St Blaise Class (UPKS2)

As a child, my favourite story was called ‘The Kingfisher and Nightingale’. It is a short story that tells the tale of how a kingfisher got its beautiful colours and how the nightingale got its sonorous voice; I chose it every night (much to the chagrin of my parents) and would transport myself to the magical land of singing winds and babbling streams. Another reason I chose it over and over again was because I had few books at home, that was until I discovered the local library, then a whole new world opened up to me. Suddenly, a word of witches (The Worst Witch), mysteries (The Nancy Drew Series) and girls a bit like me (anything by the author Judy Blume) opened it up to me, and my world got quite a bit bigger. Now I take my own children to the library so that their world can grow too.

My favourite book that I remember from my childhood was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell and was first published in 1877. I have a love for animals, especially horses, and used to ride a dapple grey pony called Cobweb. Black Beauty was a marvellous, sweet-natured, strong horse who had many adventures with his many owners. He went from a grand carriage horse on a country estate-to a hard working cab horse in London, survived a stable fire and was ill-treated on occasions. But he never gave up and his final years were kind and happy. The author hoped that this book would influence people to treat animals better.