Tom McLaughlin's Reading List

"They were my gateway books as a dyslexic person—I had a huge sense of pride when I read this series. It’s so much easier to read something once you have read them already, especially if you’re a reluctant reader. Once I’d conquered these books, it made all other books seem less scary. That, along with the fact that I was a melancholic teenager from the midlands, meant that I’d found my kindred spirit. I love the gentle humour of it; I love the black comedy, too. It’s as if Alan Bennett had written a kids’ book. It will always have a special place in my heart."

"I remember reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and loving it, obviously—it was about sweets and magic adventures, two of my favourite things. But I always feel that the Great Glass Elevator is slightly the forgotten little brother. So, I feel like shining the spotlight on this book once in a while. I remember the joke that got me laughing. The chancellor or finance minister was in the elevator, trying to stack a load of books on his head. He was delighted when he finally cracked it, and announced to everyone ‘he’d finally managed to balance the budget.’ Although I didn’t really understand what that meant, I did get the joke, and thought it was very clever and wonderfully silly. It became a bit of a eureka moment for me in joke craftsmanship when I was a small child."

"This book was the thing that gave me the courage to write. I was a scared writer, as much as I was a reader all those years ago. But at the age of 30, my head was full of half ideas and stories. If I could have written any book, I would have written this one. For me it was perfect, funny, brilliantly illustrated and full of great stories and ideas. Using rhyming poetry as a foundation allowed me a structure to work to when writing my own ideas. It gave me the confidence knowing that I had a road map for my words. It was like writing with stabilisers on. Poetry can be a story, a joke, an idea anything you want it to be, but this book allowed me to see it as a way into writing my own books."

"These books got my kids reading and, equally importantly, got them drawing! They began as books I read to my boys, and became ones they could read by themselves. It gave them a world that they could identify with. They make kids laugh, draw, create and read, too—what more could you ask for? All too easily, I think, people can be snobbish about funny books. They’re seen as a lesser genre for some reason. This is nonsense. Rock on, Barry is what I say."

"Yes, that’s exactly why I love it, too. The comic timing of the drawing is perfection. It’s illustrated from the viewpoint of the small dog and girl, which is a brilliant way of making the story more personal to those two (and people of their height!) It’s also a brilliant technical exercise in writing and drawing picture books. The language and the way it’s written is great. It has every opportunity to become silly—really over the top—but somehow keeps a lid on it. For this reason, it’s a bit of a yard-stick for me when working on my own books. Plus, my little one loves it. It’s a rare example of a book that works for both kids and grown-ups."