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I’ve just lent a friend of mine one of my books – Reginald Hill’s The Wood Cutter– and it’s making me nervous.
Why? Well, firstly I’m very protective of my books, so will be seriously upset if the pages get folded or the spine is broken. Or, even worse, it gets lost. That’s enough to ruin a friendship! Well, not quite, but it could make things a little strained.
The second reason is this. What if she doesn’t like it? I love this book and have recommended it, but what if she doesn’t feel the same? I would find that so sad. For me book choices are so personal. Please tell me that I’m not alone in my slight madness.

I’ve just had a quick nose at my children’s bed-side tables to see what books they’ve got on the go at the moment.

Eldest (aged 12) is currently reading Liz Kessler’s ‘A Year without Autumn’ and Holly Goldberg Sloan’s ‘I’ll be there’. She’s very much into books which explore relationships; I think I went through the same phase at her age. But she’s also reading ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog at Nightime’, which is completely outside of her comfort zone and yet, she’s thoroughly enjoying it. 

Our 10 year old is reading ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Eragon’. She’s very much into the fantasy genre, which is no surprise as she lives in a house of geeks! Her other book is ‘Secrets’ by Jacqueline Wilson. I asked her which is her favourite, but she couldn’t decide.

And lastly, our youngest (who will be 5 at the end of May) has ‘Dr.Seuss on the Loose’, ‘The Hums of Pooh’ and ‘The Big Book of Nonsense’  at the end of his bed. He’s madly into Dr Seuss right now, having borrowed nine from Brentwood Library yesterday! He also loves information books, which he seems to be devouring.

In a way I don’t mind what they read, as long as they are reading. On saying that, our youngest daughter has a much wider vocabulary than our eldest and I would certainly put a great deal of that down to their different reading choices. It turns out that they have quite an ecclectic taste in their reading material. It will be interesting to see if their tastes change over the course of time.

Last night we went along to the Eagle and Child in Brentwood for our first experience of the @brentwoodtwtup. We got to meet up with other independent business owners and local councillors, over a glass of wine or in my case, diet coke, (I know how to party!). I didn’t know what to expect, as this whole business lark is very new to me, so I was a bit nervous. There was no need to be though, because everyone was so friendly and welcoming. The main premise of the monthly meeting is to get to know the local business community, share ideas and have a bit of a social life too.

I don’t know if anything like this takes place in other areas, but if it doesn’t, it should! The enthusiasm from people is infectious and leaves you feeling connected to the outside world, which is fantastic. Up until now, the process of setting up Chicken and Frog has been quite insular in some ways and very daunting if I’m honest. We’re moving away from the safety nets of our previous jobs to set out on a whole new venture and although I feel ready to hand in my interactive white board pen after sixteen years of teaching, it’s still a massive step. However, I honestly believe that the support of the local community is a massive boost for our confidence and know-how.

So thank-you to the rather wonderful Laurie Edmonds for her hard work and vision. If you are local to Brentwood, I recommend that you come along. And if you’re not, why not set up something similar? The support of our communities is more important than ever  in these difficult times.

If you could choose any fictional character to be, just for one day, who would it be? I’m asking you, because I’ve been asked and thought it would be good to share.  Easy question, right? Initially I went with my gut reaction and blurted out  ‘Mildred Hubble’  (from Jill Murphy’s Worst Witch collection). I loved her, she was such a kind-hearted character, but absolutely hopeless. Every time a spell went wrong, I felt for Mildred. I devoured those books when I was at school and was delighted when my own children read them (it meant that I could read them again).

But, then my brain started whirring. Would I actually choose to be Mildred or did I just empathise with her? I am not sure that I would want to be that clumsy and awkward. I’ve done that once, and am pleased to say it’s a phase in my life which I managed to survive. So, who would I actually choose to be? I could go high brow and say Elizabeth Bennet. Now there’s a feisty protagonist if I ever saw one. The way she employs intelligence and independence to succeed is admirable. But again, would I want to be her? I’m not sure I could suffer Mrs Bennet for a whole day!

