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The other day when I was cleaning my cupboard full of magazines and books I had collected over years, I came across an old copy of Five On a Treasure Island of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five. My folks had bought this for my 11th birthday. I had forgotten all about this book. Though I would have loved to keep it for my lil girl, but it was in a bad shape, so I threw it out.

While surfing the Net later, I came across Enid Blyton’s Famous Five Books on Amazon. Curious than ever, I searched for an online version of Five on a Treasure Island. And I did come across one.

Looking back, Famous Five was popular with kids and adults. Four children and their dog, who live on Kirrin Island run in to adventures and mysteries most kids would just dream of.

Julian, 12, eldest of all kids, tall, bossy, acts like a grown up. Dick, 11, preferred taking a backseat early on in the series, though he was more active in the later books. Anne, 10, cannot help being pulled into adventures, though she loves being homemaker. George or Georgina, 11, feisty, stubborn, brave girl, who behaves more like a boy is head over heels in love with her dog Timmy. She hates anyone who calls her “girl” or “Georgina”. Timmy, pet to George, is loyal, strong and big, does much more than just rescue people.

All five meet for the first time (Julian, Dick & Anne are cousins of George) in this book. They go for a picnic on the far side of Kirrin Island and come across old shipwreck with no treasure. Later they discover a wooden box lined with tin housing something inside. The rest of the story deals with discovery of its box and content, almost selling of the Kirrin Island by George’s father and the bad guys who come hunting for the treasure. At the end of the adventure, gold is found; Kirrins suddenly become rich and Island remains with family.

All in all, an excellent read and enjoyable trip down memory lane.

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I developed the habit of reading books when I was a fifth grader. As a rule, we had to devote 30 minutes daily to read few pages of book assigned to us from the school library.

While browsing, I came across a series of Nancy Drew books. One of my classmates had read one before, so she goaded me to read a book about a young girl who is a detective. Girl detective sounded so interesting. So I picked up my first Nancy Drew book and got addicted from page one.

Nancy Drew created in 1930 by Edward Stratemeyer & Carolyn Keene, is a highly skilled amateur detective staying with her lawyer father at River Heights. She is brave, bold independent, yet gentle and well-mannered girl who could solve any mysteries with her sheer grit, determination and sharp wits. She would fight villains, face white water rapids while skiing and whip up full course meal for her father and friends.

She loves tinkering with the automobiles as well as cooking, horseback riding, dancing, sewing and athletics. Her companions in solving the whodunits were her steady boyfriend Ned, her best gal pals George and Bess with their respective male friends. The police and her father Carson Drew were ever ready to help with her cases. Despite having the best of everything, she remained unspoiled, polite and caring. She was given full respect by all kinds of readers.

I still remember the very first book I read. It was “The Secret of the Old Clock”. A chance meeting with a little Judy and her aunts leads Nancy to investigate other relatives who are waiting to possess Josiah Crowley’s fortune. A missing antique clock has a clue to the location of the genuine will. Nancy ends up in places where she could get caught and hurt. Through the exciting twists and turns, Nancy tries to find out the original will and who will get the money.

My little one who is just over a year old currently enjoys her first pictures, colors books. When she is old enough I plan to introduce her to Nancy Drew and various other genres of books. Meanwhile I will go to the library, pick up a Nancy Drew and join her in her adventure.

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If you are looking to gift your preschooler or any of their friends, a set of Lauren Child’s three classic Charlie and Lola books would be apt.

The gift sets with “I Am Absolutely Too Small for School”, I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato (Charlie and Lola), I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed (Charlie and Lola), I Absolutely Must Do Coloring Now or Painting or Drawing (Charlie and Lola) is available on UK Amazon.

Lauren addresses issues such as fussiness during meals, school going anxiety and not wanting to sleep, faced by practically all the parents at least once in this gift set.

In , Charlie’s parent entrust him the task of feeding dinner to his fussy sister Lola. Lola has a long list of foods she won’t eat but some creative thinking from her older brother changes all that. This funny witty imaginative story in hip kid language, expressive illustrations, full of color and textures, compliment the text and really hold your youngster’s attention.

Lola feels she is “Absolutely Too Small for School”, while her parents and Charlie feel otherwise. Every time she tells Charlie, why she should not go to school and Charlie patiently convinces by giving her a series of imaginative and funny reasons why she should go to school. The lighthearted approach in this book results in an entertaining story around childhood fears about starting school.

Charlie in “I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed” faces a bigger challenge of putting Lola to bed. Lola is never sleepy and loves to stay up doing her coloring, scribbling, wriggling and most of all chattering. The banter between the siblings coupled with humorous and realistic text, expressive artwork of childlike drawing, different font colors and sizes is a feast for eyes. A wonderful bedtime story for kids to read again and again.

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