That's Not My Child...World Book Day Confessions

As is tradition I've dusted off my brain cells to chat all things book with you to celebrate World Book Day. 

The usual negotiations began weeks ago:

Moi: Matt, what would you like to dress up as for World Book Day? 

Him: I don't think I'll bother. 

Moi: What? You know I have a book blog, right? We're doing this. 

The first book given consideration was a Christmas present called Where Are You Matthew Lovatt? I ordered it from Wonderbly. It a lovely product- a Wally style book with personalised details. Matt was overjoyed with it. We have read it numerous times. He knows where he is on every page but there are other things to search for too. Matt  amused himself with the idea of going to school dressed as a book character version of himself. Then he realised that no one else would have seen said book so he deemed it an unfair option. 

His next suggestion was to be the child in When I Grow Up I want to Play for Liverpool. 

This would involve him wearing a football kit or non school uniform uniform as we call it. Quelle surprise. In a similar vein he suggested his Liverpool Football Club Annual so that he could dress as one of the players. My initial reaction to both ideas was no no no. This is not happening. Yes he does read them a lot but I am still clinging to the fact that the day is about celebrating literary characters. Here is an opportunity to focus on a different hobby. Let's take a break from football. Just for a few hours. I suggested he chose a character that reflected his interest in books, his knowledge of characters, or his literary role models. I presented the case for Bee Boy (see previous post) and Beetle Boy (see my as yet unwritten post). Both book collections are firm favourites in this house. The former option was rejected due to his dislike of wearing yellow and the latter was unacceptable based on the itchiness of a woolly jumper with a beetle attached. 

On we go.

After tenser negotiations than the PM has been facing lately we decided to come at the problem from a different direction- which costumes do we already have! My love of a lifehack grows stronger each day whilst my zest for the perfect WBD costume was ebbing rather than flowing.  

So, instead of searching the bookshelves we looked to the dressing up box (by dressing up box I mean random clothes shoved in wardrobes, under the bed, or the corner of the spare room). And lo! That's when we struck gold. Two brilliant costumes were already sitting waiting to be called to duty. Firstly, Matt has a skeleton onesie from Halloween just waiting to be cast as Big Skeleton from Funnybones. Secondly, Matt has a Santa outfit from our Christmas card photoshoot which he loved wearing. It wouldn't take any effort to costume him as Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas. Feeling rather smug with my original and simple solutions, I left the boss to mull it over. 

Meanwhile what to do with the tiddler? She does not officially need to dress up. But you know we have to. 

First of all I thought of Mog. She loves the books and the cuddly toy who resides with us. Similarly she is rather fond of Spot. She likes the books and loves their handpuppet. However, this tiny person has big opinions on clothing. She would either refuse to wear a furry onesie or we could find that she would refuse to ever take it off. Do you know she often sleeps in shoes? I needed an outfit for her that represents her budding relationship with literature whilst being toddler proof and something that would not further complicate our lives! Then it came to me. I wish I could claim that the invention was mine own but, by the powers of tracking, Mothercare planted the thought on my phone and in my brain. Why be a character when you can be a whole book?

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of the That's Not My books so it seems perfect to dress Dot in one of the pyjama sets of the books. But which one? There are a few sets to choose from and oh so many books to represent. 

Matt had a pile of these books when he was the wee one and we both thought they were great. He loved the tactile pages and I liked introducing him to a range of adjectives. (He was my first child- I had time and energy to care about this stuff.) The books are a great size for toddlers: small, not too many pages, robust and chunky. They never really left our shelves and Dot has inherited quite a collection.

That's My Monkey. For real.

Her favourite is That's Not My Monkey. Matt loved That's Not My Tractor. My faves are That's Not My Piglet and That's Not My Snowman. This is purely based on how cute the pigs are and the stuff to touch in the snowman book! 

These popular classics deserve our recognition. However, I am afraid that I cannot discuss these books with you without an admission. It pains me to make this confession but I have been nothing but a fool.  A fool for about seven years (in this example. In general it has been many many more years). Please don't judge me too harshly. And I would appreciate it if you keep it between us but I have only very recently discovered the mouse!

I'm sorry if you feel let down and that this disclosure totally disappoints you. Let's hope we can mend our relationship by the end of this tome.

That's Not My Donkey but that is the mouse in question

Do not get me wrong- I saw the mouse. I have not lost the ability to scan a page and identify a cute rodent. But I didn't see it consistently in every reading of every page in every book. It was only when reading them with Dot that a light came on and I realised we were meant to look for the mouse. Like the Farmyard Tales where you search for the duck. (I still don't know how to do this without interrupting the story). In all the years of reading them with Matt we never searched for the mouse. Poor first born. And poor reader because further apologies are necessary as it is about to get worse. That was only part one of my confession.

Very recently, today in fact, (at the time of writing probably not at the time of reading), Matt twisted the plot even more. He explained to me that you are not supposed to hunt for the mouse. It is meant to be there because the MY belongs to him. Huh? He showed me that (spoiler alert) when he finds his donkey or panda etc the mouse is cheering. 

That's a happy mouse

In Matt's words, the mouse is the narrowrater. My eloquent response to the mouse being an explicit part of the book was Shut The Front Door!

I'm just going to pause a moment here in case this is shocking news to you too. However, if you are a smartypants and already knew this please read on and do comment below to feel superior.

For many years I had never even questioned who was searching for the animals or vehicles. The time for existential thinking is not when reading with toddlers. I think I egotistically thought it was me, the reader, - especially since That's Not My Baby has a mirror at the back and shows that my baby is in fact my baby (sorry about another spoiler). Surely I cannot be the only one to have missed this. I am wondering how many more things we miss when we read with brain fog? What else have I got wrong? Is there actually such a thing as a Gruffalo?

At least wee Dot gets the full That's Not My... experience. Lucky second child. In many ways Dot's experience of reading is very different from that which I had with Matt. Seeing as we are in confession mode I need to tell you that Dot's book etiquette leaves a lot to be desired. Matt chewed corners and sure he didn't always restock his shelves in alphabetical order but we definitely cuddled up with a book from when he was a baby. Number 2 child does things differently. Now do not get too alarmed- she does love books. But she is the reader. Mum reads, Matt reads, Dot reads. So when she brings me a book she is leading the interaction. She reads the words (in Dot speak) she points and grunts (for most things not just pig books) and, now this is important for anyone who may get to to share a book with her, she turns the pages. Not you. Put your hand away. This is ok. I am totally fine with not reading every page and missing essential parts of the book. I am obviously lying. It is extremely frustrating but I am coming to terms with the fact that it shows she has independent reading skills and likes to take ownership of her own literacy. 

Hmmm. Dot has definitely developed her own ideas about how books work. It is not one I am particularly happy to share but I guess this is a safe space. Whilst Dot has exceeded all our hopes in terms the joy she brings into our lives, this funny, charismatic, and engaging wee mite is also, I am ashamed to say, a flap ripper.

That's Not My Daughter...her hands are too destructive

In two short years she has ruined 2 Postman Bear books, Dear Zoo, Dear Santa (surely this has dire consequences), and many other titles. I am sure it is just another wonderful phase that we have to get through, but until then no flaps please were rippish. And meanwhile we are more than happy to get our tactile reading fix through the mouse books. These books have survived for seven years in our house and all but one (poor dinosaurs) are still going strong.

So, Happy Anniversary and World Book Day to Usborne's Touch-feely books! 

Book and PJ twinning. We went for the Unicorn set because she likes yellow.
Ooh maybe she'll be Bee Boy in a few years time...

Back to the main man, Matt had settled on Father Christmas because he really did enjoy having a beard in December. So, we were all set but then school announced their WBD plans. There was to be a break from tradition. School invited children to come in in their pjs and dressing gowns with their favourite bedtime story. I love this idea. Obvs I love the costumes but this focuses on the books not the imaginative abilities or sewing skills of the parents! Plus and most importantly it fits in with Dot's costume. I love it when a plan comes together. It's just a shame it fits with Matt's plans not mine.

For there are no prizes for guessing which pyjamas he chose. And, in keeping with this, the bedtime book he chose to take was...his LFC annual! So despite my earlier declaration it looks very much like this is happening. I feel defeated. (Although that goes with being a Villa fan.) 

That's Not My Son...his team is too red!

I guess we'll notch this world book day up once again as a victory for child led parenting, a triumph for independence of spirit, and a big tick for expression of identity. It's another milestone and revelation for me too. Matt is growing up. 7 is a long way from 6. He is just not happy wearing a rat's tail anymore and he doesn't aspire to be a crocodile like last year. He only agreed to be Father Christmas so he could wear red (and a beard). World Book Day has been such a great shared experience in the past; a joint enterprise where we show the world what we read but I guess Matt has other priorities now. He is the one who has to dress up and show his book to his classmates. He wants to use very opportunity to show the world who he is. Matt isn't interested in proving he is well read or that he recognises a character of moral fibre. He cares about his hobby and the expression of his personality.  This identity that he is forging for himself is so precious and if LFC PJs and the LFC annual reinforce that then so be it. Aslong as it is just for this year and only because school moved the goalposts. Next year maybe we can find our way back to the bookshelf? And he'll be Frodo, right? Actually I could just work on Dot- she's perfect for a hobbit. Or maybe I need to accept that both of their book choices are different to mine and I'll just have to dress as Frodo myself.

That's Not My Favourite World Book Day outfit or conclusion but...

These are my children...

And, they are just right.

And look! There may be Liverpool livery everywhere but they are reading actual books. Books that are not just about football and books that exist without tears or ripped flaps. And this happens everyday at home even if it is not represented during our World Book Day. I'll take that as my parenting win.

P.S. As a thank you for sticking with me and in tribute to the That's Not My...series please go back through the photos and find our mouse. You're most welcome.