TOP LIST OF CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS FOR HALLOWEEN

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
With Halloween upon us, how could we not get eager to think of some great children's picture books for this fun time of year, which let's face it... even the most cynical of us cannot help but release a half smile when walking into the local Co-Op or Budgens.

Now as I always say to parents, it doesn't matter if you are not a die hard Pagan and do not celebrate Halloween, almost no one is. But it's just a pretext to get some themed books out and get kids excited, after all, the routine of life is so repetitive! Even if you have older kids, there are plenty scary reading books out there too. The only difference is, with picture books you can read them with your kids all in the space of a few days while Halloween is still around.

These top 5 I have chosen for you are books that I have used in Siggistardust storytimes in libraries on Halloween this year and in previous years and received a fantastic response from audiences from the age of 4 till 7. 

WINNIE THE WITCH: WINNIE'S HAUNTED HOUSE
By Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul

Halloween wouldn't be Halloween in most children's homes, without Winnie the Witch and her clumsy and amusing adventures.
In Winnie’s haunted mansion, a mysterious spook seems to be loose in the house. It’s smashed the vase and tore down the chandelier.  Winnie needs a plan to get rid of it, immediately!!
With a wave of her wand, and a big (Let's - say - together - moment) Abracadabra!! Winnie banishes the ghost… But oh goodness, instead she has filled the house with skeletons, spiders, bats and owls. It’s a total disastrously spooky mayhem! Turns out Winnie made a bit of a mistake..and not only that, why is Wilbur the cat looking so proud?

SPLAT THE CAT: WHAT WAS THAT
By Rob Scotton

Splat the Cat is notorious for his endless adventures, but this time round Splat and his friends have a Halloween adventure!
Halloween should be a black cat's favorite holiday, but Spat the Cat is nervous about visiting a creepy haunted house. He's worried it will be too scary. Splat's friend Spike tells Splat not to be a scaredy-cat--the haunted house is just for fun!
Splat and Spike’s visit to the haunted house turns into a rescue mission when Splat’s pet mouse, Seymour, gets lost inside.

TEN TIMID GHOSTS
Jennifer O'Connell

A witch decides to move into the happy haunted house but she starts to scare each ghost away one-by-one, using a different disguise or prop each time such as a skeleton, bat, ghoul, cat, owl, vampire, monster, spider, rat, and mummy!
The last clever ghost the witch frightens away, figures out that it was her the whole time and tells the other ghost friends who are now homeless in the woods. Now we've got ten Angry ghosts...

THE SPOOKY WHEELS ON THE BUS
By J Elizabeth Mills

This book is based on the famous "Wheels on the Bus" song. This book encourages active participation and also has a counting concept built into it for numbers 1-10.
It's great for getting kids to shout out characters, numbers and using instruments.
Some of the lyrics are : "One spooky bus goes rattle and shake, rattle and shake, rattle and shake.
One spooky bus goes rattle and shake all through the town." "Three noisy cats go meow, hiss, hiss, meow, hiss, hiss, meow, hiss, hiss. Think you get the idea...

FRAGOLINE AND THE MIDNIGHT DREAM
By Clemeney Pearse

During the day, Fragoline's a perfect angel. But in the shadows of night, when all good children are sleeping tight, this little imp dons her jet-black cape and makes a midnight hour escape! But when Fragoline's antics wake the dead who chase her to the tippy-top of the steeple, how can she escape? And will she learn her lesson? A picture book in the dark but sweet style of Tim Burton.




OTHER THEMED BOOKS
Room on The Broom:  For all the Julia Donaldson and witch lovers!
Peppa Pig: Peppa's Pumpkin Party: Well let's face it, any young kid who loves Peppa will love this

Mr. Tickle and the Scary Halloween: Any lovers of Little Men and Little Miss series 
Winnie The Witch: The first in the series for themes all surrounding the colour black!
Winnie's Amazing Pumpkin: A witch and pumpkins.... Halloween in a nutshell.
Winnie's Halloween: Specially Halloween themed Winnie the Witch 
Spooky Winnie: Ok going a bit mad with Winnie the Witch now...

