Any child, and I am now fifty-nine years old, who can recite Andy Spandy's ropeskipping rhyme has me for a friend. This is one of those tales for children that sounds better being told aloud by a good reader. When I was growing up, both my parents loved to read aloud, and my sister and I heard many fine tales before the fireplace, listening to mother or father.
But the lilt of the language as the rope swings round is the unforgettable part:
ANDY SPANDY SUGARDY CANDY
FRENCH ALMOND ROCK!
BREAD AND BUTTER FOR YOUR SUPPER'S
ALL YOUR MOTHER'S GOT!

There may be no better book for reading aloud to pre-teens. Originally one of the stories in Farjeon's "Tales Told Under the Green Umbrella" -- long out of print -- Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep is easily as much fun for the adult reader as for the young listener, and in this case that is saying a great deal. It is actually two consecutive stories (ideal for consecutive nights), one a delightful fantasy of fairies and skipping rope -- just as appealing to boys as to girls, honest -- and the second an adventure, at once enthralling and emotionally satisfying, with an ending that will bring tears of delight to all who hear it.