One of Wriggles' favourite things are books. She cannot get enough. Recently she has begun to be able to turn the pages the "right" way as opposed to reading upside down and back to front. Lift the flap books are a winner although paperback books have currently had to be hidden as her other favourite activity is ripping.
I have always grown up around books and been passionate about reading and important it is so I am delighted she takes such an interest. I have read to her since she was Very Very Small (on coming home initially from SCBU aged 37 weeks gestation, I rather optomistically tried to read her Winnie The Pooh serials by AA Milne; I got stuck for conversation and she nodded off to my voice even when doing a squeaky Piglet and a vvvvvveeeerrrrrryyyyyy meeeellllllannnchollyyyyy Eeyore) and have been egaerly collecting books I loved as a child and new titles since. I have generously given her one whole shelf on my bookshelf but she is already encrouching on the shelf above.
As a student at university, I worked part time in the marvellous
Seven Stories in Newcastle upon Tyne, a dedicated centre for children's literature. My job was to be an information point, read stories, lead craft activities related to the exhibitions, sing songs ("If you're happy and a puffin, waggle your tail......") and dress up regularly as a tiger who came to tea or whatever book we were promoting! I adore Seven Stories and am really looking forward to Wriggles being bigger to enjoy it. They have activities for little people to very big people and regularly have authors, illustrators and surprise guests such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar dropping in.
As well as enjoying Grown Up books, I have always had a soft spot for childrens books. They were a love of childhood, but also something I have a deep interest in. I am no budding author but my dream job would be illustrate books. I did an art degree and quickly discovered my favourite area was illustration and design. Sadly by this point I was halfway through a very anti-illustration Fine Art degree but I have pursued it separately. I did submit drawings for a budding author a few years ago but alas have never seen the fruits! I adore collecting images by illustrators though and leafing through texts and layouts. My favourites are Judith Kerr, Lauren Child, Lucy Cousins, E H Shephard, Quentin Blake, Dick Bruna, Catherine Rayner, Jane Hissey and Helen Oxenbury.
If you are a baby here are some recommendations by Wriggles
My Top Books.
*Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mia Fox with Helen Oxenbury
*Peekaboo Peter; a textured lift-the-flap jobby published by Warne, collecetd from Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit
*Quack, Quack Maisy by Lucy Cousins
*My Puffer Train by Mary Murphy
*any of the DK Peekaboo series!
Mummy's favourites to read:
*Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney with Anita Jeram
*Alice and Anatole by Sam Childs
*The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr
*Penguin by Polly Dunbar
*Dogger by Shirley Hughes
Wriggles is FULL of snot and quite rightly, grumps. It is rubbish having a cold. Part of my attempts at cheering up are reading lots of stories especially those with silly pictures and one such book is the wonderful Norman the Slug with a Silly Shell by Sue Hendra. I first found this through one of her other titles, Barry the Fish with Fingers which was one of my favourite books to read when I worked at Seven Stories and had to join in the daily storytelling.
Norman is a ridiculous story about a slug who wants to be a snail. They are so colourful and fun and amazing and cool and brilliant and beautiful and....he can't join in. He just isn't the same, and has to just watch as they laugh and make snail-pyramids together. Then, one sad and lonely evening Norman has a great idea. He might not be a real snail but he could find a shell to join in the fun! He experiments with a range of ideas before hitting the jackpot.
And his dreams come true; the snails LOVE Norman and his new silly shell. Now he can join in to his hearts content. Unfortunately, the snails aren't the only one smitten with Norman's new shell. A peckish bird also has his eye on it and swoops down to spoil Norman's fun. Suddenly, being a snail isn't so much fun and Norman has to use his Slug Powers to escape.
This a wonderfully silly tale which is as much about being yourself as it is about slugs, snails and doughnuts with sprinkles on. As much as we may be envious of other people, we all have our own special things which make us who we are and are perfectly suited to us. And of course, the snails realise in the end that Norman is still one cool slug, even when he is just being a slug. This should inspire confidence in young children who can see past the slug-snail storyline and provide plenty of giggles for everyone else inbetween. The bright, colourful graphics are eye catching and simple and provide plenty to talk about.
I introduced this book to my bookworm when she was probably only about five months old (two corrected) and would point out the colours, the shapes and the snails. At 13 months corrected she still does not have the concentration for the whole story but enjoys the pictures and "gets" the visual slapstick. It is a book I think that will grow with her as she gets older and has worries that her 'shell' might not be good enough, when of course it is the bestest in the whole wide world!