Happy trick or treating and pumpkin carving!

A Top 5 Voted Children's Reading Books

Well, with the wonders of Children's Book Week just gone, I spent the week catching up with kids from different libraries and getting their views on the top 5 reading books out there right now, and here are the results. And by the way, if you are a grown up with a vast collection of 'serious' books, do your spirit a favour and pick up few of these for your own secret personal enjoyment!

Don't worry, I won't tell anyone...

1. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: Jeff Kinney
Basically if you haven't heard of the madness that is 'Diary Of A Wimpy Kid', either you don't have children aged between 8-13 or you seem to have no reason to be reading children's books for fun...uhem..like I do.

These books are all about a kid called Greg who fills in his journal (not a diary!!) of all the misadventures in his life, and boy oh boy, there are many!

In this story, it's the summer vacation and even though it is nice and hot, Greg insists on staying inside, glued to his video games with the blinds drawn!
 His mother however, has had enough of Greg being lazy and decides that this summer should be fun and packed with family activities... you can only imagine.

 2. DEMON DENTIST: David Walliams
Ok you know it's a David Walliams book when you just get to the first 'Thank you's' page, and you are already chucking to yourself! David' style of writing is reminiscent of Roald Dahl, not to mention the illustrations by Tony Ross, however the modern refereences and the familiar Walliams humour puts it into a category and respect of it's own. All of his books are winners in my eyes but this one got second position with the kids, and here's why...

Demon Dentist tells the story of 12 year-old Alfie whose teeth are completely rotten. When a very odd new dentist comes to town, Alfie is suspicious and thinks something doesn't feel right.
With his new friend called Gabz, he starts to investigate why Miss Root, the dentist, is giving out free sweets and acidic toothpaste which can burn holes through stone! He realizes he is in big trouble when she straps him into the dentist's chair and starts pulling out all of his teeth...

3. BILLIONAIRE BOY: David Walliams
This book is one of my favourites of David Walliams' books, I could read it over and over again as a grown up. No wonder the kids go mad for it.

Billionaire Boy is a warm, witty and touching tale about a boy called Joe Spud, who arguably has a lot of reasons to be happy, at least a few billion of them!
Joe's not only rich, he's really, really rich. Joe's got his own bowling alley, his own Farrari, his own cinema, even his own butler who is also an
orangutan and for his birthday his dad gives him a million pound cheques. He's the wealthiest twelve-year-old ever and there is nothing that Joe doesn't have... other than a friend.

4. THE WITCHES: Roald Dahl
We all know this one, not to mention every single other Roald Dahl book that ever existed. Somehow this one, seemed to prove most popular last week!
If you haven't seen The Witches movie, starring Anjelica Huston and Rowan Atkinson, you will never have to worry about getting the disturbing image of beautiful women turning horrifyingly ugly and shrinking kids into mice, out of your heads!

Witches really are a nightmare breed of beings. They disguise themselves as lovely delightful ladies, when all they really want to do is squish and squelch all the wretched children they despise and turn them into mice.
But unlucky for them, one brave little boy turned mouse and his grandmother know all too well, how to recognize these vile creatures, but the big question is, can they get rid of them for good?

 5. TOM GATES IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC: Liz Pichon
This series of books is up there with Diary of A Wimpy Kid, and is written in similar format in many ways, making this one a definite hit for this age group!

This particular book in the series, takes the form of Tom's battered homework diary - crammed with his doodles and stories. "Exciting News! Mr Fullerman announces that class 5F are going on an 'Activity Break'! Which should be fun. As long as I don't get stuck in a group with anyone who snores or worse still with . . . . . . Marcus Meldrew. Delia is already threatening to paint my room funny colours while I'm away. Which is annoying. I just hope the only surprise I have when I get home is the new pet that I hear Mum and Dad talking about. Because I've always wanted a pet!"
The rest I will leave to your imagination...

