Michael Morpurgo, interviewed by The Times after his Children's Book Award win, criticises teachers for their ignorance of and lack of interest in contemporary children's books:
?Time and time again, there are instances of a writer going into a school and the teacher even doesn?t come, leaving it instead to a teaching assistant. This shouldn?t happen even once. There are far too many teachers teaching our young children who don?t love books.?
This is his Top Ten books to turn children on to reading:
Montmorency
Eleanor Updale
Crime and adventure in Victorian era
(For readers aged 10 plus)
Goodnight, Mr Tom
Michelle Magorian
Wartime evacuee meets bitter old man
(10 plus)
George?s Marvellous Medicine
Roald Dahl
The classic jovial romp
(6 plus)
Journey to the River Sea
Eva Ibbotson
Funny and true South American adventure
(8 to 12)
The Gruffalo
Axel Scheffler and Julia Donaldson
Fable of imaginary and real fears
(3 plus)
Northern Lights
Philip Pullman
Heroine fights evil in fantasy adventure
(10 plus)
Kit?s Wilderness
David Almond
Boy in mining community with dying grandfather
(11 plus)
The Rattle Bag
400 poems and rhymes selected by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes
(0 to 100)
The Sheep-Pig
Dick King-Smith
Wonderful fable where pig and sheep swap roles
(6 plus)
Tom?s Midnight Garden
Philippa Pearce
Ghost and time-travel story
(10 plus)
The Golden Compass was such a good book that Philip Pullman is at the top of my list of favorite writers. I fell in love with all the characters, whether good or evil, and when I finished I was itching to have The Subtle Knife in my hands. Fabulous job!