It is with great pleasure that this blog interviews Gaitree, who I met at Nursery World and Childcare and Education Expo.
It was an honour to be one of the first to hear of her amazing concept to bring learning to life through poems and nursery rhymes from around the world.
The ABC of World Languages
How did your book come about?
After working for 10 years in the childcare industry, I have come across a lot of cultures and families from around the world. And this book is meant to celebrate languages that we have come across. My initial research did not come across this unique concept for a book. This is how I decided to embark on this journey.
What do the children learn?
Using the ABC as a framework, this fun concept incorporates learning and passion for other cultures and languages.Through this book, we wanted to showcase the childhood of many of us. Languages are not just words, they embody the traditions, the cultures, the sweet memories as we grew up. With this compilation, our intention is to bring the global community together as a celebration of unity. Nursery rhymes remind us of our own childhood. We grew up singing and listening to them. Reading them as an adult feels like a joyous reminiscence, and brings the pride of sharing them with this generation and many more to come. This piece of work is indeed a celebration of our childhood, our children, our world… and how languages connect us all. This book is a celebration of World Languages, our childhood memories associated with these nursery rhymes, let’s celebrate our future generation and hope this book brings joy and fond memories for all readers, old and young.
What is next?
Once this book is successful, I intend to work on edition 2 which will showcase another 26 languages.
Book cover
You can find more information on this book on our website-
The MORE TO books blog is an extension of the first book in the MORE TO Series: There’s More to Books than Reading- how to help your child bring stories to life, which shares books and activities for across the Early Years Foundation Stage to bring learning to life.
I had the honour of meeting Krish at my book launch in September 2023. It is no secret that I love books and my first book, ‘There’s More to Books than Reading’ really shines through in Krish’s podcast. He shares what other children learn from kids books and his reviews. I interviewed him on how it started.
Krish
How did Kids Book Review Podcast start?
I love Lego and enjoy building my own designs. When I was seven, I really wanted to make a YouTube channel to showcase my Lego creations. My father was hesitant to the idea about the exposure on social media, then I suggested reviewing books on a podcast show, and he loved it. He’s happy that I read so many books, and I get to share my love for them with the whole wide world – win win!
What do other children learn from Kids Book Review Podcast?
Kids can learn about a variety of captivating books and stories from across the world. Apart from sharing my enthusiasm for my favourite reads, I also bring in authors for interviews to talk about their inspiration and creative process behind the featured books on the podcast. I also include kids from all around the globe to review the books with me. It’s like having a global book club, where we discuss our favourite parts, favourite characters, and what we’ve learned from each story.
What is your favourite thing about reading?
It is the incredible feeling of experiencing a whole new world every time I read a book. I get to be part of amazing adventures with the characters – like being a superhero, a detective, a bird watcher, a spy, a knight, or even a wizard! It’s so much fun because I can become whatever I want, and the possibilities are endless.
What is your favourite book and why?
Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite book. The magical world and the adventures that friends Harry, Ron and Hermione go on this book is just exciting! There were lot of surprises and unexpected twists, I couldn’t put the book down and finished it in one go.
Krish and I at my book launch
Who is your favourite author and why?
I’ve read lots of books, and there are many authors I love. Roald Dahl is my absolute favourite because his books are what got me into reading in the first place!
If you could interview any author, who would it be and what question would you ask?
Roald Dahl! I’d ask him how he came up with all those amazing characters in his stories.
Please add any social media links and website links.
I had the joy of e-meeting Emily Lloyd-Gale on ‘Doing the School Run with your Children’s book’- an amazing Facebook group ran by Isobel Kent.
As an author myself, I love to share and uplift other authors, and I especially resonate with Emily in that, my books also feel like my babies too!
It was wonderful to interview Emily about her Christmas book and hear about Maurice too.
How did your story ‘The Moose That Saved Christmas’ come about?