Changing The World From The Children Up

Very recently I was lucky enough to be invited to be one of 12 faces of a new fascinating project called #BehindTheFace Future Cities. An augmented reality platform that brings influential thinkers to talk about how they are contributing to a better future of London across their sector of society.
In my work now to try to support more child literacy in the UK, I have had to do some extensive research and in particular for a new groundbreaking platform I am developing to support the way children view and appreciate reading, the findings have been enlightening.

It proved to me just how much work indeed we have to do to truly make a difference in influencing young minds, in a generation so influenced by the media, social media and technology. Peer pressures have changed from even as little as 10 years ago, affecting children as young as 6 and the surrounding influences are driving children to move further and further away from developing their real selves.
So many young children are now growing up with false beliefs over the correct body image, what is REAL happiness, who are positive role models, how to treat each other, terms of speech, expectations in a emotional or physical relationships and what's generally regarded as cool.

Often times, the harsh reality of this is that parents will have minimal control over where these ideologies and beliefs are coming from and how they ingrain themselves in the child's mind.  This is so, in particular as children pass 8 years old! I have found from my own experience, that many parent are oblivious of their 'little babies' development and understanding of life and in what they are hearing or being told in the playground.
And unfortunately it isn't anymore just a psychological or mental issue, with processed foods, GMO and a generally polluted life, we can see for ourselves that children's bodies are developing differently than as little as 30 years ago. Teenagers are developing much younger and hormones are being altered even by the water they drink. All this ensures that from an even younger age, their minds are developing a lot quicker. Nowdays you will see 10 year olds looking and behaving like 14 year olds. This is a drastic shift parents are going to have to adjust to as it's not just physical but emotional and mental.

We are entering a new reality. That's a fact, you just need to take a good look around and you can see this. Are there any solutions? I have recently come to ponder on this very question myself and I guess these are my conclusions:

• Give children more natural, uncontaminated unprocessed foods from a young age. Making effort to research ways that children will find enjoyable eating more natural. Healthy is as cheap as rubbish foods, no one is saying to stock up on Whole Foods Spirulina or expensive superfoods like that. Fresh fruit and especially vegetables are very cheap from market stalls and big supermarkets such as Asda or Lidl. Put some effort to research simple nutritious recipe ideas on the train from work. Remember, killing with kindness is still killing. And it's only the kids that will suffer down the line, be it with getting bullied or teased at school for being fat, oily skin, spots, side effects of unbalanced hormones etc. Often these are things highly connected to diet.

• Encourage from a young age kids to develop a physical hobby and encourage through incentives, a way for them to stick to it! Remember kids won't always gravitate towards anything by themselves. It is good to push them into things against their comfort zone, especially if it's for their health and wellbeing! They will learn to get into a routine out of no choice and later as they grow, be excited about experimenting with different activities as movement is now part of life. 

•  Show them the value of voluntary work. The idea of giving without looking for physical or monetary rewards. This is a precious skill to learn in today's society, where everything is so much about quick fix and self gratification. This is a quality that will develop their awareness about society outside of their clique of friends and family and give them a feeling a responsibility to make a difference in the world,  be it through through voluntary initiatives or through their career path. 

• Invest more time in developing their minds outside of school. Reading is such a gift you can give your child that opens their minds and has life long positive effects.  
  
  UNESCO states that:
  
  “Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their Knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society. 

• Help kids from a young age develop a routine with a creative hobby such as art, building, designing. I will write a blog soon on some great ideas for every type of child. This helps them develop a connection to themselves.

• Limit your own internet or phone time in front of children. Often the problem lies with the parents being addicted too.  I often see parents complaining about their kids always wanting the phone, but on other occasions always see the parent on their phone too or the nanny glued to her screen. So the children see it is normal to want to watch lots of TV, browse Instagram and play Candy Crush Saga. Lead by example. If you can't help yourself, do it away from sight! Use 'leading by example' as away to improve your life too. Investing more time in reading, painting, cooking or baking, writing journals, fixing together puzzles, building things. Your life will feel less routine and boring as well.

