Posted by Peter H on April 17, 2006 at 14:13:21 from 86.137.75.172 user Peter_H.
I suppose the ideal book to read right now is Coot Club because it is the only one (I think) which takes place at Easter. In that invaluable book The Best of Childhood* we see that the story was originally going to take place during the summer holidays - this was before AR had decided on the exact 'aim' of the plot. Once he came up with guarding coots' nests, the story had to be moved forward.
It is alarming to read about AR's early ideas for CC. He thought of calling it Webfooted Grandmother, and instead of the D's it was going to star 'Prudence and James Proper'. Thank goodness that idea was dropped.
(*The only thing wrong with BoC is its title - OK, a quote from AR but particularly inapt for a book which is so involved with AR's creative processes. 'Best of Childhood' is far too vague and does not indicate what it is about, and that is a pity because in my opinion it is one of the best books about AR that there is.)