I’m loving this* book from our local library at the moment. Like all Gecko Press books it is “curiously good”. It’s about a mother duck and her four ducklings. One of them is a bit odd but she loves them all just the same.

This page struck a chord with me:


“Mother Duck didn’t notice. She was reading”

In case you were wondering how we know she loves those ducklings, just look at the cover to see her reading to them all.

• “Guji Guji” by Chih-Yuan Chen

In our house, we read books. My husband piles them like stalactites beside our bed. I stash one in my bag as I run out the door. Little e sits, making concentration noises and turns pages.

A few years ago, in the interests of making space, I needed to reduce the number of books I had. I decided that I would only keep what I could unreservedly recommend. No more “Well, you can borrow it, it's a good book but I didn't like...”

I'd love to share a list of books I can't live without. The list would go on and on as I remember "just one more". For fear of writing a school book report, if the house were on fire and I had to grab a book for each of us, here's what I'd save.

For Him – The Things They Carried

For me – The English Patient

For Little e – The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Things They Carried was the first book the my dearest recommended to me that I actually read. Not wanting to sound like a dust cover, but it really is a poignant depiction of a young generation finding themselves in another's war. (For years I confused Poignant and pungent, understandable really, but couldn't work out why the diary of Ann Frank was supposed to stink).

The English Patient was my Herodotus. I would clutch it throughout university and consult it whenever I was love lorn. No situation was ever as bad as being alone in the cave of swimmers waiting for help. This book might be a bit hard to find in the rush of a fire, however, as my dearest has packed it up somewhere that I can't locate.

The Hungry Caterpillar won't be hard to find at all. Little e has two copies now – one board book for reading herself and a “Two Person Book” paperback for bedtime stories.

You can't start them on good books too young as far as I'm concerned.

Note: I have heard that there is fabric that goes with this book and I would snap it up in an instant were I able to find it here. I'm watching Lily Boot's sampler with interest too.