Books like My Naughty Little Sister

How did I never read this as a child? I'm trying to catch up on classics I someone missed, and this was on the list.It's a very nostalgic read, but also timeless - small children will always be mischievous, get into scrapes, do naughty and greedy things, and probably after saying sorry, do something similar again.The narrator's naughty little sister is one such child. Neither is named, which as an adult strikes me as unusual in a children's book. But it does work - it makes them more archetypes than just individual children - there is something of all of us in there.This little girl is not really 'naughty' as such - she eats all the trifle, yes. Falls in the water, throws workmen's sandwiches around, but she is just a little girl and really more silly and wild than truly 'bad'. I feel sorry for 'Bad Harry' stuck with a name like that! It might be no wonder if they play up to their titles! Seeing her having to go to her big sister's school was possibly my favourite chapter, watching her act grown up and proud, it was very realistic, thinking of my own son.The misadventures are mostly charming, sweet, and short for bedtime reading. Shirley Hughes as ever manages to convey the sense of the childlike with a sense of time and place in her illustrations. I loved meeting the characters for the first time, though I'm not sure about all of the messages - after all, children WILL get up to mischief, WILL make mistakes. Glad I've read this. It may be one I share with my son in the near future.