My reading this week has been eclectic to say the least.  I continue to read Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light (which I am thoroughly enjoying). I have stalled in my reading of The Decameron, partly because the story I’m currently reading is the most misogynistic I have read for a very long time. Essentially a beautiful woman is captured, raped and kept by a succession of men who cannot talk to her but are ‘in love’ with her beauty. I haven’t the heart to continue reading to find out what happens to her in the end. Whatever it is, it can’t make up for the men who have treated her like an object which they can own, not a person they can know. Instead I have been reading a short story by Leonardo Sciascia called Western di Cose Nostre.  My excuse for it taking me most of the week to read, despite it just being a few pages long, is that I am attempting to read it in the original Italian! I had intended to read another short story by him this week, but I haven’t managed it. The third thing I have been reading this week is Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. I told you my reading diet is a strange and eclectic mix!

I truly love Michael Morpurgo’s books. I have loved reading them to my children, recommending them to the students when I was a librarian at a school, and reading them myself. For books written so simply, both in their language and the range of subjects they tackle, they are beautifully crafted and incredibly moving. I can barely think of a book by Morpurgo that hasn’t made me cry. I remember reading Cool! to my boys – or maybe with them – and being in floods of tears at the thought of this little boy in a coma unable to communicate to his parents, but aware of everything that was said around him. Toro Toro! is another book which had me sobbing.  My elder son was reading it to my younger one when we were on a car journey.  I was driving, and finding it increasingly hard to see the road through my tears.

It may seem perverse to love being made to cry, but a story that touches your heart is one which is immensely powerful and unforgettable. There are so many books available for children, and new ones are published all the time. I am less up to date now than I was when I was working as a children’s librarian, but looking at websites like Scottish Book Trust, The Book Trust, World Book Day website and National Literary Trust can help you find tips on encouraging children to read and lots of suggestions for different books to read for different interests and age ranges. But you really can’t go wrong with Michael Morpurgo’s books.

Kensuke’s Kingdom is a true adventure story, a story of survival, of hope and perseverance. It is also a very human story, of how we get used to anything, how we react to disaster, how we protect ourselves from pain. The touching friendship between Michael and Kensuke is beautifully and touchingly drawn. The story is real enough to ground you and fantastical enough to entrance you. I am not ashamed to say that I can add this book to the list of Morpurgo’s that have made me cry!  If you want a lovely few hours of escape from our all too stressful world, why not give it a try? And if you have a child to recommend it to (ideally 8 or 9 years and upwards), then I wouldn’t hesitate to do so.

The question is now, do I attempt the second Sciascia story in Italian, aim to overcome my current struggle with The Decameron, or start something entirely new? My journey with Thomas Cromwell in The Mirror and The Light, however, will probably keep me entertained for a little while yet!