On the third Wednesday evening of every month, I get ready for an exciting date... with the Blabbering Bookworms. It’s a name a bright bunch of 10- to 13-year-old reading club members have given themselves. With the sparkle and savage candour typical of their age, they freely air their take on the same book each has read before coming to the club.

An edgy classic, underrated today, can still throw unexpected lifelines. Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde sparks many a debate that accepts the dark side of personality. The result is upped emotional intelligence. Children emerge better informed than adults dismissing certain books as “monstrous”. Representational photograph