{My 5 Cents} A Game of Thrones, the book

As per usual I am behind the eight ball. I never started watching Game of Thrones, then tried to catch up, got through Season 1, got busy and that was that. The further I got behind, the harder it seemed to catch-up. Hubby is an avid watcher...along with the rest of the world.

Books are more my forte anyway....so still being behind the eight ball, I decided to read the books instead. I have just finished Book 1, A Game of Thrones in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by high-fantasy writer George R R Martin.

See that man in the image on this post, he plays one of the main characters, Eddard Stark, known affectionately as Ned, in the TV Show. I liked him. I liked him a lot. I get the impression a lot of people liked him. That is the whole idea. Sadly, he didn't make it to the end of the book. He had his head removed on the command of a rather shitty little King. I admit to shedding a tear or two for the late Eddard Stark as he was killed in front of his two young daughters. I'd be surprised if I was alone.

It seems this is the talent of Martin, present the reader with marvelously brave, inspiring, good willed characters, make us love them, engage with them.....and then kill them off. Noooo! He certainly holds no punches. His characters are gritty; men, women and children alike. You really feel as if you get to know them.

This first book tells the story from the point of view of eight of the main characters; Eddard Stark, his wife Catelyn Stark, his two daughters Sansa and Arya Stark, his son Bran Stark and his bastard son Jon Snow. The other two view points are from Tyrion Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen. Each chapter is marked with the name of the person telling their piece of the story.

Have to admit, I like this approach. The story flows well and you get all warm and snugly with each character as they tell you their deepest and darkest....before you are off to another character, place and set of issues. Never time to get bored.

The story is set in a fantasy world, that is somehow believable, or perhaps that is just because part of me wants it to be real. Martin takes us around the sweeping, treacherous, landscape of Westeros, Essos and The Wall, introducing us to the main houses of the Seven Kingdoms - Stark, Tully, Targaryen, Lannister, Baratheon and the Night's Watch.

The whole book is based around the Iron Throne and which house, family, alliance want it bad enough to do whatever it takes to get it. The Game is really set in full pace when the Hand of the King is killed and a domino effect of lies, deceit and ultimate game playing begins.

My favourite lines from the book:
"When you play a game of thrones, you win or your die"
“A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”

My favourite character is too hard to choose at this stage. Big mentions to Arya for her spunk and Daenerys for her dragon blood and dragons.

So, if you like fantasy novels, dragons, swords, hand-to-hand combat, and more twists and turns than a bagel, this book is for you.

Have you read it?

Or do you just watch it?

or really you aren't in to it at all?

{image}

The last book I read

Books. How I love thee. The stack of books next to my bed nearly reaches the ceiling. I seem to always have several on the go these days. What I like is so often dictated by my mood. A thriller, parenting, autobiography or happy go-lucky.

The last book that I actually finished and couldn't put down was Call Me Sasha by Geena Leigh, you can read what I thought here - http://alifeonvenus.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/my-views-on-call-me-sasha-by-geena-leigh.html.

What was the last book you read? Did you love it?

{image}

My views on Call me Sasha by Geena Leigh

The tag line for this book is Secret confessions of an Australian callgirl, therefore when I started reading I knew where Geena was headed.

The back of the book shed a little more light on her journey - sexual abuse, drugs and alcoholism, as well as the prostitution. Eventually leading to salvation and a brighter future.

I really thought I had it all figured out. I thought these were the stepping stones in Geena's life and that would be that.

I was wrong. There was a lot more to her story.

As soon as I started reading this book I wanted to reach into the pages, pull Geena out, wrap my arms around her and tell her everything would be okay. That I would be there for her when no-one else was.

I couldn't though. This is Geena's story, her past, her history. All the events laid out in this book have already happened and there is no erasing them.

As I read along with Geena's story, I would sometimes forget I was reading a memoir. Geena (aka Sasha) would become a fictional character. Someone made up. A flawed character, the author had given the incredibly shitty end of life's stick too.

Then I would remember, Geena is a real person. She lives in the same city as me. I could have easily passed her in the street. I could have easily passed someone with a similar story to Geena's in the street and been none the wiser.

