What we're reading

I've worked in children's publishing for nearly 7 years now (it'll be 7 years on the 8th of March to be exact, although I'm on maternity leave at the moment). That's a long time for me to be doing anything! It's not something I've ever really talked about on my blog. I suppose that's because my blog has always been a creative outlet for life outside of my 9-5, and children's books were never relevant to that. But now I have a child and my blog has become more and more about her and our new life together, which involves a fair amount of reading. So I thought I might share a little of what Elizabeth reads (or what I read to her).

The first book that we've been reading a lot of recently is not from the publisher I work for (Walker books), but was a gift from my friend Jenny who, incidentally, will soon have a little baby of her own. Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett. I love it. Now I'm a mum I look at picture books from a completely different perspective; not only do they need to look nice (this used to be my only concern), they also need to sound good. This book easily fills both those orders. It only has 5 words and 4 of those are in the title but that doesn't matter at all. It is poetic, playful and a joy to read out-loud.

The illustrations are simple yet charming. E's still a bit young to understand but I hope once she does she will love this book as much as I do. For now a good old chew will have to do! I would recommend Orange Pear Apple Bear for babies of E's age up to young children who'll love the repetition and rhythm.