Charlottes Web could influence a young 7 year old to become a Vegan animal rights protestor in future years just by the way the book communicates an innocent yet powerful message.