Story is fundamental to our lives. In recounting the events of our day to our family members or our friends, we are immersing ourselves in narrative. In reading a book or watching a film, we are encountering story. Children use narrative play and subsequently the experience of story to help them determine the way the world works and their place in it. Barbara Hardy, former professor of English at the University of London, captured the truth about the power of narrative when she wrote over five decades ago, ‘we dream in narrative, day-dream in narrative, remember, anticipate, hope, despair, believe, doubt, plan, revise, criticise, construct, gossip, learn, hate, and love by narrative. In order really to live, we make up stories…’

Young people need stories to make sense of themselves and their world. While they live in an information Age, information does not necessarily lead to understanding. The works of good writers such as C.S. Lewis and Charles Dickens illuminate for young people the concept of what it means to be human. They show them ways of thinking about life which enlarge their moral imagination and strengthen their moral capacities. Encounters with books – as well as forming identity and building a rich vocabulary – are sites for enjoyment, and creative and critical thinking.  

I thought I would share with you four books which are commonly read as part of the English course in Years 7 and 8. They happen to be favourites of mine. 

With Year 7, I always choose to read C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 

The opening sentence reads, ‘Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.’ This powerful narrative deals with family, the battle between good and evil, and the power of forgiveness and redemption. It is full of excitement, fantasy and adventure with characters such as Aslan the lion, Mr Tumnus the faun, the White Witch and captain of the secret police, the grey wolf Maugrim. 

The closing paragraph has the old Professor ‘who was a very remarkable man’ saying:  

“Yes, of course you’ll get back to Narnia some day. Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia. But don’t go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don’t try to get there at all. It’ll happen when you’re not looking for it. And don’t talk too much about it even among yourselves. And don’t mention it to anyone else unless you find that they’ve had adventures of the same sort themselves. What’s that? How will you know? Oh, you’ll know all right. Odd things they say – even their looks – will let the secret out. Keep your eyes open. Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools?”

The second book I love reading with Year 7 students is Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. Although first published in 1908, this book has enduring charm and relevance. Exploring ideas such as friendship and travel, the story focuses on the four main characters of Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger – all with different personalities and temperaments – who are bound by loyalty and longing. Their adventures revolve around pottering in the garden, messing about in boats and rambling along country roads. The message of the book – with its rich and descriptive language – is do your best at all times, forgive others and make the world a better place. 

The opening paragraph reads:

‘The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.’ 

In Year 8, I have two books I like to introduce to students. The first one is Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Published in 1884, this powerful story tells of the adventures of a young boy, Huck Finn, who travels down the Mississippi River on a raft with a runaway slave, Jim. Mark Twain’s father and uncles had owned slaves and, as a child, he had spent time playing in slave quarters and listening to their songs and stories. He captures the dialect of Jim and the speech of the South in this novel, and has been praised for creating an American literature which is heard as well as read. Huck and Jim meet many interesting characters on their journey, with whom they have all sorts of adventures. While Huck doesn’t learn or mature at all along the way, readers most certainly do. 

The second book I enjoy reading with Year 8 is Gary Paulsen’s novel Hatchet. This is a contemporary survival story which engages the adolescent reader in a powerful way. Brian Robeson is a 13-year-old city boy who is alone in the Canadian wilderness after his plane has crashed. He faces the problems of finding food, shelter and clothing. With imagination and courage, he experiences despair and perseverance, and it is the character development as well as the survival skills that hold the reader in suspense. This book is a particularly good one for reluctant or inexperienced readers. I haven’t met a student yet who can resist its appeal.

Mrs Clare Murphy

English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach