Special Delivery Winter 2014-2015 | Page 49

Bookworm

More Information

You can see and buy all of Hudson’s books on his website. There are also activity sheets, colouring pages and great photos of the little guy himself: www.hudsonandme.com

Post a review or get in touch on facebook: www.facebook.com/HudsonAndMe

Follow him on Twitter: @HudsonandMe

Hudson and Me (series)

Nicola Preskett

£5.99 Paperback

Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Local

Author

I have written a few children’s books in the past but didn’t take them further. The inspiration for the series came very easily when I got Hudson 2 years ago. The floppy ears, comical walk, his delight at the tiniest things. And the attention he gets form everyone we meet! I knew there was a series there, and so started writing about the wonderful friendship between a little girl and Hudson, and the fun they have together.

I always loved story sessions with children at school and reading 1:1 at home. Children are so excited by stories and imagination, and will return to their favourite book again and again. So I started writing the first ‘Hudson and Me’, illustrating it roughly myself. Then I found an illustrator to do a much better job! Writing the next four books came very easily, as the subject matter was so close to my heart. I wanted to write books to encourage interaction and movement to really involve both the reader and the listener. I have made the books simple and fun, and aimed at both boys and girls - the main character being a girl, but a somewhat scrappy one in shorts!

I also wanted children to be able to learn something from each book, so there is a theme in each; identifying body parts; copying movements; days of the week; healthy eating, learning prepositions, mini beasts, and bedtime routines. The language is simple, yet new vocabulary is introduced in each book, and repetition helps children to remember key phrases.

I decided to make the books accessible to two different age groups; perfect for playful interactive reading during story-time (18 month to 3 years), or for the older age group who are learning to read independently (4 years onwards.) The stories are all available in French and Spanish too! Having taught abroad and in the UK, I have seen how easily children learn a language, and thought it would be fun for Hudson to help this process ☺

I really hope you enjoy all five ‘Hudson and Me’ books, and would love to know what you think! Please do e mail me at [email protected]

~Nicola Preskett