This book is full of raw gut-wrenching and blunt honesty. I commend and respect Geena for being so extremely brave in sharing her story. The whole story. Not the sugar-coated one. She holds no punches. She puts it all on these 290 pages. It really can't have been easy making the decision to put it all into words having kept it a secret from so many for so long.

And what a story.

It all starts off with her extremely dysfunctional family, of which sadly she knows no different. An abusive father, an indifferent mother, older siblings trying to escape and a younger brother she is trying to protect.

At the young age of 15, neither parental figure wants her, she ends up sleeping in a park. Her story quickly descends from here, into street living, half-way houses, abuse, attempted rapes, rapes, prostitution - both at home and abroad, cocaine, heroine, drug overdoses, jail time and emotionally abusive boyfriends.

There are flashes of hope mixed in with all the despair though. She attempted many times to get a proper education, finally achieving a double University degree. She attended AA meetings and kicked her alcohol addiction. She got clean after a drug-overdose scare. After trying about seven times to leave the sex industry, she succeeded landing a "straight" job in strata management and is now a full-time writer. She met and feel in love with the love of her life, Gene....and the rest, as they say, is history.

I wept for Geena and all the men and women who have had similar stories. I wept even more for the ones who aren't as strong as Geena and never reach the salvation and freedom she craved and finally got at the age of 37.

Because all she ever wanted was the freedom to be herself. Not Sasha. She wanted to be just Geena, flaws and all and she wanted to be loved for it.

Isn't that what we are all truly seeking - to feel that we belong and to enjoy the freedom to just be ourselves - Geena Leigh

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone to read. It is such an inspirational story of one person's struggle to reach their ultimate goal of freedom. She succeeded in turning her life around and if this book helps one other person in doing the same it was worth Geena's heartache in sharing her intimate story.

Have you read Call Me Sasha? 

What are your thoughts?

My views on The Reunion by Sue Walker

On a trip to the local library recently with little miss and mr to borrow some kids books, I found myself wondering through the fiction shelves. It had been an age since I had read a book cover to cover that didn't involve babies, parenting or school transition.

I walked slowly up and down casually glancing at the spines of each book wondering which one would be worth a read. Secretly wanting to take all of them home and locking myself away to read them and feel the worn paper on my fingers.

But I am a realist and a mum with two small kids so I thought one at a time would probably be more than enough.

I stopped in the W section and saw a book titled The Reunion by Sue Walker.

Reading the back of the book it indicated that Innes Haldane, had spent time in an avant-garde psychiatric hospital as a teenager. She was incarcerated in the "Unit" after being deemed out of control both physically and sexually. She spent her time there with six other dysfunctional teenagers; Danny, Carrie, Lydia, Alexandra, Simon and Isabella.

Since their time in the "Unit", they have spent their adult lives trying to forget the unspeakable acts that sent them there and what occurred behind its walls. But it seems that a murderer is stalking the former patients and the only way to save themselves is by reuniting.

I love a good murder mystery and with little miss nagging at me to hurry up, I decided this was it.

As soon as I started reading this book, I just couldn't put it down. I would describe it as one of those gripping thrillers that is a serious page turner.

I simply had to find out the truth about what happened in the "Unit" that had left these adults so tormented and why the inmates were dying one by one. There were little breadcrumbs strewn throughout giving little clues here and there but I just couldn't figure it out.

The book jumps from past to present and character to character very cleverly. But I was never lost as to where I was in time or who was telling me their version of events.

Finally when the truth is uncovered, Innes is rocked.  As was I. I felt like I had been hit by a bus and I had certainly not seen it coming. I was shocked and grief stricken. So much so that I didn't know if I could finish the book. But I had to, I needed to reach some point of closure.

Finishing the book I did reach some closure, as did Innes. However, I am still thinking about it. It seems to have affected me profoundly.

Would I recommend it to you to read? To be honest I am not sure.

Have you read The Reunion by Sue Walker?

If so, what are your thoughts?

Do you have any books to recommend?

Thursday Book Club - Christmas Wombat

As Christmas approaches, we thought choosing a Christmas book to review was in order.

This week we are looking at Christmas Wombat by Jackie French and illustrated by Bruce Whatley.

Image from here

The Story

Mothball the wombat is back and it is Christmas time. She sleeps, scratches, sleeps, and gets rid of the dangly things touching her nose.