I think, if I could choose, I would be either Max (Where the Wild Things Are) because he is so freely expressive of his feelings and he gets to lead the wild rumpus, or Alice. Her adventures have thrilled me since I was a little girl, so the opportunity to be her for a day just couldn’t be missed. I know, I know, I’ve cheated, but I can’t narrow it down to less than two and that was a struggle. How about you?

I absolutely adore picture books. We have literally hundreds at home, many of them mine, rather the children’s (especially the ridiculous number of Anthony Browne titles which grace our shelves). The dissertation for my MA was entitled ‘Complexity and Sophistication on Children’s Picture Books’. Seriously, I think I may have a problem!

I should clarify that by picture book, I mean a book which is defined as a fictional, illustrated book in which pictures are design vehicles for meaning, where text and art are integral aspects of an interdependent relationship.

The very wise Maurice Sendak once said “You cannot write for children. They’re much too complicated. You can only write books that are of interest to them.” I am inclined to agree. Picture books, of which Sendak is famed, are often seen as an introduction to reading for young children and nothing more. This perplexes me. If adults would look carefully at picture books, they would find so much going on beneath the surface.

So that’s my little challenge to you. This week visit a beautiful bookshop and choose yourself a picture. And then read it; drink in the richness of the illustrations, take in the sub-text, but most of all, enjoy it.

With so much information and entertainment at our fingertips, what is the role of a bookshop? Twenty years ago the answer would have been relatively simple. A bookshop was a place to buy books of course, but also somewhere that the customer could access information, talk about books and get recommendations. And that was it.

In an ideal world, we would open a niche little shop, stacked floor to ceiling with all of our favourites and not much else. These days, with profit margins narrowing and outgoings accelerating, that ‘ideal’ would result in a failed business within a matter of months. We have had to do a lot of soul searching before moving forwards seriously with our plans for Chicken and Frog.

In my opinion (and I really hope it’s not just me that holds it), the bookshop should be at the centre of the community. Not only do we want to provide a place where people can buy books, but we want to encourage browsing and develop a dialogue about the pleasures of reading. My favourite reads haven’t come from a website, but from having a good old nose about a bookshop or from a recommendation. So that’s what we will do. But, more than that, we want to be part of the high street, inviting and encouraging others to come together.

I am pleased to say that Brentwood has a very strong community of indie shops already and we are very excited to join the party! So, alongside the books, we will also be stocking local crafts, providing a relaxed space for parents to have a cuppa whilst the kids rummage through a dressing up box or listen to a story. And, we will be hosting lots of fantastic events run by local crafty types, as well inviting people in to give talks…we aim to reflect and embrace our community.

We’d love to hear your views. What would you like to see in the perfect bookshop?

Wow, what a busy, productive, lovely evening I’ve just had! Not only did I get to eat some very yummy food courtesy of Claire Mackaness of YIAH (still a bit full, must learn to stop), but I also got to meet some inspirational Brentwood business women.

I could get used to this networking lark, especially if there’s good food involved 😉 I found out lots more about the Brentwood Bag Project which is wonderful, eco-friendly, community building enterprise. Seriously can not wait until Chicken and Frog are involved with the project. I also met so many fabulous people, all running independent shops and businesses in the heart of Brentwood, including Mesh, Running Rabbit, Vintage Victory, Cookery Angel, Raquette Boutique and Laurie Edmonds.

So I am now looking forward to meeting up with lots of people next week @Brentwoodtwtup, where I am hoping to ‘meet the faces behind the usernames, make new connections & get the local lowdown’.

I honestly do love Brentwood.

As things are now moving swiftly in the right direction, with contracts finally being written, we can start to firm up some of our regular in-shop events. Some will be free (story telling, for example) and some will not (sorry!).

There’ll be ‘Rhythm and Rhyme’ for pre-school children, ‘Discover a Book’, regular story telling sessions every week, ‘Make and Take’ every month on a Saturday to name but a few. Check out our events page over the next few days for more details…