The Moose that saved Christmas
It’s quite simple really, after writing my first book ‘Mighty Maurice’, a story based on my own experiences of bullying in school, and it being really well received by schools and children, I really wanted to write a story about Maurice and his friends that is just a super fun and thrilling adventure.
That is where my new book ‘The Moose That Saved Christmas’ came from. I wanted to create a longer rhyming story with all his moose-tached friends, and a few extra animal creature thrown in for children to find.
It hasn’t been at all easy though. Everything that could’ve gone wrong, did go wrong, from my printers in Stockport closing down, to having to find a new illustrator……it all happened! Despite those challenges, this book has come out so well, and my illustrator, Lorna Humphreys has just been so incredible that now it’s here, I love this book like it’s my own child.
What do children learn from your book?
The main themes in this book are friendship, teamwork and kindness. I feel that they are such important topics for children and it’s important for them to see these attributes in books that they read and hear, and I hope, in reading my books, they are encouraged to practise them in day to day life.
There is also snail that appears in the book (he’s also my publisher mark) that I really love. I named him Sunny, and when I visit schools, I tell the children the story behind him.
The story….
When I was at university, (I have a degree in hand embroidery) there was his huge embroidery on the wall in the studio. I remember being show it, and in the cover was this tiny little hand embroidered snail. I was told by the team that it was there to show the dedication, patience and perseverance it took to create the artwork.
I couldn’t think of anything better to represent what I put into each and every book, and what everyone must do to achieve their goals. Children always respond so positively to that story, that I know I made the right choice.
Emily
What is next for you?
I get asked this question all the time. For the meantime at least, I’m going to have a break from writing.
The new book, although it has turned out better than I could’ve hoped (nearly all the credit must go to Lorna Humphreys for her incredible skill, and patience in translating what was on the page and in my head into such beautiful illustrations) was a long and complicated process, and I need time to reboot and get my creative juices flowing again.
I do have a few ideas for other Maurice story’s where I introduce more of his family as well as his friends though, so watch this space. ☺️
It was so lovely to e-meet Emily Dyson on ‘Doing the School Run with your Children’s book’- a wonderful Facebook group ran by Isobel Kent.
As an author myself, I love supporting other authors, especially because I know there’s More To Books than Reading, and each author has their own story behind why they wrote their book. I interviewed Emily on how her Christmas story book came about.
How did your story come about?
The first lines of Isn’t It Time You Went to Bed? came into my head on a Christmas visit to my family. There was a super moon that evening. It looked huge and very close as I looked out the car window. The first lines just popped into my head and the story grew from there.
What do children learn from your book?
They find out they aren’t alone when it comes to being too excited to sleep on Christmas Eve. I think they identify with Rachel, the character in the book (based on my niece).
I love books and I want all children to love them too. I’d like them to know that books can be fun to read and share.
What is next for you?
I followed Isn’t It Time You Went to Bed? with my second book, Animal Parade. It’s great fun to share and read aloud. Playing with words, rhyming and alliteration make me happy and this book is packed full.
Animal Parade
I am currently working on a few more children’s stories and a book of poems for children too.
With my new book, More to Mealtimes, encouraging children to eat a rainbow, when e-met Liz Hedgecock, I was intrigued by the Christmas Carrot. I interviewed Liz about her children’s story.
I mostly write contemporary and historical mystery novels for adults, but occasionally I write stories for children. I have two kids who are now teenagers, and I also tutor English part-time in a primary school. My picture book A Christmas Carrot, illustrated by Zoe Harmon, was inspired by two things. The first was wondering if I could pull off a modern, non-religious retelling of the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol which would be suitable for children. The second was my hatred of brussels sprouts, which lots of people think of as a Christmas vegetable – probably because no one eats them at any other time of year. When you think about it, carrots are far more Christmassy – the snowman’s nose, the reindeer’s carrot. So this book is also an attempt to establish the carrot as the true Christmas veg!
More to Liz
Liz Hedgecock grew up in London, England, did an English degree, and then took forever to start writing.
Now Liz travels between the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries, murdering people. To be fair, she does usually clean up after herself.