Then she smells carrots!

Only to find strange creatures (aka Reindeer) eating her carrots. She battles the strange creatures for her carrots.

She curls up in Santa's sleigh and takes an unexpected ride - visiting different countries, eating more carrots, battling more strange creatures and nearly getting stuck in a chimney.

Eventually she arrives home and begins to munch on some yummy grass - only to realise she isn't hungry.

The Author

Jackie French has published over 130 books, ranging from historical novels, general fiction, non-fiction, picture books to gardening books. She has won literary awards, both nationally and internationally and also won a children's choice award.

Jackie and her husband live in the Araluen valley in a stone house they built themselves. Their garden rambles over about 4 hectares, with 800 fruit trees, and about 270 different kinds of fruit (not counting 125 varieties of apple). Jackie has also spent three decades studying the wombats in her valley.

Our Thoughts

This book is simple and fantastically illustrated. We fell instantly in love with Mothball and her cheeky antics regarding eating the carrots left out for Santa's reindeer, presuming they were all for her.

It introduces the concept of different Christmas traditions as Mothball travels across the globe on Santa's sleigh.

When I asked Little Miss 4 what she liked about this book, she replied, "I love the wombat eating all the carrots at Christmas."


Do you have a favourite Christmas book?
 

Thursday Book Club...with a twist...

Today Little Miss 4 and I headed to the Opera House to see Justine Clarke in her Pop Up Tour 2012. We were joined by our awesome friends Mrs L and Miss T.

Image from here

The show was thoroughly enjoyed by all four of us. We sang along to many of her hit songs including, Dancing Pants, The Gumtree Family, Dancing Face, Watermelon, I like To Sing, Happy Dog, Off To The Library and It's My Birthday Today.

After the show we even had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Justine. She signed copies of her new book for the girls and chatted to them about the show. Mrs L was definitely the most excited of the four of us though!

The Story

Image from here

The main aim of this year's show was to introduce us to the Gobbledygook. The character from her first and newly released book, The Gobbledygook Is Eating A Book, co-written with Arthur Baysting and illustrated by Tom Jellett.

The story is about a Gobbledygook that is ripping up pages and eating a book!

"Stop. Stop", shouts a little girl, "You don't eat a book. You slibbery, slobbery Gobbledygook". 

She teaches him that we read books not eat them by taking him on an adventure through a space travel book, recipe book, dinosaur book, clown book, penguin book, mon-story book, and lastly a drifty, dreamy fairytale book.

Then they are all tucked up in their beds, ready to snore some zeds.

The Author

Today Justine Clarke is surely one of the most recognised faces on Australian TV (or maybe that is just because she graces my TV screen a lot). She is a best-selling children's singer, acclaimed film star, seasoned stage actor and a constant presence on Play School. The Gobbledygook Is Eating A Book is her first book.

Arthur Baysting is a songwriter, screenwriter and comedian from New Zealand. I believe that The Gobbledygook Is Eating A Book may also be his first book.

Tom Jellett is an Australian illustrator, having drawn for a number of children's books, including The Littlest Pirate, My Dad Thinks He's Funny, Ted Goes Wild and Ted Gets Lost.

Our thoughts

This book is simple and fun. Very suited to the preschooler level. It teaches the story that books are for reading and enjoying...not eating! (insert ripping up). The illustrations are lovely, the Gobbledygook is depicted as the cutest monster and shouldn't be scary to any small children.

When I asked Little Miss 4 what she liked about this book, she replied, "Where Justine signed it". I asked her what part she liked inside the story, she replied, "When the Gobbledygook eats the book, that is funny".  (Here's hoping I don't find her eating a book in the near future.)

Are you a Justine fan?

Thursday Book Club - Guess How Much I Love You

This week Little Miss 4 has selected Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Anita Jeram for us to review. This book is a real favourite in our house.

Image from here

The Story

Little Nutbrown Hare is in competition with Big Nutbrown Hare on how much they love each other.

Image from here

Little Nutbrown Hare stretches his arms wide and says, "This much". But Big Nutbrown Hare can stretch his arms further.

Little Nutbrown Hare reaches high in the air, "I love you as high as I can reach." Big Nutbrown Hare can reach higher.

