I am one!

Well, I’m thirty years past one, but my little blog is one, or was last week. I was going to have a party- you know, pass-the-parcel, little sandwiches, a cake with candles, a few sugar-crazed kids and a bunch of parents necking Champagne. But then I thought, what’s the point? One-year-olds never appreciate the efforts you go to; they don’t remember their first party and they don’t really get what all the fuss is about. So I decided not to bother.

I did get a delivery of children’s books this weekend- Charlie and Lola stories that were on offer in a pregnancy magazine. As I put them on the shelf in the nursery, I considered all the lovely books that I was given at the Baby Shower. They range from the very contemporary ‘Everybody Poos’ to the more traditional ‘When We Were Very Young’. I took them down and flicked through the pages, even reading a couple to the bump. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t read; when there wasn’t a time that I didn’t see my mum or dad with a book in their hand or by their bed. I remember reading to The Lad when he was, well a Lad. I remember getting home from school with a copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, sitting down on the sofa and not budging until I had read the last sentence. I remember getting my Danielle Steel books confiscated at Prep School because they were inappropriate reading material, despite the fact that my mum had sent me off to school with them- there really wasn’t the wealth of teenage reading material that there is now.

All of which got me thinking about some of the children’s books that I have come to love over the years:

1. The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark- such a classic. My friends and I all get a wistful look in our eye when we talk about Plop. Of course the book never made me feel more comfortable about the dark, but I loved reading it

2. Guess How Much I Love You- a modern classic about Big Nut Brown Hare and Little Nut Brown Hare. The last line never fails to make me cry. And the illustrations are so beautiful.

3. The Magic of the Faraway Tree- more awesome illustrations. I was given a beautiful hard-back copy of the Enid Blyton Stories one birthday by an aunt and absolutely loved the idea of a tree that had different worlds stop at the top, and a slide down the inside.

4. I Want My Potty- Tony Ross hit a blinder with this one. The subsequent stories of the little Princess are very good at teaching small people.

5. Each Peach Pear Plum- another classic that weaves all the nursery rhyme characters that we know into a great tale.

6. The Very Hungry Caterpillar- needs no explanation. I have two copies.

7. Moving Molly- beautiful drawings by Shirley Hughes, and such a nice, old-fashioned tale. Plus my mum is called Molly, so I used to tell everyone that the book was written about her! I have a fondness for all Shirley Hughes books in fact.

8. All the Dr Seuss books- silly, irreverent and so much fun watching your parents stumble over the tongue-twisting stories.

9. Dear Zoo- a simple lift-the-flap book about animals, and which one is just right for you. Our house is insanely pro-doggy, so this is always going to be a winner.

10. Please Mrs Butler- A rhyme book that everybody gets to read at some point in school…Timothy Winters anyone?

Of course I could go on for page after page- every day a new kid’s book comes out that I love. It was one of my favourite things about being a nanny (that and keeping abreast of the latest Disney/Pixar releases) getting to read them all…Room on the Broom, Slinky Malinki, The Gruffalo, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Mr Tick the Teacher, Kipper. DH and I have always said that if you want to spoil our kids, buy books. There’s no such thing as too many. I’m really looking forward to having bookshelves that are full to bursting.

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