The Society for Storytelling’s 15th Annual “National Storytelling Week” runs from Saturday 31st January until Saturday 7th February 2015.

“Once upon a time” most of us were read bedtime stories by our parents and grandparents. In the Record Press author’s case, my Great Aunts read to me as an infant and in particular I remember Auntie Jenny reading me a Paddington Bear book one night, which I can recall I found side splittingly hilarious. In fact the recent release of the Paddington Bear film re-activated those memories. The reason the Paddington Bear episode has stayed long in the memory is because both Auntie Jenny and I were laughing uncontrollably. It is true to say that the resonance of that early experience of the joy of a book led to my love of reading as a child. This love of books and reading was reinforced in the 1960s and 1970s by the BBC1 programme, “Jackanory”, where an actor / celebrity would read a novel to “Children’s Hour” viewers over five days.

Another defining moment was when I was given C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe” as a present in 1971 and I cannot think of another book in my childhood that captivated me as much as that story of the magical, snow laden land of Narnia, to be found at the back of a wardrobe in a rambling old house. The first time I stepped through that wardrobe, there was no coming back for me – it fired my imagination in a way that no book has done before or since. The TV adaptions of the book “The Chronicles of Narnia” simply do not do the books justice. The books are totally magical. I read all seven books avidly from “The Chronicles of Narnia” – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew and The Last Battle. Every couple of weeks I would go down to the library with my Dad on a Saturday morning and get the next book in the series, if available. When they weren’t available, the wait was agony!!

In 1973 my Uncle gave me a copy of JRR Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and similarly I was totally captivated by the world of Bilbo Baggins!! Those formative childhood years taught me the power of storytelling, which has remained with me in adult life and no doubt guided me in the direction of becoming a Blog writer.

What are your favourite books from your childhood? Let us know in the Reply Box below.

Buy an original and unique gift for a family member or friend, by ordering the front cover of their favourite novel / book from their childhood , framed and mounted with a personalised engraved plaque.  ORDER NOW…www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/framed-book-covers/framed-book-cover