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Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
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| 8:51a | Roald Dahl characters still dominate children's favourites Booktrust poll of 5 to 12-year-olds, topped by Harry Potter, finds four Dahl inventions among the top 20 best loved Roald Dahl's tales of the unexpected continue to exert a magical pull on children's imaginations almost 20 years after he died, with the Big Friendly Giant, Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda and Charlie Bucket all making it into a list of children's favourite fictional characters. An eclectic mix of classic titles, television spin-offs, modern favourites and fairy stories emerged when books charity Booktrust asked 1,318 children aged between five and 12 to pick their favourite literary characters. The list was, inevitably, topped by bespectacled wizard Harry Potter, but Dahl was the author to collect the most mentions from children, with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's Charlie coming in 10th, Matilda 15th, Fantastic Mr Fox 16th and the BFG 20th. "Roald Dahl's books are like modern fairy tales. The books still resonate because they sparkle with his genius," said Katherine Solomon at Booktrust. "It is no wonder that he is still so appealing: his books have such a vibrant and vivid mixture of grotesque dark characters filled with a wicked humour and unbelievable energy." Francesca Simon's mop-haired rascal Horrid Henry was second favourite, followed by Jacqueline Wilson's Tracy Beaker in third. The likes of Hannah Montana, Ben 10 and Doctor Who also muscled in on the top 10, relegating Peter Pan and Cinderella into joint 11th place, but Winnie the Pooh managed to sneak into the top 10 in eighth place, ahead of Dav Pilkey's creation Captain Underpants. The research also found that the most powerful ingredient for attracting children to a particular book was character, with 51% citing that as their reason for reading a title, ahead of plot at 43%. Thirty eight percent were attracted to a book if was based on a television show, and 32% if it was based on a film, while just 5% said they would read a book if a celebrity such as David Walliams or Madonna had written it. The top 20 in full: 1. Harry Potter 2. Horrid Henry 3. Tracy Beaker 4. Biff, Chip and Kipper (school reading scheme characters) 5. Hannah Montana 6. Doctor Who 7. Ben 10 8. Winnie the Pooh 9. Captain Underpants 10. Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 11= Cinderella 11= Gruffalo 11= Peter Pan 11= Charlie and Lola 15. Matilda 16= Alex Rider 16= Fantastic Mr Fox 16= Spiderman 19. Thomas The Tank Engine 20. BFG guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| 9:34a | Robert Harris on Cicero, Hitchhikers revisited and the art of the book editor In this week's podcast, Robert Harris explains why all roads lead to Rome in an interview with Claire Armitstead to launch the second part of his Cicero trilogy, Lustrum, Eoin Colfer defends his decision to write the sequel to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and our panellists give their verdict on the result. Plus, following the attack by Booker chair Jim Naughtie on the deplorable state of book editing, we look at whether standards have really fallen and if too much editing might actually be a bad thing. Our panellists also tip the events they will be booking up for when the Hay Festival comes to London's King's Place.
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| 9:42a | Jung artistry Carl Jung considered The Red Book, a grand, illuminated volume in which he nurtured his theories, his most important work. Until now, very few have seen it, but a new facsimile makes its visionary ideas available. Take a look
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| 10:22a | Robert Harris on Cicero, Hitchhikers revisited and the art of the book editor In this week's podcast, Robert Harris explains why all roads lead to Rome in an interview with Claire Armitstead to launch the second part of his Cicero trilogy, Lustrum, Eoin Colfer defends his decision to write the sequel to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and our panellists give their verdict on the result. Plus, following the attack by Booker chair Jim Naughtie on the deplorable state of book editing, we look at whether standards have really fallen and if too much editing might actually be a bad thing. Our panellists also tip the events they will be booking up for when the Hay Festival comes to London's King's Place.
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