• Talk to your children about the dangers out there by browsing online. Use shock tactics and share scary examples to make them very cautious. Communication about everything from sex, internet, body changes there are all things many parents confess to avoid discussing. The trick with kids is to keep it light, humorous and not directed personally. Don't leave it till they are teenagers or pre-teen when even the mention of this subject is horrifying. Parents are overprotecting sometimes and don't want to expose their kids to subjects too young, but trust me, you wont be there the first time they hear or see things beyond their years. You probably will never find out either. So best to prepare them for that moment, as it WILL come much sooner that you wish to believe.

• Spirituality. Many parents don't even know how to go down this route, some call it religion even. Spirituality for children is about teaching them about their inner gifts, qualities, teaching them they always have a choice to connect with the right choices, to think about others, to think that their words have a responsibility, to appreciate what they have, to believe they can achieve anything if they work for it and so on. My example on this is Spirituality For Kids Foundation which I volunteered many years with in schools across London. Seeing how children from difficult backgrounds gained inner strength and confidence in who they were, no matter their circumstances, has forever imprinted itself in me.  After all you can become a millionaire business woman or man, but be truly unhappy because you don't know what real happiness means, and that is sad.  So many adults walk around hopeless or trapped because they lost touch with who they really are.  Educations must start at from childhood.

We have a lot to do as community members, teachers, families, government and society as a whole if we are to protect and support the future generation in their unfortunate task of fixing our planet.

There are many changes that can be implemented and fought for, however the main message for now is that change and charity starts from home and community. Each one of us can do more, help more, support more one other person or a bigger cause you believe in. But the change will really come from the kids.... so let's make it count!

Easter Holiday Activities for Kids

Well, Finally the exciting Easter holidays have arrived and no matter whether you have the kids at home for a few long weeks or only one, here are a few of the best and most clever ideas I found online to keep you and your kids entertained together.

I have also posted online a week ago a great recommendation that I found many parents haven't discovered - Hobbycraft! It has saved me on many occasions when giving themed arts and crafts sessions, but if you are in need of some major inspiration for cheap, brilliant and easy crafts materials this is your haven: www.hobbycraft.com/easter There are stores all around the country which you will probably find yourself not wanting to leave once you go in, however for orders online over £10 they give you free delivery. Stock up!

Ok here we go, and remember, Hobbycraft will inspire you for about 20 further ideas at least!

1.  I found this and thought, what fun! It didn't come with instructions, however very simply I can guess that first you buy a few little chocolate eggs, strong PVA glue, yarn of various Easter colours such as light yellow, pinks, greens and lastly a few good quality balloons.
Next you push into the balloon one or two of the little eggs. You don't want them to weigh the balloon down or the yarn once it's hardened.
Blow up the balloon to medium size and then tie the end.
Make sure the balloon is nice and firm and then make up your bowl with the PVA. Take a tread of yarn and dip into the glue and then you can start wrapping it around the balloon. Try to ensure you cover it well, so that once dry it will hold well. Also you can mix yarn colours.
Next leave it to dry very very well, perhaps near a heater.  Once you are sure it has hardened enough, take a pin or nail scissors and through a gap in the yarn, pop the balloon and with tweezers or a cocktail stick, pull the popped balloon out. Lastly you can tie a ribbon on the top of your crafty Easter egg and hang it anywhere you like.

2.  Sweet no bake bird's nest. Just simply cute!
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 Tablespoon cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
bag peanut M&Ms or mini chocolate eggs.

In a saucepan bring to boil sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for a couple minutes and add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. In order to have cookies keep shape when scooping out with cookie scoop or spoon let mix sit in the pan for 20-30 minutes (or longer if need be) stirring occasionally.

Drop mix by the spoonful onto a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Place three M&Ms or chocolate eggs in the middle of cookie. Let set and enjoy!

