A sad result of the Ultimate Storm of Perth, 2010, was my boyfriend’s parents lost a lot of books as water seeped into their storage room. Some of these were priceless memories such as photo albums and plane tickets they had saved from their trips when they were younger. They also had a lot of children’s books from when my boyfriend and his siblings were little that were being saved for the grandkids. My boyfriend’s mum was therefore drawn to purchase a second hand copy of a Hairy Maclary collection.

It's Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy!

At the weekly Sunday night dinner, the book was brought out and the entire family sat around and read stories to one another. It was more entertaining than television and everyone participated. It felt like we were in the 1950s and all sitting around a piano singing Christmas carols. It is amazing how one dog can touch so many hearts. We all knew the words, we all knew the characters and we all wanted to read aloud.

Reading aloud has always been something I’ve enjoyed. At primary school, I would grab any opportunity to sit in front of the class and read a book. One of my first jobs when I was finishing university was for the Constitutional Centre, teaching year ones and twos the joys of the Constitution via a giant picture book. I have always wanted to be a primary school teacher for this reason and I have a secret desire to appear on Playschool so that after we look at the rocket clock I can read a story to the boys and girls. One of my life ambitions is to become a mother, mostly so I can read children’s books again without looking silly. They’re so cleverly written, the pictures are wonderful and the stories are simple yet meaningful. Perhaps one day I will attempt to write a children’s book, but so many people try, thinking it is easy, and soon discover it is very difficult. Plus all of the best stories have already been written – There’s an Hippopotomus on the Roof Eating Cake, Where the Wild Things Are,  and Moo Baa La La La.

Now available in Spanish!