Little Nutbrown Hare tumbles upside down and reaches up a tree trunk with his feet, "I love you all the way up to my toes!". Big Nutbrown Hare swings Little Nutbrown Hare over his head, "And I love you all the way up to your toes."

Image from here

 Little Nutbrown Hare hops up and down, "I love you as high as I can HOP!". Big Nutbrown Hare can jump higher.

"I love you all the way down the lane as far as the river," says Little Nutbrown Hare. "I love you across the river and over the hills," says Big Nutbrown Hare.

As Little Nutbrown Hare falls asleep he says, "I love you right up to the moon". Big Nutbrown Hare leans over and kisses him goodnight and whispers, "I love you right up to the moon - AND BACK.

The Author

Sam McBratney was born in Northern Ireland in 1943. He was a school teacher and started writing books as a way to help students who had trouble reading. He has written over 50 books for young readers, including Mark Time, Boy Blue and The Hanging Man.

Our thoughts

The gentle humour of this book makes me chuckle every time. I always think of our Little Miss 4 and her Daddy and think they would likely do this very thing and think it was hilarious!

I believe that Big Nutbrown Hare is a wonderful character showing the unconditional and unbounded love parents have for their children.

The water colour illustrations really suit the story. I can't help falling in love with this two Nutbrown Hares every time I see them.

When I asked Little Miss 4 what she liked about this book she said, "I love Little Nutbrown Hare and I love you Mummy all the way to the moon and back."

(P.S. We say "I love you all the way to the moon and back" every night now.)


Have you read Guess How Much I Love You? What are your thoughts?

Wednesday's words - To Kill a Mockingbird

My all time favourite book in the whole wide world is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It is also Hubby's favourite book - one of the reasons I married him ;) It was published in 1960 and won a Pulitzer Prize.

It is said that the plot and characters are based loosely on Harper Lee's family and neighbours, as well as on an event that happened near her hometown in 1936, when she was ten.

Nelle Harper Lee was born in 1926 in Alabama. She became close friends with neighbour, Truman Capote (apparently the character, Dill, is based on Capote). After completing To Kill a Mockingbird, she assisted Capote in his research for his book, In Cold Blood. However, she didn't publish anything else herself. 

The story

The story is told by six year old Scout Finch during the Great Depression. She lives with her brother Jem and father Atticus in Alabama.

A young boy, Dill, comes to stay with his aunt every summer and becomes friends with Scout and Jem. During their summers together they become fascinated with the reclusive neighbour Arthur "Boo" Radley. The whole town seems reluctant to talk about Boo and few have seen him for years. After several summers with Dill, the children start to find small treasures in a tree outside the Radley house. They hope that one day they will actually see Boo but sadly for them this doesn't happen.

Image from here

Meanwhile, Atticus begins to defend Tom Robinson. Tom, a negro man, has been accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. Most of the town disagree with Attitus representing Tom, as a result Scout and Jem are teased by the other children.

Atticus does a great job at trying to prove Tom's innocence, establishing that Mayella and her father, Bob are lying and that she was making advances towards Tom. Bob, having seen Mayella's advances, beats her. Despite the evidence Tom is convicted. Sadly Tom is killed when trying to escape from prison.

Bob Ewell, believing that he was humiliated in court vows revenge; he spits at Atticus, tries to break into the judge's house and harasses Toms wife. He also attacks Scout and Jem as they walk home from a school pageant one night. During the attack, Jem's arm is broken and a stranger comes to the children's aid. This stranger carries Jem home, where Scout realises that it is Boo Radley.

The sheriff arrives at the Finch house to tell Atticus that Bob Ewell has been killed and convinces him that he fell on his own knife.

Scout walks Mr Arthur "Boo" Radley home, he closes the door. She never sees him again and regrets never repaying him for the gifts that he left them in the tree.

My thoughts

I believe this book does a good job of showing the lives of African-Americans in the 1930's and the prejudice and fear they faced every day - even though it is told by a young girl who is still relatively naive to these prejudices.

I think Atticus is very heroic for defending Tom Robinson, despite the town disapproving. I also admired him teaching his children to see the good in Boo Radley.  I always wanted to be this kind of role model for my own children one day - hopefully now I am.