3. Finished with your egg boxes? How about cutting each into 6 individual 'cups'.
All you will need after that, are some coloured little feathers from an arts and crafts store, paints and some spare eggs.
Firstly lay out your  6 individual cups and paint them each a different colour.
Let dry and then curve back the 4 edges as shown in the photo.
Meanwhile match each cup colour with a corresponding egg that you paint.
Once dry, stick or glue the coloured feather at the back of the egg and place inside each cup.
Lastly take a bit of orange paint and paint the tip of one of the folds making it look like a beak and to finish, two black dots for eyes above!
Once done, you can display them around or put them in a basket padded out with straw or yarn.

4. Now, I am not an advocate for unhealthy eating as I mentioned, however on very special occasions kids should be allowed fun treats, especially if they earn it by making it themselves.
This idea below, I thought was so cool and something I would have gone crazy creatively over as a kid.

All you need to buy is a few little gardening compost pots, now in Easter you can find them anywhere just in the form or arts and crafts supplies, be it made from cardboard or plastic. 
You will need some homemade or shop bought chocolate chip muffin, worm sweets (Marks and Spencers do 'healthy' versions),
Some bunny shaped Easter sweets of chocolates, small chocolate eggs, Twiglets or chocolate covered mint sticks and  for the grass you can go for parsley, mint or strawberries buried in the 'soil' with their tops popping out. Get creative, ask the kids while in the supermarket to think of what could make any of the items needed.

5. I love these so much. Adorable and a perfect accompaniment to a lovely dinner.

Ingredients:
2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg

Directions:
1. Put the butter, the sour cream and water in a small saucepan and heat, but do not cook. Cool to tepid then add the remaining ingredients.
2. Put in a kneader. If thick add more water.
3. Let it rise double and cut into 16 equal parts.
4. Use baking tray lined with baking paper and cut the ears with scissors. Make sure you smooth the edges around, so you do not end up with devil horns. The eyes can be poked in or use pepper grains.
5. Bake at 375° for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.





Enjoy!

Christmas Activities for Kids

So with the delights of the festive season ahead, I know many mums or teachers are looking for arts and crafts ideas to keep the kids busy over the holidays! No matter what faith one is, I believe some light hearted festive fun is never to be missed!
 There are literally endless creative ideas I can share from my head and cool things I found on Pinterest, some of which I will do now, and more will comes through out the holidays.
I will also have a blog dedicated to budget gift recommendations (not from my own range).

RECOMMENDATION:
Hobbycraft is paradise for all things cheap and amazing quality of arts and crafts materials. So many mums haven't been ever there. You MUST check out this link: http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/christmas/christmas-kids-craft?resultsPerPage=100
Remember, Hobbycraft have literally hundreds of blank festive things kids can paint from ages 3 onwards. There are blank baubles,  shapes, from polysthyrene or cardboard, ornaments to paint like stand alone solid card raindeer, trees, snowmen, snowflakes, stars, you name it. Not to mention endless ribbons, paints, glitters, buttons, stick ons, diamonds, beads and all at super super cheap prices!!

So let's crack on with my top 5 arts and crafts activities for the season:

1. DIY CANDY DECORATIONS
Christmas candy is always a winning item on the tree or hanging decoratively out of a stockings.
So for this easy one, all you need is:

A bag of red shiny plastic beads and a bag of white shiny beads, green pipe cleaners and optional string to hang..
Hobbycraft do fantastic deals for few quid on each item pack.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Take out a few green or red pipe cleaners and start threading and twisting on the white and red beads in alternate turns.
2. Bend the candy stick into a curve at the top and either hang it as is on the tree or..
3.You can tie a knot from the middle of the curve and the remaining 2 string pieces tie around the tree branch.

The  beads should stay put on the pipe cleaners no problem.

