My bookshelves are full of children’s literature. They teach me more than the philosophers – and inspire joy

From Matt Haig to Roald Dahl, feel affinity, infinity, the finitude of death. I feel life. You see, kids’ books don’t just evoke the child in you – they can awaken the adult that lays dormant like a sleeping giant, writes Kiran Sidhu

Tuesday 23 June 2020 10:06 BST
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'I feel no shame in choosing to take Roald Dahl’s "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory" to bed with me'
'I feel no shame in choosing to take Roald Dahl’s "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory" to bed with me'

The background bookshelves of people being interviewed on TV are filled with things of great importance: To Kill A Mockingbird, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, and 1984. Politicians invariably have books on political giants (I have yet to spot a Jackie Collins novel). It’s a clear statement: I am what I read.

As soon as lockdown was introduced, we raved about all the books we now had time to read, showing off images of our bookshelves on Twitter and revelling in one-upmanship. But don’t be fooled. I studied philosophy, and my bookshelves consist of Bertrand Russell’s A History of Western Philosophy, Plato’s Republic and Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism and Humanism. I had an idea of reading and re-reading these books – instead, I picked-up James and The Giant Peach.

I feel no shame in choosing to take Roald Dahl’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory to bed with me. Or finding joy in opening the flaps in The Jolly Postman. There’s a truth in children’s literature, the same kind of truth I get from reading hefty philosophy books – only the children’s books are far more joyful.

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