It is very easy to read, even though it has many political themes the writing doesn't scream or preach at you. I thoroughly enjoy it every time.

Have you read To Kill a Mockingbird? What are your thoughts?

Thursday Book Club - Where the Wild Things Are

This week Little Miss 4 has selected Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak for us to review.

One night Max dresses up in his wolf suit and makes mischief of one kind and another, like chasing the poor dog with his fork. His mother calls him a "WILD THING" (we have all been there!). Max is so mad he yells "I'LL EAT YOU UP!". As a consequence his mother sends him to his room without any food.

Max's imagination takes hold and a forest grows and grows in his room, until vines hang from the ceiling and the walls become the world. An ocean tumbles by and Max sails off through day and night. In and out of weeks and almost over a year until he reaches a land full of wild things.

The wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth, rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws. Max says "BE STILL" and stares at them without blinking once and they are frightened so call him the most wild thing of all, making him king of all wild things.

Image from here

Max and the wild things go on to create a great rumpus! Stomping, jumping, swinging from trees. Until Max cries "Now Stop!" and sends them to bed without any food. Max becomes lonely and wants to be where someone loves him best of all.

Image from here

He starts to smell good things to eat from far away across the world, so he gives up being king of where the wild things are. The wild things cried, "Oh please don't go". But Max said "No!". The wild things roar but Max sails away and waves good-bye sailing back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night back to his very own room. He finds his supper waiting for him and it is still hot.

Image from here

This book contains great illustrations, also by Maurice Sendak, really allowing kids to live Max's adventure. I believe that it teaches kids there are consequences to their actions as Max is sent to his room without any supper and that imaginations are a wonderful place to play.

Younger pre-school children can relate to Max and his emotions because they have the same feelings; getting angry and imagining being the rulers of their worlds until they calm down and want to be where someone loves them best of all.

I also love that his Mum has put his supper on his table for him, showing him that she would never let him go hungry and he is indeed in a place where someone loves him best of all.

When I asked Little Miss 4 what she liked about this book, she replied, "I like Max's wolf suit and how he found the wild things and become king. Oh, and I also like the pictures".


Where the Wild Things Are was the winner of the 1964 Caldecott Medal as the "Most Distinguished Picture Book of the Year," it was first published by HarperCollins in 1963. It is targeted at 3-6 year olds, but I believe enjoyed at any age.

Maurice Sendak was born on 10 June 1928 in Brooklyn, USA. Sadly, he passed away on 8 May 2012. He has written over 20 books and illustrated over 40. His other books include Seven Little Monsters, Fantasy Sketches and Outside Over There.

Have you read Where the Wild Things Are? What are your thoughts on it?

Thursday Book Club - The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This week Little Miss 4 has chosen The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle for us to review.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar starts off life as a little egg that lays on a leaf and one Sunday morning...POP, out comes the caterpillar and he starts looking for food.

During the days of the week he eats through an apple, pears, plums, strawberries, oranges, cake ice-cream cone, pickle, cheese, salami, lollipop, cherry pie, sausage, cupcake and watermelon.....needless to say he ends up with a stomach ache!

It is Sunday again and the caterpillar eats through a nice green leaf and feels much better.....he was now a big, fat caterpillar. He builds a cocoon and stays inside for more than two weeks, later emerging as a beautiful butterfly.


This story is beautifully illustrated and helps teach kids the days of the week, counting and that eating too many sweets isn't good for you. It also teaches kids some scientific content - the life cycle of a caterpillar.

When I asked Little Miss 4 what she liked about this book, she said "I like how it lays on the leaf in the moonlight and when the caterpillar changes into a butterfly because it has beautiful wings."

It was written in 1969 and is targeted at 2-4 year olds. According to Eric Carle's website, it has been translated into more than 50 languages and sold over 33 million copies.

Eric Carle, who was born in New York in 1969, has written over 70 books and generally he is both the author and illustrator. Some of his other books are The Very Busy Spider, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Very Lonely FireFly and The Very Clumsy Click Beetle. He also has a blog, if you want to check it out - http://www.ericcarleblog.blogspot.com.au/.

Do you have a favourite Eric Carle book?


Image from here.

Freelance Your Heart Out!

