London Mums magazine editor Monica Costa and I recently went to a Little Tiger Press book presentation and had an interesting chat with author Caroline Crowe who has just published her first picture book Pirates in Pyjamas illustrated by Tom Knight.
What are the stories you read most with your children?
I have got so many picture books and we don’t have space anymore to by others. At the moment I think the best one is Blown Away by Rob Biddulph. This is my youngest son’s favourite story. And my eldest son is reading Asterix so this is his favourite at the moment. I love the fact that my youngest is one, and his favourite is The Zoo, that all of us have read.
Why did you swapped fact for fiction?
I have got three children, I love being journalist, but I wanted to do something around the children. I love picture books and I am a little bit silly. I have got a silly sense of humour, and I have always written poems since I was a child.
Do you think that books with less text could be good for children?
I think that a picture book is composed by larges pictures. Children have to use imagination, look for things of the text, create the story themselves. I think is huge valuable.
Can you tell us about your love for silliness?
My dad has always had a big sense of humour. I think we can’t take life so seriously, you just need to see the fun in things. To be able to make children laugh and to give them something to enjoy, this is an amazing thing to be able to do.
Have you ever been inspired by any poems?
My favourite ever book is Badjelly the Witch by Spike Milligan, who was a poet. I find easy to write in rhymes more than prose.