Liz’s various mystery series are available in ebook and paperback.
Liz lives in Cheshire with her husband and two sons, and when she’s not writing or child-wrangling you can usually find her reading, messing about on Twitter, or cooing over stuff in museums and art galleries. That’s her story, anyway, and she’s sticking to it.
Books for our older readers are just as important as for our younger ones because whether they already have a love of reading, or need something else that isn’t revision or screen time, down time is just as important aslearning, but the best thing about fiction books is that you can learn and relax at the same time.
I interviewed the lovely Jennifer about her young adult books with protagonists of 16 and 17.
Please tell us about your books?
My two young adult +++ novels ( I sincerely believe YA is just the starting age as just as many adults as teenagers read mine) came out just within a year of each other so it’s been a hectic and exciting time!
Igloo was my debut – a coming-of-age with romance set in the French Alps and Lancashire; Happiness Seeker, which came out on 1 Nov 23, couldn’t be more different – it’s a thriller-mystery-love story set over one week’s school trip to the lethal Morecambe Bay. I’d written Happiness Seeker over some years before Igloo was published so was over the moon when my publisher, Beaten Track, offered to publish it, following nine months of intense revision.
It’s setting that sparks off a story with me, that gives opportunities and inevitabilities for the plot which follows. Both books have a first person, strong female narrator, Nirvana, 16 in Igloo and Alithea 17, in Happiness Seeker.
The inspiration for Igloo was the tiny village in Haute Savoie in the French Alps where my family and I were fortunate to own a small chalet for some years, whilst we lived in France. My sons used to build igloos, which I began to see as a place as refuge and haven for those who use them. I thought, What if you met someone in a space as small as an igloo, and thus the story gradually grew. I very much wanted it to be a Christmas/winter story as I’m a big Christmas fan, so it features lots of snow, mountains, sledging, snow-shoeing, husky dog rides and midnight trysts under shooting stars. At the same time, it involves some elements of philosophy and some deep themes about having the courage to be your true self when your family and school have different intentions for you.
Happiness Seeker is set in Grange-over-Sands in Morecambe Bay, a place I’ve visited since being a small child, and more and more frequently once my parents moved there. I gradually learnt more and more about this unique and glorious tidal estuary which has offered many people livelihoods through fishing over the years but has also taken hundreds of lives. As a Drama and English teacher, I thought, what if – what if the group of teenagers wasn’t all sensible like my students, but tore up every rule in the book. I also gathered a dark and serious issue at the heart of the book, with which the anti-slavery charities Unseen and Hope for Justice advised me on.
So, it’s probably apparent in terms of plot and genres that my novels couldn’t be more different: it’s only a little spoilery to say that Igloo has a suitably happy ending, whereas Happiness Seeker is a tragedy, involving a dark and serious political problem. But I do have my own voice and between us, my publisher and I came up with.
Immerse yourself
Feel intensely
Think anew
What do your readers learn from your books?
I’d like to think my readers learn from both books about the courage, costs and rewards of true to yourself and being your best self.
It’s taken me some years to come to publication, with the small but brilliant Beaten Track Publishing and I’m enjoying every moment of it. I take both books into secondary schools and am relishing combining my English teaching expertise with my writer’s training ( through an MA in Creative Writing at MMU and mentoring with the Golden Egg Academy) in some specialist writing workshops.
To find out more, click on the website below or follow Jennifer on social media.
I really believe that there is More to Books than Reading and I love to support other authors. It is an honour to interview Vie- sharing her books on inclusivity and disability.
Tell us about your books
Vie
My children’s books are inclusive children’s picture books, where Emily, the main character, goes on lots of wonderful imaginary adventures. So far, two Emily books have been published, “Where Are We Going?” and “Who Am I?”; I have more Emily stories written and other books for children, and the general theme is inclusion, acceptance, and feeling good about ourselves, which ties in with my work in my Community Interest Company, where I teach self-esteem and confidence to children, young people, and women, in schools, groups, libraries, organisations, and one to one.
