“Hmmm,” sang the students in unison, as Nicki reached the final page of her debut picure book, “Take a Look in the Nook.” The alpacas in her story were humming the farm to sleep but the students were wide awake. Nicki Fisher and I were leading a workshop with Year 1s and 2s at Vinehall […]
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A journey to be savoured and shared: Illustrator, Judi Abbot talks about how to get more out of reading picture books with your kids
For artist, Judi Abbot, each book she illustrates is a journey, often lasting three months or longer. First, she reads the manuscript, “starts to understand the characters” and scavenges the text for clues about setting. “A reference to a scarf can suggest an entire world,” she notes. Then she experiments with exploratory sketches and researches […]
Three Pounds Fifty in Change: A Storytelling Workshop about Empathy
In my children’s story, Three Pounds Fifty in Change, Julian, an artist down on his luck, sketches a five pound note on a napkin — the note he wishes he owned. Nancy, the cafe owner, generously decides to accept his drawing as the genuine article, in payment for his cup of coffee. The magic happens […]
Dispatch to Malory Towers
Has there ever been a better time to escape into boarding school literature? With a return to virtual learning, the end of Christmas holidays brought no change of scene – only, at best, a change of screen. “I wish I were taking the train to Cornwall to go to Malory Towers,” my daughter, Isla, remarked […]
Birthday Spell!
Happy Tenth Birthday, Isla! Every year, my daughter requests a homemade card for her birthday. It must include a word game, and it must be at least as good as last year’s. Every year, in the run up to the special day, I ride the emotional roller coaster from — “What’s wrong with Hallmark?” — […]
A Year in Squiggles
T’was the night before Christmas, and in my bright kitchen, I sat at my table, a scribblin’ and skitchin’. I wrapped up the skitchin’ (or rather, sketching) around midnight, and eight hours later, my kids (aged 9 and 13) discovered this under the tree: So begins my new annual tradition of tracking their year […]
An Alpha-ntastic Birthday Card
Remember the frisson of creative anticipation you felt, as a kid, when you constructed an indispensable something-or-other for your parents out of shoe boxes, milk carton caps and pipe cleaners? It turns out that you can re-experience the thrill as an adult, by making birthday cards for the children in your life. This year, I […]
A Thank You Poster for our Nanny
If I had been one of the good fairies bestowing gifts to Sleeping Beauty at her baptism, I wouldn’t have bothered giving her clear skin or musicality. Instead, I would have given her a strong capacity for gratitude. There is no greater source of joy, and it’s the ultimate renewable resource: The more you express […]
Your Child’s Day: A Book to Treasure
A few years ago, in a desperate bid to get my son (ever the recalcitrant writer) to put pencil to paper during the l-o-o-o-ng Easter vacation, I suggested that we make a book about a day in his life. We took a photograph every hour from breakfast until lights out, along with photographs of his […]
Book making project: Making my daughter’s story into a book
These days, I find that most of my ideas for story-based activities with the kids come organically from them, rather than owing anything to my pre-planning. In this case, my 8 year old son suggested at lunch that we each tell a story about our favourite food. My four year old daughter launched into a […]