Why I Write Children's Books
To be honest, I hardly read any children's books until I had kids of my own. But once I did start reading them I quickly realised how funny they could be! I can still remember the book that inspired me to write. It was Willbee the Bumblebee by Craig Smith. It was funny, it mentioned the Women's Weekly (and being a kiwi I could relate to this) and the rhyming was great. And so, with my new found inspiration, I started to write children's books of my own. I started writing my first children's book in the night-time hours when I was breast feeding my daughter. In those moments ideas would come to me in flashes of inspiration and I felt waves of excitement! That was about five years ago. Looking back now, that story needs a lot of improvement but you've got to start somewhere right? The first step is to start generating the ideas. As they start to flow our mind takes us on twists and turns to wonderful destinations that we didn't set out for in the first place, but the actual endpoint can be amazing! And that's what story telling is all about - taking your reader on a magical journey into the unknown.
I started writing my latest book 'There's Bug Guts on My Shoe' after my daughter (who was about 3 years old at the time) said these exact words to me one day after standing on a bug. I thought this statement was pretty funny. So I sat down and started to develop the concept. At the time I didn't know what I was going to say or who the main character would be. I just started to write. It flowed and it was funny. And above anything else my goal is to make kids and their parents laugh and have fun. Not only does this promote a closer connection but it also allows kids to have fun while they're learning.
The thing I love most about writing children's books is that you can play around with words and create something new. You can even invent new words if you want to! It's also a chance to switch off from being 'mum' or a wife and do something for yourself. As a mum we're always rushing around, trying to get things done. We hardly ever leave time for ourselves. Writing is perfect because it can be done anytime, anywhere and it can transport us to another world. Best of all there are no rules, no boundaries, and no limits.
So that's why I just HAVE to write children's books! I can't see myself doing anything else. And if you want to read more of my writing, check out my newest book There's Bug Guts on my Shoe!
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