The Nosy Crow Reading Group is taking place this week – and we’d love for you to join in!
We’ll be meeting on Wednesday, February 18 at 6.30pm, here at the Nosy Crow offices – 10a Lant Street, London, SE1 1QR – to discuss Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders, a new sequel to E Nesbit’s classic Five Children and It. Winner of the Costa Children’s Book of the Year award, The Guardian called Five Children on the Western Front “a skilful and deeply moving piece of work: poignant, beautifully judged, not a crass pastiche but a respectful homage that recycles its source material to pack a powerful anti-war punch.”
As usual, we’ve prepared a few questions in advance to get everyone thinking – here’s some of what we might be talking about:
1. How heavily do you think Five Children on the Western Front relies on an existing knowledge of E. Nesbit’s books? Does it ‘work’ as a standalone novel?
2. What role does the Psammead play?
3. How well do the fantasy and adventure motifs of the book sit alongside the World War One setting?
4. What did you make of the ‘voice’ of the novel? Did it feel authentic?
You can buy the book online here, and there are still some places if you’d like to join us – if you’re interested, you can book a place with the form below. And if you can’t make it here, but would still like to take part, please do join in online, either on Twitter with the #NCGKids hashtag, or in the comments section of this post.
We hope you can join us!
