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Confession time! Tell us your literary sins to win an entire set of 20 Puffin Classics

383 replies

EmilyMumsnet · 13/04/2015 10:57

Literary shame is a powerful thing - if you've ever nodded sagely while your friends discussed Bleak House or chuckled knowingly about the The Wizard of Oz - the film is the same thing isn’t it? – you'll know what we're talking about. But now we're giving you the chance to 'fess up! Tell us which Puffin Classic you have never actually read, and you'll be in the running to win the entire set.

The Puffin Classics are back, and with a bold new look – twenty brand new covers for the classic tales, from Huck to Dorothy to Alice to Peter. One lucky poster will receive all twenty, while 5 randomly-selected runners-up will win a copy of their never-read tale.

Here's the full set list:
The Call of the Wild, Tom Sawyer, The Wizard of Oz, King Arthur, The Jungle Book, Black Beauty, Huckleberry Finn, Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, The Odyssey, A Little Princess, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, The Wind in the Willows, Treasure Island, Heidi, Peter Pan, Little Women, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

This competition is now closed. And the winners are:

Belo - full set of Puffin Classics
happysouls - The Call Of The Wild
Punkatheart -Heidi
Miisty - Tom Sawyer
Pigeonpea - Huckleberry Finn
kohl - Wind In The Willows

Thanks for all your contributions, we'll be in touch with the winners shortly

Confession time! Tell us your literary sins to win an entire set of 20 Puffin Classics
OP posts:
CalamitouslyWrong · 13/04/2015 11:31

As should be abundantly clear from my responses, I'm not trying to win the books here, MNHQ. So it would be better if I didn't have a chance of being the 'lucky winner' of anything. Grin

The pedant in me wants to ask why this isn't in the children's books section.

CalamitouslyWrong · 13/04/2015 11:23

I read loads. Just not so called classics of children's literature.

I'm super-knowledgeable about contemporary YA literature, but no one ever tries to brag about having read that.

My children read loads without either DH or I pretending that we have read black beauty. I simply commiserate with DS1 about the books he's made to read in English. He had a long moan about being made to do of mice and men when the teacher could have chosen Lord of the flies (which he enjoyed), so it's not like he objects to reading.

DidgeDoolittle · 13/04/2015 11:11

I am a voracious reader. I'm constantly reading and it was important to me that my kids also enjoyed reading.
When they started high school they would regularly moan about lessons involving some of the classics. I would tell them that I have read them all and enjoyed them enormously. Even my husband thinks I've read everything.
The reality is that I've read very little, I've just blagged it. When we watched the Jungle Book, my kids were amazed that I had read the book (I hadn't) and trundled off to the library to find it.
All my family think I'm a literary genius. It's even better now that I have a kindle. When they ask what I'm reading I tell them that I'm reading up on the Jacobite rebellion in 18th century Scotland (OutlanderGrin). Everyone is well impressed.
My kids are now in their 20s and all love reading. My lies were worth it.

HappySpills · 13/04/2015 11:11

I thought all the children in The Secret Garden were horrible.

Though at least they weren't wet, like the ones in The Railway Children.

My confession is that a lot of old children's literature just doesn't do it for me because the characters don't feel like real children. I get bored and have started but not finished a good chunk of that list.

MrGumsMum · 13/04/2015 11:09

My eldest child has read more of those than I have Blush. DH has read none. I'm named after a character in one of them Smile

I think I'd enjoy The Call of the Wild most, of the several couple I haven't read.

CalamitouslyWrong · 13/04/2015 11:05

I've never read any of the books on that list. And I'm not embarrassed about it either.

Actually, no. They made us read Treasure Island at school. I didn't enjoy it.

esiotrot2015 · 13/04/2015 11:03

I have only read huckleberry Finn ,Alice in wonderland & Anne of green gables on that list Shock

redshoeblueshoe · 13/04/2015 11:03

Huckleberry Finn - I don't know why I've never read it but I wouldn't admit that in public Blush

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