PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Nina Bawden (1925-2012), CBE, was one of Britain's most distinguished and best-loved novelists, both for adults and children (Peppermint Pig and Carrie's War being among her most famous books for young people). She has published over forty novels and an autobiography, In My Own Time. She was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Circles of Deceit and her novel Family Money was filmed by Channel 4, starring Claire Boom and June Whitfield. In 2004 she received the S. T. Dupont Golden Pen Award for a Lifetime's Contribution to Literature.
A poignant and realistic picture of what the second world war was like for a child . . . Carrie's War captures the true reality of war for a child, and it doesn't sentimentalise war * Guardian * A very touching, utterly convincing book about three wartime evacuees billeted to Wales. It's very much a children's story, with a mystery to be solved, but Nina Bawden is very subtle with her characterisation - even hateful Mr Evans with his cruel bullying is seen as sadly pathetic too. Carrie and her little brother Nick are a delight, but my favourite character is their friend Albert Sandwich. He might sport steel spectacles and have a few spots on his chin, but he's one of the most charming boys in all children's fiction * Jacqueline Wilson * Delicately done, full of accurate and unsentimental understanding * Sunday Telegraph * Perhaps the best of Nina Bawden's excellent novels * Sunday Times * What a consummate storymaker Nina Bawden is
