Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
Hi, I’m Maria, owner and maker at Maria Made It. I make silver handprint and fingerprint jewellery and keepsakes. Everything is made to order, by hand, by me.
I have 3 children: a boy and two girls aged 8, 6 and 3 and we love reading, we also have a lot of books! We are currently living in Belgium, but we are from South East London. We will be heading back there next year.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
Hi, I’m Maxine. I live in Kent with my husband Patrick, our daughter Ava who’s 4, two kittens called Polly & Tigger and a snake called Kaa. I’m a digital marketing consultant for family focused brands and businesses.
What is your son/daughter’s favourite book?
For Ava it’s The Gruffalo and Stick Man by Julia Donaldson – we have read these to her ever since she was super little and The Gruffalo was one of the first books she started to recite by herself at 22 months, she knew all the words – we couldn’t believe it. She loves the stories. Plus going on the hunt for a Gruffalo or following a Stick Man trail if we’re out for a walk. She will always pick up a “Stick Man” to take home.
Hi Ellie! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
I’m Ellie and I live in South Manchester with my husband and three children: Lucas (6), Aurora (3) and Jake (3). I am a writer and family travel blogger. My dad is a librarian and my mum was an English teacher, so a love of reading is in my genes! I have been a bookworm for as long as I can remember. My dad says I taught myself to read before I even got to school – I just couldn’t wait!
As a child I made my large book collection into a library for my friends, complete with membership cards, a date stamp, and record book. Naturally, one of the things I was most excited about when I had children was sharing books and reading with them.
Hi Nell! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
I’m Nell. I’m originally from Birmingham but Edinburgh became my home 9 years ago. I now live in an old mining village just outside Edinburgh with my husband and 3 children aged 7, 6 and 3 years. I own the newly launched children’s clothing brand Tatty Rose. I adore reading and my happy place is snuggled up reading to my children.
What are your children’s favourite books?
My eldest son is a fantastically independent reader who has a real love of curling up with a good book. By far his favourites are from the DogMan collection by Dave Pilkey. I love the sound of him giggling away as he reads his hilarious books.
My daughter who is 6 is growing in her confidence reading alone and I will find her still awake reading at night. Her favourite book is The Day The Crayons Came Home.
My youngest son is 3 and his favourite is Oi Frog. We do have Oi Dog also but Oi Frog has remained the firm favourite. It’s such a fun rhythmic book, what’s not to love?
Hi Kirsty! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
I’m Kirsty, mum, founder of Roly Poly Pillow and part time teacher. Myself, my fiancé, daughter and golden retriever live in beautiful West Sussex. We regularly take advantage of the woodland walks on offer as our 3-year-old is obsessed with squirrel spotting. I started my business, Roly Poly Pillow, when my daughter was 18 months. I worried about using a loose pillow in her cot-bed, so I designed a sheet with an inbuilt pillowcase for over 1 year olds. It takes away the danger of loose pillows and helps parents and toddlers get a great night’s sleep.
What is your daughter’s favourite book?
My daughter loves Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. It’s about a monkey looking for its mum. A butterfly tries to help but keeps taking the monkey to the wrong animal (they get back the monkey mum eventually though, phew). It’s a great book to start discussions about the way we describe something, it’s noises, features and colours, and also encourages children to think about phrasing questions. The illustrations are also really lovely.
Hi Clare! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
My name is Clare, I own an independent card and gift shop on Carshalton High Street called Calladoodles. When I set up the shop over eight years ago I wanted to bring a bit of the colour and the feel of Brighton to Carshalton. Although we have had to change and adapt over the years it’s stayed true to that dream in a lot of ways, but the children’s books and gifts have become more of a focus with the arrival of my children. I live in Carshalton, Surrey with my two children Chloe (5) and Zak (2).
Hi Claudine! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
I am Claudine. I am originally from Luxembourg and am now living in SE London with my partner Mike, our nearly two year old son Leonard and our black and white cat Sprite. When Leonard was 4 months old I started making baby clothes for him, as I couldn’t find things colourful enough in shops. As people commented on them everywhere we went, I took this as an opportunity to start Snuffles & Spud, a unisex super colourful baby clothing brand.
What is your son’s favourite book?
At the moment it has to be ‘The Queen’s Hat‘ by Steve Antony. It is a very simple story of the Queen’s hat being swished away by the wind and it flying over various London landmarks before it lands on Baby George’s head. He also loves ‘Shark in the Park‘, because he gets to shout out when the shark appears.
Hi Laura! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
I’m Laura, I live in Buckinghamshire with my husband Simon and two children. Posey (nearly 5) and Gilbert (just 3) and two rather grumpy old cats Burliose and Toulose. I own a small business making children’s clothing – The Whistlebrook Clothing Company
What are your children’s favourite books?
Posey is reading the ‘You Choose’ books a lot at the moment, especially at bedtime. She loves picking out characters and using her imagination. We just got the ‘You Choose in Space’ book and we love it, the illustrations are so detailed.
Bertie is little and is a bit late to the party with his speech, so we are still working through the ‘That’s not my’ books. He is also obsessed with a Thomas the Tank Engine counting book which is always the last one before the lights go out!
Hi Stacey! Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do
My name is Stacey Grant-Canham and I am the founder of Black & Beech, a design-led brand that focuses on feminism and motherhood, with products ranging from slogan jewellery to fine art prints and ethically sourced sweaters and tees.
What is your child’s favourite book?
I think a firm favourite at the minute is Odd Dog Out by Rob Biddulph. It tells the tale of a dog who feels she doesn’t fit in so travels to the bright lights of another city to discover that being different is OK.
Hi Cat! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
I’m Cat Bateman, a mum of two very energetic & football-mad boys, 11 & 8. I met my husband 26 years ago (I know! I am that old!) and I have a business called Little Folk Nursery Rhymes. I hold weekly sessions singing nursery-rhymes to lovely little customers accompanied by my guitar. I completely love singing and sharing music and am passionate about spreading the word about Type 1 Diabetes as my eldest boy was diagnosed when he was 5 years old.
What were your sons’ favourite books when they were small?
I will answer all the questions from my memories of what they loved when they were your demographic of 0-5 years – I have totally enjoyed digging these books out and taking another look at them – haven’t been able to get rid of any of them in the constant battle to reclaim the house from the children’s stuff as they hold such gorgeous memories.