I’ve also published “La Vie Est Belle”, which is partly my story of going from hating who I was and how I looked, and why, to showing how I taught myself to celebrate everything I am.
I recently compiled a book of stories from the EB community, “Extraordinary Butterflies”, where people that live with the rare disability Epidermolysis Bullosa could share their stories of living with the condition, including myself. Everyone involved with the book lives with EB in one way or another, and our cover was designed by two girls, aged 10 and 11. Several children have contributed pieces, as well as parents, partners, and those of us that have the disability.
How did they come about?
I had two lines in my head for years, which feature in “Where Are We Going?” I’ve worked with children most of my life, in one form or another, so I have spent a lot of time at bus stops and train stations, because buses and trains are exciting. I have heard so many children ask their adults where they were going, or wanting to have a conversation about the bus or train we are waiting for, only to be told to be quiet, or “I’ve already told you!” This isn’t at all about moaning about parents/carers, because most do a wonderful job, however, we’re taught to be imaginative in primary schools, then told to grow up and not be silly in high schools, so lots of people lose their confidence in being imaginative, so can’t think of fun answers quickly. I wanted to show that, in much the same time as it takes to say, “I’ve already told you where we are going!”, you can say that you’re going off to sail a rainbow sea in a boat full of bubbles. Children understand imagination and they know that we can visit so many places in our minds.
Then, just before the pandemic, a lovely friend, Dr. Jennifer Jones, said I should write a book to establish my expertise in my field. I started on “La Vie” and, because I was letting that creativity flow out of me, those two lines came to mind and I started writing the children’s books, too.
What do your readers’ learn from your books?
I hope that my messages come across in a fun, caring way. I believe passionately in inclusion, in making the world a kinder, happier, more accepting, place, and that comes across in all of my books.
It’s only around 4% of books that feature a main character with a disability, and the majority of those are raising awareness of the disability, which is important. There are other things to consider, though. The majority of the representations of disability are people in wheelchairs yet, in reality, only 8% of the disabled community use wheelchairs; more of us use other aides or none at all, yet people are being shown that the wheelchair is the only accepted form of disability. The other thing to consider is that studies have shown that most children will not make friends with someone who is different to them, whether that is size, shape, colour, disability, or disfigurement, so, as wonderful as awareness raising books are, they are also pointing out our differences. With disability hate crimes rising, these are things that need to be considered. In my Emily books, Emily has a visible difference but it’s not part of the story; the first time her difference is mentioned is in the discussion questions at the end of the book. I want readers to see that we all have far more in common than that which makes us different, and seeing Emily have lots of wonderful adventures will help with that.
In my books for adults, I share about the importance of inclusion and acceptance, too. I believe that, by being kinder to, and more accepting of, ourselves, we’ll be kinder to, and more accepting, of others.
To find more about Vie and her books, click the links below:
I also love to support other authors. It is with pleasure that I got to interview Charlotte Marsh about how Susie Sloth came to life and why her secret superpower is so important for our children!
Susie Sloth and her Secret Superpower
How did Susie Sloth come about?
When I took my qualification to teach Pilates to kids and teens, it was suggested we take inspiration from yoga story books as there were so many for sale, but not one Pilates activity storybook for children. That was disappointing as yoga and pilates differ and it clearly stuck in my mind.
When lockdowns happened due to covid, I had to pivot and started teaching “petit pilates” over Facebook live to families stuck at home. Each week, I created a lesson loosely based on a theme with a short story feel. I didn’t return to teaching my normal classes and got a bee in my bonnet about there being a gap in the market so I decided to create a kids Pilates book. I wanted to include my most recent line of work which is helping people to improve their breathing so I chose a sloth as the main character as they have a breathing secret & that’s how Susie Sloth and her Secret Superpower came about.
Children enjoying learning from Susie Sloth and Charlotte Marsh!
