Let me take you back to 2009 (roughly) a year or so into my 3 years ‘diploma in childcare and education’ college course. I loved college, I look back with very fond memories. I felt so independent, getting the bus by myself every day, meeting new people, navigating my way around - doesn’t sound much, but as a 16/17-year-old, it was a big deal. I didn’t enjoy school at all. I was bullied, struggled with my subjects, just the whole atmosphere wasn‘t enjoyable. But moving away from the kids, the teachers, the whole building…I felt so much happier and as I said, independent.
me in 2008 - no camera phone...I feel old.
So, in around 2009, we were tasked to create and write a children’s story. A story that taught a lesson or helped a child in some sort of way. We were tasked to work in pairs, however, my partner, Jo (firstly I should say, you couldn’t meet a kinder person than Jo. If you were around Jo, then you were bound to have a good day full of laughs). And as she rushed in on the morning the story, she confessed that she had completely forgotten. Luckily, I hadn’t. I had the story ready to go and we read it together.
I wrote a story about a little girl who had just found out her mum was having another baby and she was very excited. She rushed into school and told all her friends, but a boy in her class told her that she shouldn’t be excited, that her parents would soon forget her. That’s what happens when parents have a new baby…apparently. But of course, she learnt that a parent’s love doubles when a baby is born. No love is taken away or shifted, just doubled. And so, I wrote it with the hope it would help children who might feel nervous about becoming a brother or sister or worried about the changes it may bring.
I…sorry we, received such wonderful feedback from it, it sparked something in me. Then again, later in the year, we were asked to create a story using a puppet or a prop. So, I thought of a story about a little boy who had a very busy weather week. The idea was that a child would come up and put the correct items of clothes onto the puppet depending on the weather. I had sunglasses, sun hat, raincoat, wellie boots, woolly hat, scarf…all sorts! And again, a lesson to help children learn how to dress appropriately for different weathers. My puppet was a wooden spoon (mainly made by my mum) but it did the job! Again, I received wonderful feedback both by my peers and my tutors.
So that’s when that I wanted to carry on, and I began writing more and more. The idea of Fussy Freddie was actually my first story, but what an update he's had since then! But that's a story for another blog.
All of my stories are stashed in my Moo folder. I still have so many in there, (around 30 odd) but I have a habit of making up stories on the spot, so the ones in the folder have to wait even longer for their turn. Hug, My Friend Dave, Healthy Heads are just a few that I have thought up before they had chance to reach the folder. A sudden thought, scrawled down on a bit of paper, edited, illustrated and straight into a book.
My battered, scuffed Moo folder
As I mentioned in my previous blog, I have had so many hobbies (too many my husband would say) but writing has always stuck. My first proper job after college was working in a behavioural school as a 'Behavioural Support Assistant' and towards the end of that job, I was secretly writing stories on the classroom laptop then sending them through to my email to continue writing when I got home. Or I would find a spare writing pad from the classroom cupboard and write them in there.
Then I left that job and soon became pregnant with my first child, so I had all the time I wanted to write stories and add to my ever-growing Moo folder. Before finally in 2017, my first story was published.
I have always had a love for children's books, there are stories that have stuck with me since reading them as a child, like Jaspers Beanstalk, and there are so many authors that inspired my own books. Nick Butterworth, Mick Inkpen, Jill Murphy, Jane Hissey to name a few. I still have a book that was gifted to me by my eldest sister on my 8th birthday. It's a bit worse for wear now, but I will treasure it forever.
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister with my sister's special message inside
I'll be honest, as an adult I don't read anything but children's books. I've read a few novels - but my love is children's books. Discovering new authors and illustrators, studying the beautiful artwork on each page and falling in love with another wonderful story.
That is the biggest reason why I love children's books so much. They never age. I read my children the stories that were read to me as a child. Beatrix Potter who first published Peter Rabbit in 1901, still appears on our televisions as programs and films. The beloved Winnie the Pooh still decorates the walls of nurseries and baby clothes. That is the beauty of stories and books...
And I think that's what James Matthew Barrie showed us with Peter Pan - The boy who never grows up...which is true, each time his story is retold, he still remains a boy.
There is something truly magical in that.
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