Tuesday 29 March 2011

Where it all started

It started with Michael Gove.
That is not a sentence I thought I'd ever type, I must confess. However, he made a comment which inspired a newspaper article which inspired an email which inspired a conversation which inspired a bet which inspired this blog.
It seems Mr Gove thinks Y7 pupils should aim to read one book a week, 50 a year (maybe he thinks they should get Christmas holidays off? Or perhaps maths is not the Education Minister's strong suit) The Independent asked 5 authors and journalists for 10 books they'd recommend to Y7 students, making a list of 50 for the year.
My partner emailed me the list to show to our rather fabulous Y7 son Luke. He was unimpressed, "Did grown ups write this list? I think they did. Real 11 year olds would put stuff with more action and chases and adventure. Modern children want action." We had a chat about why classics were regarded as classics, that all old books were not necessarily ones that came out when I was a kid, some were even older than me and I still enjoyed them.
Upon hearing of Luke's disdain, his dad laughed and said, "Bet him a quid he can't read them all by Christmas."
I rather liked the idea, but knowing the pecuniary demands of today's 11 year old, bet him a tenner. "Will you provide the books? OK then, prepare to lose your money, Mum," said my supremely confident offspring.
Luke and I are blogging the bet - he'll be writing reviews of the books as he goes along and I'll probably get roped in as chief typist. I'm Jay, by the way. I'm a self employed baker (here's my website and here's the blog about my baking adventures) and mum to Luke, his younger brother and sister.
Welcome to our book journey!

2 comments:

  1. This is a really impressive undertaking. Good luck Luke!

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  2. I am so impressed by this. From the posts I can see Luke has already read lots of the books. What a star!

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