Hmmm, you know after I thought about it I realized the books I like are ridiculous, funny and sort of uplifting for the kids. But not uplifting in a w@nky sorta moral high horse politically correct way.

We have hundred and hundreds of books and when I look at the ones the kids are drawn to - Pamela Allen for example. When you look at what she has done, you can see she...well she can't sort of help being so wonderful. You can tell she writes from her bones or something - its HER that make the story so delicious. And as a parent I know any book she writes I will love for lots of reasons.

SO what I am trying to say is although researching the market is a good move, don't let that dictate too much. Write from your heart, apprentice yourself to your own child and see things through her eyes as she grows. Go to book childrens book readings and launches (advertised in the weekend papers) and suck in the feelings the room generates. A good childrens writer is an artist first and foremost, I think the 'brand' (for want of a better word) will follow from that. xoxoxoxoxo

Just my 200 cents! Its just my kids were given quite a few books recently and some of them are total crap. They are sort of clinical somehow and all moral and correct, it really feels like 'story lite', they have no guts, really hollow. I didn't think it would be easy to get kids books wrong until now!