thank you for the Footrot Flats mention - my brother gave me one of the books lo these many years ago, after a trip to NZ, but I'd lost it in the course of moving, together with the memory of it - until now. I'm certain my 9 year old will love it as his dog is also a black-and-white pup with personality.

Calvin & Hobbes ? "preach it, brother !" as my boy might say to yours..
I have to remind him that Calvin is not intended as a role model, though.

Rachel and Lucy,

I never bloody get past chapter three of any Dickens
..
I couldn't either, until travelling in Germany.

Most of my Dickens is in secondhand Everyman editions, and kept for travel reading. They are great value for weight when travelling - more words per ounce, as it were. I didn't like Hard Times as a school setwork but have managed to enjoy most of the rest of Dickens since then. I work with symbols and worse all day, words are a relief..