Welcome to what is the culmination of the last three years of my life researching Early Childhood Development and How we Become Readers. In case you're here for the credentials - I hold a first class hons degree in Early Childhood Studies, and have experience with children in nurseries, schools, and as a parent. Plus, although I'm not an illustrator, I also spent time studying children's book illustration under the incredible kOrky Paul.
One area of my academic research was the importance of Reading-for-Pleasure and how individualised this is for every child. So armed with the hypothesis that not every young child wants to sit down with a caregiver and 'formally' read a book (in fact we could be doing a child a disservice by forcing this) I started writing children's books that support both children and caregivers in cultivating alternative reading environments; interactive, inclusive books that add breadth to the children's literature currently available on the shelves.
sMother to my boys
On a more personal note, I live on the Oxfordshire / Buckinghamshire border with my husband and two boys. Life is full on! Both boys are, what I would call, 'Wriggly Readers!' Their energy is boundless, their smiles infectious, and their cheekiness - off the scale. Ants firmly reside in their pants, and sitting down calmly with them to partake in shared-reading (dialogic or otherwise) has not always been an option. However, one book which was always called upon time-and-time again by my eldest was A Busy Day for Birds by Lucy Cousins, and it is this book and my last three years research that has led me to this present moment.
The Research
The Wriggly Readers World section of this website contains further resources and supplementary material to support the Books for Wriggly Readers series. It is also where you will find details of the literature and research which led to the birth of Books for Wriggly Readers; from 'Reading-for-Pleasure' and 'Reader Identities', to the importance of representation in resources (including literature) both at home and in educational settings.