On the surface, this book is a really colourful, fun activity book for children to read and join in with. There are Pilates moves on every page with diagrams and simple instructions. Plus breathing exercises to practise. Underpinning this story is years of professional study and my own personal experience of chronic pain, as well as identifying breathing issues in children and helping address anxiety via Breathwork. Kids love the cute character and the fun aspect, plus there’s a hidden ladybird in every picture and a repeated phrase at the end of each page gets them excited about guessing the next animal and they happily join in with reading aloud. Parents, teachers, therapists, pyhsios and other health professionals appreciate the science based lessons that are intertwined within this story.
It’s now well accepted that movement and nature are the most successful interventions for improving mental health conditions. Combining specific breathing protocols provides even more physiological benefits.
The 5 breathing exercises draw from my certification as a Buteyko breathing coach, from neuroscience, and from research based methods. The book finishes with Susie Sloth sharing her secret code which is a way of teaching the basics of better breathing for bodies and minds of all ages. Most of all, I think most people just love the cute little character that is Susie Sloth!
The beauty of reading this book is you’re bound to get wriggles and giggles, it allows for a connected play session together and actually delivers quite a workout for the adults too!
A brilliant workshop this week with an amazing group of children who fully joined in & remembered all the key points about improving their breathing. School visits available now to accompany the forthcoming kids book 🫁🦥💛🫁🦥#breathing#kids#derbyshire#ashbourne#buteykohttps://t.co/Hu2pAzIeUI
I had the honour of being on the Demo stage at the Clean and Tidy Home show last week and be on the Kids Zone stage sharing all about my new book ‘More to Mealtimes’
There I met the author of the Nose Family, Costas Andreou, who also had a slot on the Kid’s Zone.
Costas and I with our books!
I love interviewing children’s authors about their journey. So it is with pleasure that I share Costas’ story.
How did The Nose Family come about?
In 2019, my mother gave me some pictures I had drawn in middle school so I made them into books for children.
Costa’s creations in middle school“I want to encourage children to use their imagination”“The Noses promote diversity“
What do children learn from The Nose Family? The Nose Family tries to bring a different but important moral lesson to every book and to encourage children to use their imaginations to create something magical, and to find something they love and have a passion for. The Noses promote proactivity, diversity and a positive mental attitude. Anything is possible
What is next for The Nose Family?
I have plans for 8 more books for the 1st series,
Snow Day before Christmas this year. 🥳
In 2024, Wish Day and Nose Day.
I will try to have more diverse characters 3D printed. And try to attend as many events workshops and charity events during this year and next.
3D character for small world play
And to try to pitch to production companies the idea of a cartoon series.
As well as updating the website with lots more free activities. Plus a possible Nose Town Board game.
I went to the Bett Education show last month and I am always looking for things that will enhance children’s passion for literacy.
David and Emma, founders of Mighty Writer
There is so much MORE TO BOOKS when they children are writing them for themselves.
I came across the Mighty Writer and could immediately see how it would support and enhance sentence structure, SPAG but also widening speaking and listening and vocabulary.
From an in- home educator as a nanny and a tutor, I love that there are downloadable, printable options too.
Find printable lesson plans on their website!
I interviewed David about Mighty Writer.
How did Mighty Writer come about?
Emma, my wife, was a primary teacher. When we got married, we were looking for a business to start together. She told me that its difficult for children to learn literacy and difficult to teach literacy. In my arrogance, I thought this is something we could resolve. Since undertaking an MBA 25 years ago, I was a user of mind maps. I thought the idea of using images and symbols was key to making literacy easy for children. A more detailed story is here https://www.mightywriter.co.uk/our-story.html
“It turns a difficult process into an east, fun activity that immediately gets results for them”
What is the best thing that the children learn from using Mighty Writer?
Th biggest impact is the children’s engagement in literacy. It turns a difficult process into an easy, fun activity that immediately gets results for them.
Multi-award winning
What is next for Mighty Writer?
Our mission is to transform the literacy of every child on the planet. This may seem like a dream, but Mighty Writer is very capable of achieving this.
More to Books 