Susan Coolidge

Both my daughters have been quite poorly this week. Last-minute appointments with the GP, several trips to the chemist and late-night phone calls to NHS Direct have meant abandoning my tbr list, but I have been reading to the girls amidst boxes of tissues, Strepsils, antihistamines, Olbas oil, Nurofen, and (sorry) a bowl waiting in case anybody was sick.

Although my daughters are not especially interested in classic children's books, preferring the social realism of Jean Ure and Jacqueline Wilson, they have really enjoyed Susan Coolidge's What Katy Did. I'd forgotten how funny it is. We particularly liked the extract from Dorry's journal.

March 25 - Forgit what did,

March 27 - Forgit what did.

March 29 - Played.

March 31- Forgit what did.

April 1 - Have dissided not to kepe a jurnal enny more.

Green hair and puffed sleeves

'Well', said Marilla sarcastically, 'if I'd decided it was worth while to dye my hair I'd have dyed it a decent colour at least. I wouldn't have dyed it green.'

You can almost smell the tang of the fir and spruce trees in the air of Prince Edward Island as you read Anne of Green Gables. I do like novels which give a strong sense of place and time. There were lots of regional expressions in this book which interested me. I didn't know that a Christmas where it doesn't snow is known as a 'green Christmas' or that there is a dress fabric called 'glory' and I loved the fact that at Anne's school they kept their milk cold by standing it in a stream all morning!

The juxtaposition of Anne's imaginative flights of fancy and Marilla's dour put-downs make this a delightful read. Some of Anne's escapades, such as putting liniment instead of vanilla into a sponge cake and accepting a dare from arch-rival Josie Pye to walk across the gable roof reminded me of Little Women and What Katy Did. I'd love to find a copy of The Blue Castle an adult novel by Montgomery which is now out of print.