Ask an Asking...

A group of year 5s have come up with some fabulous questions for author Deborah Ellis:

How do you feel when you are with the people in the countries/ situations you write about?
Do you write for a range of ages? Do you think your stories are suitable for younger readers?
How do you usually start a story?
Where do you get your ideas from?
Do you think both girls and boys will want to read your books?
What do you want to write about next?

If you could ask an author any question, who and what would you ask?

What's Yours?

I have recently been surrounded and hounded by top-ten lists and requests to Name Your Favourite So-and-So. For the most part, I have tried to oblige, and have found other people's ideas quite interesting. When it came to the question 'What's your favourite book?' however, I froze. I couldn't do it...

There were far too many things to consider. Did they mean my favourite book of all time? Best-written book? Favourite characters? Contemporary or classic? What genre? Book that had the biggest long-term effect upon me? The list could go on and on...

But then, sitting wondering how to kick-start this site, I started thinking about it again. 'I should review my favourite book' I thought. Except, the same list of questions was there... what does this mean? How do I narrow down the options?

So then I thought 'what's my favourite children's book at the moment?' and this was a little easier.


Mine would have to be 'The Heaven Shop' by Deborah Ellis. It's a tough read, with heavy, difficult concepts to grapple with from the very first page. Some parents (and children) may be disturbed by the content; not one to pick up if you are after light-hearted entertainment. However, it sensitively tackles important issues, treating young readers as capable beings with the right to know about the real world. Outside of the heavy materials, Ellis creates real, warm characters and a detailed, sometimes surprising environment, which can only stem from spending time with the people whom the book concerns.


Still thinking about the purpose of these questions, I realised that this is the perfect opportunity to start a debate, introduce ourselves, and offer new ideas to each other. And so, I pose the question to all of you: 'what's your favourite (children's) book... at the moment?'

Answers in the 'comments' section at the bottom of this post, please.