Ages 4–8
Celebrating the return of proper reading weather.
Dear diary,
Lulu and I are going back to school on Monday.
I’m not sure if I’m ready — but how does one know these things?
I might be terrified and excited at the same time. It’s a rather strange experience.
It already feels like autumn to me, and officially the summer isn’t even over yet.
On the other hand: it’s finally proper reading weather again!
And I’m very excited for all the cozy books I’m going to read.
I felt the spaghetti-noodle doodle in my tummy this morning thinking of my new class.
Lulu’s not in my class, you see.
So I might feel a little out of place.
Also, specifically, the ducks don’t seem to like my fishtail very much.
I don’t understand this.
It is a perfectly lovely fishtail.
Anyway.
When I feel a little nervous, I like having a book nearby. A book doesn’t care if you are a mermaid.
It doesn’t care if your hair is messy or if you don’t know where to sit at lunchtime.
You can simply open it, and there you are — somewhere else.
So Lulu and I have been putting together our September reading basket.
Not a list of books you ought to read.
Just ten books for different kinds of September days: books for after school, rainy afternoons,
quiet mornings, enormous adventures, small adventures,
and those evenings when you want someone to read just one more chapter.
(And perhaps one more after that.)
Here are our ten favourite books to read in September :
1. Anne of Green Gables — L. M. Montgomery
For when you are new somewhere and decide that perhaps you can make it interesting after all.
2. Frog and Toad — Arnold Lobel
For when your brain feels like it has run out of batteries.
3. The Wind in the Willows — Kenneth Grahame
For the first evening when you look outside and think, “Oh. It’s dark already.”
4. The Borrowers — Mary Norton
For children who already know there are probably secret things happening when grown-ups aren’t looking.
5. Little Bear — Else Holmelund Minarik
For a small adventure on a quiet day.
6. Paddington — Michael Bond
For when you are somewhere new and aren’t quite sure where you belong yet.
7. The Tale of Peter Rabbit — Beatrix Potter
For when you have been told absolutely not to go there and are suddenly extremely curious about going there.
8. The Story of Ferdinand — Munro Leaf
For when being yourself feels much nicer than trying to be like everybody else.
9. Pippi Longstocking — Astrid Lindgren
For days when you need a little more courage — and perhaps a little less worrying about what everyone else thinks.
10. The Princess and the Pea — Hans Christian Andersen,
illustrated by Paul Galdone
For bedtime, when you are warm under the blankets and everything outside feels a little bit magical.
I don’t think you need to read these books in any particular order.
Some are for reading alone. Some are better when someone reads them aloud. Some are funny. Some are quiet. Some take you somewhere completely different. And some just make you feel as though someone has put a blanket around your shoulders.
I think that is what I like about books.
You don’t have to be ready for everything. You don’t have to know what happens next.
You just open the cover.
And then…
you turn the page.
Love,
Penny 🐚
P.S. Lulu says she is starting with Frog and Toad. I was going to start with Pippi Longstocking, but I think she has stolen my copy.
