As an author and journalist, Clare’s sister-in-law Gill Hornby has been sharing her recommendations for the best books to get lost in. In this instalment of our virtual book club, Gill is inspired by the books of her childhood that made such a lasting impact on her, both as a reader and a writer.

Children’s books are more than just a tool for literacy or a means of keeping them quiet for a bit. They are a door to another world, a path to vicarious experience. And, most importantly, a place of refuge for when the going gets tough in a child’s own, immediate, little universe.

Our local library was the most important landmark of my childhood.Home got pretty wonky, so I chose to put my head completely elsewhere – to the Little House on The Prairie, or Tom’s Midnight Garden or with The Family from One End Street. While I’ve never stopped reading fiction – and writing it, too – I am more emotional about, and have a much deeper love for, the ones I came across back then. The very titles still bring a tingle.

The writer Lucy Mangan is the same. In her book Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading, she explores her own journey along the same sort of path. It is entertaining, thoughtful and intelligent - Mangan is very good company on the page.

It could also be very useful for parents of young children who, though they may well be reading, are only ever reading the same thing. Of course, it is wonderful that JK Rowling and David Walliams have, between them, got a whole new generation turning the pages. But there are other children’s books available…Bookworm by Lucy Mangan offers a reminder of all those authors who used to entrance us. And, if they only got a look-in, could be entrancing still.

Gill Hornby’s latest book, Miss Austen, is available now.