By Fran Heath 2016
Abel’s illustrations copyright Roscoe Cattle 2016
Heather’s illustrations copyright Cleo Cattle 2016
I was browsing in the children’s shop a
Pocket Full of Pebbles, in Cowes Isle of Wight when I came across this delightful book by an Isle of Wight author and artist. She has taken a dolls house decorated it and created scenes for her story. This book is an excellent example of crowd funding working, to produce a book with a clear message that is : Parents and other adults should not limit the activities of children or choose how or with whom they play .
As someone who wrote children’s books in the nineteen eighties I was somewhat surprised and saddened to find this message is still needed.
I grew up with Janet and John books, where John did things with his father and Janet looked on passively. At art school I was, and still am, a feminist. When I had my own children, boys first, I bought them dolls and buggies and wouldn’t let them have weapons of any sort. This didn’t prevent them from making them out of sticks, lego or anything else they could lay their hands on . My daughters played with Meccano and Lego. They climbed trees, learnt to sail , drew, painted and played with dolls, and one has studied disaster management and the other has a degree in architecture.
Getting back to the book. It is made up of wonderful rhymes.
“ The princess loved skateboarding and she found it rewarding
to use the rainbow as a half-pipe when she flipped it upside down
She was liking being reckless, while the ninja made a necklace
of the brightly coloured flowers as he sat upon the ground. “
It is a story about a brother and sister and the different ways they are treated. Happy to say by the end of the book things have changed, the parents have seen the light and the children play together doing both quiet and physically challenging activities. The drawings done by the children in the story, have been created by the author’s own children and are fabulous.
A great book and thoroughly recommended.
creativecolour.org 