Children's Classics - Ready for Reading

B2 First · Multiple Matching · Ready for B2 First 4th Edition, Macmillan Education Limited

You are going to read an article in which children's author Leroy Hadley describes his five favourite classic works of children's literature. For questions 1–10, choose from the books (A-E). The books may be chosen more than once.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

This book is a recent addition to my collection. I seemed to have missed it as a child and I'd been meaning to read it for years. I ordered it online a few months ago, and downloaded the audiobook at the same time, so that my daughters could listen to it in the car. We started with the download and we all loved it. The writer reading it really brought the text to life and made us love, admire and feel pity for Buck the dog, who is kidnapped and forced into pulling sledges in the freezing cold Yukon during the Gold Rush in the late 19th century. We learnt a lot about how hard life was for the gold prospectors and the girls were motivated to find out more. In the end I didn't bother with the book – I might do one day.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

I love the humour in this book and the great affection with which Mark Twain writes about his protagonists, Tom and his friend Huckleberry Finn, who both come across as cheeky, but likeable rogues. We laugh at the innocence of childhood, as Tom tries to win the affections of Becky Thatcher, we smile nostalgically as he and Huck imagine they are pirates who go digging for treasure, and we hold our breath in fear when Tom and Becky get lost in a cave. Despite the dangers, it's sad to think that young children can no longer play like Tom and his friends, that they no longer have the freedom to go off on in search of adventure without the presence of an interfering adult.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Of all the books here that I read when I was growing up, this was the only one which wasn't adapted or abridged in any way. Being more modern than the rest – it was published in 1950 – the language is still fairly accessible for younger readers and there's less danger of them becoming frustrated with the style. It's the perfect fantasy adventure, with daring children, a talking lion and other magical creatures doing battle with the forces of darkness led by the White Witch. I loved it as a child and still find it totally absorbing.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

My mother read this to me when I was ten, and rather than being scared by the likes of Long John Silver, Black Dog or Blind Pew, I couldn't help laughing at the hilarious range of voices she gave the different pirates in the book. I laughed, too, when I read it on my own afterwards, my mother's humorous voices still ringing in my ears. Stevenson writes with a good deal of humour anyway, something which many aren't expecting when they read the book for the first time. They are familiar with the story, but not the way it is told.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

This lively-told tale of the adventures of a group of animal friends – Mole, Water Rat, Toad and Badger – brings back memories of my teenage years, when I lived in a house on a river bank. Grahame evokes wonderfully the sounds, sights and smells of the countryside and creates an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity, which is becoming increasingly difficult to find in today's world. I read the book again two years ago, and the first chapter, where Mole first meets Rat, provided the inspiration for the opening of my most recent novel Harvest Mouse. I can only dream that it will be as popular as The Wind in the Willows.

Children's Classics

Children's author Leroy Hadley picks his five favourite children's classics.

I have still not actually read it myself.

A lot of people are surprised by one of its features.

The author shows his main characters in a positive light.

I have not had it for very long.

I read the original version of this story as a child.

It shows a way of life which unfortunately does not exist now.

It reminds me of a certain period of my life.

The story proved to be very educational.

Children will find it easier to read than the other books in this selection.

The beginning of the book gave me ideas for the start of my latest work.

Of which book does Leroy Hadley say the following?

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