When I was a little girl, my parents called me ‘Bookworm’. I could not get enough of reading. I used to have a cabin bed in the corner of my room and, after bedtime, I would hold open the curtain and wait for the back neighbour’s security light to come on so I could read one more paragraph. It was quite frustrating to read like that, waiting for something to set off the motion sensors, but to me, it was better than having to wait until tomorrow to find out what had happened next.
A book addiction...
I first learnt what the word ‘amnesty’ meant when they held one at my primary school so that families could bring back the school reading books. I remember seeing my dad hauling carrier bags full of books into my school. He definitely had to make more than one trip to the car. As if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, when I was an adult he told me that they only held the amnesty because they needed me to bring all the books back. I’d nearly cleaned out the supply for the whole school. How awkward! Still, I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to.
The question I always ask Finley when we read...
Nowadays, when I write books I want them to be the kind of books you would want to (unlawfully) keep at home too. I want them to be funny, fast-paced and exciting. I also want children to go to bed happy, looking forward to tomorrow and to have nice dreams at night. And, a little bit selfishly, I want the last thing I hear from my son at night to be his laugh, and the same for his sister when she grows up. She already loves looking at the pictures, exploring the page with her big, blue eyes. Finley and I have our best chats of the day at night and reading leads us into discussions about our own lives and how things are going for him, something that is so important to us as parents. And, one of the best questions I have found to ask when we are reading to segue into this is… what would you do if you were the main character?
What are you reading with your children? Finley and I have nearly finished the first Harry Potter book and he loves it!