Hmmmm
Nothing in the world saddens me more than when I suggest to my bored students to take up reading and I get the reply...

"What would I want to read a book for?".

If only I could show them this QOTW, and they'd see differently.

Living in the armpit of North Sheffield as I did when I was a sprog, a book was a cheap and interesting way of getting your head out of the squalor that surrounds you.

If I had my way, Roald Dahl would be on the National Curriculum - if it wasn't for the likes of The Twits, The BFG and Matilda, I'd have been another of my generation lost to reality TV and celebrity magazines. These books fired my imagination, made me laugh and most of all, changed my outlook on life.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally elitist - and hey, who doesn't like a regular view of a Big Brother drop-out with their breasts on show in a cheap glossy - but if I was ever stuck for anything to do, or to take my mind off things, I'd read a book.
(scentless_apprentice takes two bottles into the shower!, Sun 18 May 2008, 14:31, 3 replies)

Roald Dahl
Is on the national curriculum.

I think, hang on, I'll go and check.
( Mrs Entity is in hiding., Sun 18 May 2008, 17:18, closed)

I was wrong
Although there is a lot of looking at Authors and most schools will use Roald Dahl at one point.
( Mrs Entity is in hiding., Sun 18 May 2008, 17:21, closed)

Totally agree
Roald Dahl should have been knighted for his services to litereature and to children. His material should be compulsory reading. It'd encourage young readers - and later, his adult material should also be included on the GCSE curriculum. Much more important and interesting than Shakespeare!
(EuroSong I love horse meat: best of all the animals, Sun 18 May 2008, 18:10, closed)