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Egmont

Interview: Ruth Redford,
Author of ‘That’s My Daddy!’

Hi Ruth! Thank you so much for chatting to me about your latest book ‘That’s My Daddy!’’

Could you give us a quick overview of what the book is about?

It’s all about daddies and is a celebration of them everywhere, in all shapes, sizes and forms. We wanted to encourage children to identify their daddies in a fun and interactive way. It covers everything from favourite foods, what they’re like in the morning, to jobs and hobbies and what they do around the house. Hopefully it’s silly and fun but also a really nice book to share and talk about what your daddy is like.

What inspired you to write this story?

I came up with the idea for That’s My Daddy when I was out running one day, one of the lines popped into my head and it developed from there, it was initially called The Daddy Catalogue! I did a first draft of the text and left it in my collection of unpublished stories for about six months. Then I happened to glance at it and thought there is something here so I sent it out on submission to a couple of publishers.

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Captain Sparklebeard by Timothy Knapman & Sam Lloyd

Captain SparklebeardAt the moment, if you ask Ivy to go and pick a book then this is the one she inevitably comes back with. We read it every day and she’s even made me construct a sparkly beard out of an old headband so she can pretend to be the main character!

The story is about a girl called Peg who is utterly fed up of living with her wicked Step-Great-Grand Auntie. Her only refuge from all the chores she has to do is her beloved collection of adventure books.

One day she takes the cat for a walk and discovers that the pirates have come to town and are looking for new recruits to help them find treasure. Seeing a way out of her miserable life, she asks if she can join them but they rudely refuse. They tell her that she’s too nice, too small and, most importantly, she doesn’t have a beard therefore she can’t ever be a pirate!

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Aaaarrgghh, Spider! by Lydia Monks

Aaaarrgghh, Spider!The little spider in this book is very lonely – all he wants is a family of his own. So the enterprising little fellow finds a family he likes and sets about trying to become their pet. The problem is that they’re all scared of spiders!

He tries to impress them with his dancing, he shows them how nice and clean  he is by hanging out in the bath and he builds a web and catches flies to prove he’s self-sufficient and can feed himself. However every time they seem him they yell ‘Aaaarrgghh! Spider!’ and throw him back outside.

Feeling defeated, the poor lonely spider decides to set up house in their garden instead and builds himself a giant sparkly web. Will this be the final straw for the family or will they see the spider as a potential pet after all?

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Socks For Santa By Adam & Charlotte Guillain & Lee Wildish

Socks For SantaThoughtful George has a plan. As Santa brings him presents every single year, this Christmas George decides he’s going to take some gifts to Santa instead. He makes himself a sleigh, packs a big box of presents (throwing in some extra woolly socks for himself just in case it gets cold!) and he sets off for the North Pole.

However when he gets there he is met by a little elf in despair. They are really behind at wrapping the presents and Rudolph’s nose has stopped glowing because he has flu. George mucks in to help and soon everything is ready for Santa’s journey. He digs in to his box of presents and gives the elves some treats to make them feel better and also finds a torch for Rudolph. However the other reindeer get a little over-excited at the sight of all the presents and soon the big box of gifts George had brought for Santa is empty!

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Sweep By Louise Greig & Júlia Sardà

SweepI’m a big fan of books which helps children recognise and understand their feelings and this one does a fantastic job of showing how moods can affect you and the people around you.

The main character in this story is called Ed and he is in a bad mood. He’s been in bad moods before but not like this one. It starts off as something tiny, but instead of addressing the way that he feels he just ignores it, stares at the ground and pushes on through until his mood becomes worse. His feelings take hold and little Ed is no longer in control of his emotions. The bad mood takes over and starts to affect the people around him. Eventually the bad mood is so big that it affects the whole town.

Can Ed regain control of his emotions, and if so will he learn how to stop this from happening again?

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