KS1 / KS2 English: My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards

AIMEE KELLY:We're all a bit naughty sometimes, aren't we? You should meet this girl. She's called My Naughty Little Sister.

BELL TINKLES

AIMEE KELLY:My Naughty Little Sister is the number one expert at getting into trouble, and this is a whole book of stories all about her. She could be at the funfair, in the garden, fishing, or even at the dentist. But wherever she is, she's usually making mischief, making a mess or causing chaos, usually at the same time.

AIMEE KELLY:Now, the thing is, she's not trying to be deliberately bad, she just wants to have a bit of fun. And we all know how that feels, don't we? I used to read these stories, almost every night. It's probably one of my favourite books from when I was younger. The stories are told by an older sister, and I like the funny way they show the new responsibility of having a younger sister, because even though we all love our younger brother and sisters, we all know they can be a real pain sometimes too. I have two sisters, one twin sister and one 11-year-old sister. The 11-year-old's quite sensible, quite well-behaved, but I think me and the twin were the naughty ones.

AIMEE KELLY:Yeah, we were definitely the naughty ones. In one of my favourite stories, at a birthday party, My Naughty Little Sister and her best friend, Bad Harry, sneak away from the other children to have a look at a delicious trifle decorated with sweets.

AIMEE KELLY:"Ring-a-ring-a-roses,' sang the good party children. 'Nice jelly sweets,' said My Naughty Little Sister. 'Nice silver balls.' And she looked at that terribly Bad Harry and he looked at her. 'Take one,' said that naughty boy, and My Naughty Little Sister did take one, she took a red jelly sweet from the top of the trifle."

AIMEE KELLY:Before long, that trifle was disappearing fast, because once My Naughty Little Sister and Bad Harry started eating, they found they couldn't stop.

AIMEE KELLY:"They took a spoon each and scraped off the creamy stuff and ate it. And then they began to eat the nice, spongy inside. Bad Harry said, 'Now we've made the trifle look so untidy, no-one else will want any, so we may as well eat it all up.'

AIMEE KELLY:So they dug away into the spongy inside of the trifle and found lots of nice fruit bits inside. It was a very big trifle, but those greedy children ate and ate. Then, just as they had nearly finished the whole big trifle, the ring-a-rose-ing stopped and Bad Harry's mother called,

AIMEE KELLY:'Where are you two? We're ready for tea.' Then My Naughty Little Sister was very frightened."

AIMEE KELLY:SIGHS

AIMEE KELLY:I don't blame her. I mean, how's she supposed to explain all that?

MY NAUGHTY LITTLE SISTER:BELCHING

AIMEE KELLY:And how am I going to explain this?!

AIMEE KELLY:I still love to read a lot and I think that all started because I was reading a lot of books when I was growing up. It's great when youfind a book like My Naughty Little Sister, when you read about acharacter you actually recognise. And I'm sure the more you read, you'll find a book about a character who's just like you.

AIMEE KELLY:When I was little I used to have a friend just like Bad Harry. We used to get into all kinds of mischief. And I think that's another reason I used to relate to the stories so well. A lot of the stories are about ordinary days, and the kind I remember where you're stuck indoors, or you're not very well, or playing in the garden by yourself.

AIMEE KELLY:And then, before you know it, you're off having an adventure, just like My Naughty Little Sister. And who knows where that'll take you?

AIMEE KELLY:Looks so tasty, doesn't it? I just don't understand what's going on. But I know who'll get the blame for it.

UNKNOWN FEMALE:Aimee? Aimee?

AIMEE KELLY:You know, I really need to take some more tips from My Naughty Little Sister!

BICYCLE BELL