Where Faith Meets Imagination

There is something about Beatrix Potter that is so wonderful, so timeless and so lovely that few have been able to compete. The stories are brilliant, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it is the illustrations that captivate our hearts. For those who haven't ever found Peter Rabbit here's why we love him; Peter is a naughty rabbit who never does as he is told by his mother. In his first book, he finds his way into Mr McGregor's garden where the veggies are plenty but the trou

I need to thank one of my lovely friends for putting me onto this book - yes, I'm a terrible parent and never read it to my kids. Here's what happens... Elmer is a multicoloured elephant amongst a herd of normal coloured ones. He is the life and soul of the herd, making them laugh and joking around but one day gets bored of being different from everyone else and goes off in search of a solution. It is a story that is being told over and over, particularly today - a classic "b

This was a great read when our children were small, and the names of these roguish dogs lives on in our house in place of the actual dog breed names! Here's what happens... Hairy MacClary is a scruffy mix-breed dog who lives at the local dairy. He wanders round the town with his motley collection of friends sniffing the smells and getting into trouble! What sets these stories apart is, not just Hairy but his pack of chums as well, all aptly named to fit their breed. And this

You probably know this story by another name - Babe, the tale of a small piglet who is adopted by a sheep-dog and learns the family trade. It is both adorable and well written. Back when the film version of this story came out, it prompted people to go and buy their very own 'Babe', later regretting it when they realised just how large a Large White really is! Babe is a piglet on a mission. He is won by the farmer at a fair and then promptly adopted by the farm's border colli

My children read this book in school. I had never heard of it before and I have only recently read it for myself. How I have missed out! Here's the story... Michael moves to a new house which needs a lot of work doing to it. At the same time they move, his mother gives birth to his baby sister who is then very poorly and her life hangs in the balance. While all this is happening Michael stumbles on someone - or something - living in his dilapidated garage. A mysterious creatu

This one was a new one on me, and I have to confess, I was a bit nervous to read it. It tells the story of Dolphin's mum, Marigold, who suffers from manic depression. The story follows both Dolphin and her older sister, Star, as they try to navigate their beautiful but complex mother who is not like any other mum they know, which is both wonderful and painful in equal measure. Jacqueline Wilson is a master of this kind of topic - managing to melt the wildly difficult with the

This story has gripped the nations ten year olds for over a decade. If you've not had the pleasure here it is in short form: Two guys (Andy & Terry, who write the book) live in a fantastical thirteen storey treehouse and spend most of their days putting off writing the book. It has fab illustrations and the most ingenious inventions that every kid would die to have in their room. But perhaps the most telling overall theme of the book is Andy and Terry's lack of motivation to

This book was given to me by a stranger. No word of a lie. Someone my dad worked with thought this book was so good, she bought loads of copies and kept giving it to anyone she knew who had any vague connection with children. And so my dad was given a copy with the instructions to give it to his grandchildren. I have no idea who she was, but she was not wrong about it. Here's the genius of it all... The story follows a box of crayons with some work related issues. They form a

We are reading a golden oldie this week - Where The Wild Things Are is widely held up as a children storybook classic and is now over 60 years old! If you have never heard of this then here's the info... Max is a little boy who pops on his wolf costume and proceeds to wreak mischief of one kind and another until his mother calls him "A Wild Thing!" and he is sent to bed. During the night he visits the place where the Wild Things are and is made their king until he returns hom

By far, above all other books I read as a child, this one will always hold dear to my heart. I can remember spending hours pouring over the intricate pictures on a rainy day, and looking in hedgerows to see if I had found the fabled mice of Brambly Hedge on sunny ones. It is quality of writing and illustration which is hard matched. If you've never been driven to rake through hedges on a day out before, here's what it's all about... The stories follow a community of mice who

This story is a classic take on that much used car game I spy. It was a favourite even when my kids could spot the person hiding on every page from memory. Here's the deal... Each page has a person from a well known nursery rhyme to spot, they are hidden in the scene (not as well as Wally is, but good enough to have a 3 year old looking for a while). It rhymes as well, which is always a joy! What's delightful about this classic is it's ability to draw you right into the illus

Mog the Cat is a timeless classic - not only does it have beautiful illustrations (I feel this will be said a lot on this site) but Mog herself is adorable. For those who haven't met Mog yet - here's the lowdown; Mog is a cat who lives with the Thomas family. She is a cat who gets a lot of things wrong, all the time. She's pretty forgetful. Which causes a lot of bother to the Thomas's. But who, in the end, saves the day by forgetting to use her cat flap. While Mog isn't actu

While this may be the sequel to the much loved Gruffalo story, in our house this was the favourite for one of my children. Despite my best efforts to teach them that you needed to read the Gruffalo first then this one, they always insisted on this one first. I guess the only thing to beat a Gruffalo is a tiny Gruffalo? Here's what happens: The Gruffalo - now all grown up - has a child of his own and warns her many times not to leave the cave because there is a big bad mouse o

Before I read this book to my children, I used to sing it round the Brownie campfire. 10 year old me loved the stupidity of it all from the start - why go looking for a bear? This thought only deepened as I read it to my children - why would you let children do this without appropriate supervision... or at least a gun? For those unfamiliar, here 's the synopsis... A group of children set off on a sunny afternoon in search of bear. Along the way they encounter several changes

This story is fiction at it's most simple and effective. It was beloved so much by one of my children that it was immortalised in cake form for a 1st birthday. Here's what goes down... A child wants a pet so writes to the local zoo and asks them to send one. Every time they send a pet it's not right and has to be returned and exchanged until finally the right pet arrives. It's one for animal lovers everywhere, and for parents keen to discourage pet keeping. So what does it te

This is a book I had read to me as a child, a book I read to my children (we had the pop up version - amazing!) and a book I have bought for my nephews (also pop up - once you've popped you can't go back). If you have never read it... I mean... WHAAAAAAAT? Here's the synopsis... A tiny caterpillar hatches out of his egg and proceeds to eat everything in sight. He eventually gets a tummy ache but he then transforms into a beautiful butterfly. On the back of my first ever foray