Melrose & Croc, Together at Christmas, by Emma Chichester-Clark

I’m an unabashed collector of books of all kinds – particularly Picture Books. I am drawn to Picture Books like a Magpie is to shiny things. I love the marriage of words and pictures. I love sharing stories with children. I love the humour and playfulness that Picture books often contain, and as a writer, I particularly admire the skill of the illustrator, at adding so much of the magic.

A small percentage of Picture Books are both written and illustrated by the same person. I would absolutely LOVE to be in this category, but sadly, my drawing skills are woefully deplete.

Emma Chichester Clark is one such talent – and there is a particular book that comes out again and again at Christmas in our house – first being enjoyed by my own children, and now by the children I look after.

It’s the story of two strangers, Melrose and Croc, who come to the big city. Both are lonely and looking for a friend.

Like all good stories, things go from bad to worse for both of them – especially Croc!

Until lovely music draws them both to the ice-skaing rink…

…where they are destined to bump into each other!

And the two lonely strangers become best of friends.

This sweet book will always be a favourite of mine. And it could partly explain my deep affection for Labradors…

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post.

12 more sleeps till the big day!

The Pup With The Yellow Collar

Here’s a little snippet from a Picture Book series I’m currently working on. Can you tell who inspired it?

Once, there were ten tumbling, bumbling, honey-coloured puppies, who needed a forever home. None of the puppies yet had names. Instead, they each wore a different coloured collar, so that people could tell which one of them was which.

At first they were small and snuggly and cosy and dozy. But every day, they grew!

They wobbled and wiggled.

They toppled and tumbled.

They nuzzled and nibbled.

Until soon, they were big enough to chase and race around the garden.

One day, a nice family came to adopt a puppy of their very own. All of the puppies were unique and special so it was very difficult to choose.

Some were big.

Some were small.

Some were sleepy.

One was sassy!

But the pup with yellow collar was funny, licky, snuggly and sweet….