Freelance Your Heart Out by Kris Emery...what an aptly named book for me at this stage in my life because that is exactly what I want to be doing.

Kris Emery is a writer, editor and author of Freelance Your Heart Out. She studied a Translation and Linguistics Masters and was a staff writer for three years before breaking out to become a freelancer.

This book is all about her journey from in-house writer to running her own transcription and editing business. She writes candidly about the good, the bad and the ugly, giving great advice and funny anecdotes along the way.

As I read I felt I could seriously relate, “I love to write, but fretted over whether I could do it seriously and go it alone” she says. However, as I read on I feel I have a little more confidence and a little more “Yeah, I can do this” attitude.

Her book is filled with great advice about how to be patient, set goals, persevere, stick to deadlines, move with times, and find your niche.

She talks about the joys of freelancing freedom once she had established herself – she travelled to Brazil and continued working to fund the trip. Kris also included interviews with other experienced transcribers and editors to find out how they felt about their freelance lifestyles. It was great to read about other people taking the plunge into freelancing and also succeeding.

There was no sugar coating it though – “it is hard work. Don’t even think about going freelance if you aren't prepared to work harder than you've ever worked” she writes. “Almost everyone I spoke to mentioned at some point that freelancing is deceptively hard. A major mistake when going into freelancing is underestimating the work”.

The most beneficial parts of the books in particular for me were dealing with knock-backs and surviving feedback, especially as I am a person who tends to take things a little too personally. Also the interview with a company who hires freelancers provided great insight to what they expect and don’t expect from freelancers. For me, being completely and utterly new at this I found it invaluable.

What I also got from this book was you need to have a passion for writing, editing, proofing, transcribing – whatever your freelance career might be - something that will get you out of bed every day. Clearly Kris Emery has that passion. This is a great book for people wanting to freelance their heart out.

Thursday Book Club - Arnold, the Prickly Teddy

Little Miss 4 and I have decided to review a book a week - she will pick the book and I will review it.

This week she has chosen Arnold, the Prickly Teddy by Kym Lardner.

Arnold is a brown, prickly teddy who doesn't squeak, talk or growl. He sits on a shelf in a toy shop with the pink and fluffy teddies. The pink teddies are popular but nobody wants Arnold. The shop owner decides that no one would want dusty, prickly Arnold so he tosses him onto the rubbish with the other stuff that nobody wants.

Arnold sits in the rubbish for a couple of days before a small boy tucks him under his jumper and carries him away. He pleads with his Dad to keep him because he has never had a teddy before.

Arnold is loved, washed and carried everywhere, he is cuddled every day and soon he is just as smooth and cuddly as the other teddies from the toy shop.


This story is about giving the love and attention that everyone desires. It is a great story to teach kids that everyone is lovable - even though Arnold wasn't pink and fluffy he is still lovable.

This book is aimed at 3-6 year olds. The author, Kym Lardner is a full time professional storyteller. He visits schools around Australia telling his stories. You can check him out here.

Have you read Arnold, the Prickly Teddy? What book are you reading to your kids this week?


Image from here.

The Grufflalo's Child

Little Miss 4 and I recently went to the Sydney Opera House to see The Gruffalo's Child, which is CDP and Tall Stories' musical adaptation based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

The main jist of the story is that one night the Gruffalo's child ignores her father's warning and enters the deep, dark wood to find out if the Big Bad Mouse really exists.

This is a true sequel to The Gruffalo, also by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler in which the Gruffalo walks through the deep dark wood meeting various animals along the way who seem to be afraid of the Big Bad Mouse - a truly excellent and very clever story.

I was a bit worried that Little Miss 4 might be a bit afraid of the animals along the way and the deep, dark wood. However, the play was so well done for both children and adults, mixing music and comedy to tell the story that we both laughed and interacted the whole time.

Admittedly I am a huge Julia Donaldson fan, we have several of her books including The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child, Zog, The Snail and the Whale, The Smartest Giant in Town, Room on a Broom, and Night Monkey Day Monkey. And I have just bought another 6 for Little Miss 4 for Christmas. Her books are so clever and mostly in verse so the kids love them and find it easy to memorise the words, which I think helps them enjoy the books.

Who is your favourite childrens book author?


Image from here.