Thank you Simon and Schuster Australia and Netgalley for this ARC.

I was hooked to read this book from the introduction when Jane describes her love of all things bookish. I fondly smiled at the anticipation of getting a book as a gift (and still do) as well as the regular trips to the library.

Some of the books I hadn’t heard of but if the ones I too have read as a child I enjoyed reading Jane’s literary thoughts and critiques on them. I especially loved how she described the Magic Pudding as an English reader with Australian dreams. I could smell and feel the Eucalypts as I read this chapter.

A great book for readers who love reading about books.
Thank you for this ARC in return of my honest review.

I really liked the initial idea of reading about my favorite children's books, getting some background info on the author and story itself, but I don't agree with quite a few points the author is making especially about negative "rumors and theories" about some of the children's book author's.
If you don't have proof of anything and you're just throwing out your theories and opinions out there, you're just taking the fun away from the work itself.
Without all that this would have been a much more charming and enjoyable read. Leave the conspiracy theories out.

I feel terribly anxious to leave a negative review when it comes to a writer's efforts; and yet the irony is that a large percentage of this book was filled with negativity for other author's creations. A great deal of research has gone into this piece of non-fiction which contrasts the writer's recollection of her favourite childhood stories, with her current reactions to a reread of the same tales. I enjoyed learning facts such as how Winnie the Pooh's name was decided, and that Enid Blyton wrote more than 700 books during her career. I also didn't mind the autobiographical aspects of the authors reflections on her own childhood in relation to these books and characters. I couldn't however get on board with her accusing Milne of being a "negligent father", or Lewis Carrol a possible pedophile. She refers to best-selling authors writing as "expository clumsiness", "terrible", "uniformly flat, vague and cliched". I found that instead of the nostalgia I expected to catch a glimpse of in this book, I was delivered a long-winded synopsis of each cherished story, along with a handful of author facts, and a splash of rude opinion. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I am grateful to the publishers and Net Galley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest (and apologetic) review.