Pete has scanned some old children’s book covers he found at his mum’s house.

It’s like a snapshot of my childhood, too - we had many of the ones he’s scanned, and it’s brilliant to see them all again.

My favourite books from childhood, though, were probably:

• The Winter Bear by Ruth Craft, illustrated by Erik Blegvad
• In the Night Kitchen, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
• The Wild Washerwomen by John Yeoman, illustrated by Quentin Blake
• The Great Jelly of London by Paul Jennings (about someone using the Royal Albert Hall as a giant jelly mould)
• A book which I cannot remember the name of at all, but which was about a boy living with his slightly mad mum, who encouraged him to plant an apple pip between the floorboards in his bedroom, and a massive tree grew and took over the entire house. It fascinated and terrified me in equal measures.

What was your favourite book when you were a kid?

Update, a bit later: I’ve just remembered Elizabeth Enright’s The Saturdays (and Four Storey Mistake, et al) which were about as close to ripping yarns as I was allowed to get (no Blyton in our house - too racist) and Edward Eager’s Half Magic and Magic By The Lake.