2. CHRISTMAS TREE TOP DISPLAY.
I love this idea I found on Pinterest and think it's a great bit of decoration for the festive season.
Here are a few easy (but slightly messy)materials needed and steps to follow:

A bag of pine cones. They are in abundance this December from most festive decorative sections in the shops. Best to get the full size ones.
A collection of random colourful beads or beads from old jewellery lying around the house.
Green glitter.
PVA or Tacky glue.
Plaster of Paris mixture, or for an alternative to the classic paper mache fixative try two parts white all-purpose glue to one part water or 2 parts flour to one part water.
Baking paper.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Paint on a protected area, the pine cones a good forest green and while wet throw on some green glitter all around it for a good cheery festive feel.

2. Mix the plaster of paris mix by following the instructions and put a big blob on the greased baking paper. In it, fix the tree once its dry enough to touch.
If you are using the Plaster of Paris alternative method, mix that together and do the same.
3. Next, put a little blob of Tacky Glue or PVA on some of the edges of the pine branches and as it starts to dry a little and get stickier, place gently the bead, one by one on each designated branch. 
4. Leave to dry and then remove from baking paper and place around the room or on even a silver cake base.
IDEAS: Once totally dry, you can sift icing sugar and white glitter all over the base, covering some of the trees for a truly snowy winter feel.
You can also buy from Hobbycraft a snow creating tube for £2 by the counter. You mix with some water and it turns into pretend snow.

3. FESTIVE PENGUIN
I know so many kids who are crazy about penguins, not to mention the madness of 'Penguins of Madagascar'. So what better hook to engage kids this festive season in home made penguins they can put on their walls.  Here's what you will need:

Paper plates.
Black paint.
Black, orange and white scraps of paper
Glue
Scissors

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Begin by folding in the sides of the paper plate and folding down the top. Glue in place
2. Paint the folded in/down portions of the plate black and allow to dry.
3. Cut a beak and feet from scraps of orange paper. Glue those in place.
4. Cut eyes from scraps of black and white paper. Glue those in place.
Vwallah! 

4.  GINGERBREAD FESTIVE HOUSES
These last two I LOVE. Any kid will go absolutely potty for this no matter how old.
The varieties are simply endless, and with the ever increasing abundance of variety at the big supermarkets like Asda and Waitrose, even you will be able to invent 20 different versions.
You will need as the basic:
Biscuits, preferably square. I also recommend the Leibniz variety.
A big box of icing sugar
Warm water
Dessicated coconut bag
Edible white glitter
A variety of little baking sprinkles and sweets. There are plenty Christmassy themed ones if you go to the bigger supermarkets
Icing tube either bought of created with strong paper rolled into a sharp cone. Snip the top slightly.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Lay out a sheet of grease proof paper on a tray.
2. In a bowl pour a good amount of icing sugar and start adding tiny amounts of warm water till as you keep stirring you produce a thick gooey white paste. Make sure not to have it drippy at all. If you do, keep adding more sugar.
3. Now apply some icing in the paper marking where you will place your house/s.
4. Stick in the 4 biscuits in shape of a house. If you want, for example with the Leibniz variety you can use only 2 per house and make it into a wintery hut.
5. For the roof squeeze gently the icing across the tops of the biscuits and seal on the rood. For the Leibniz kind, just stick the two at the top together.
If the icing leaks it doesn't matter, looks more wintery!
6. Now start sticking on tiny blobs of thick icing the decoration on the roofs and walls. Let the child use their imagination on this one.
7. Once the house is completed, you can paint the ground with icing and sprinkle dessicated coconut over it.
7. Lastly, sprinkle some icing sugar with a sift over the whole scenery to create a snowed on effect and top with a sprinkling of white edible glitter.

5. PINE TREE ICE CREAM CONES.
I don't think any EDIBLE village scene is complete without this last activity.
Here is what you will need:

Small ice cream cones.
Smarties (the small variety)
Variations of the baking toppings and sprinkles.
Icing sugar
Green colouring or Spirulina
Dessicated coconut
Edible white or green glitter.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. On a baking paper, line a few ice cream cones.

2. Mix a thick consistency of icing sugar and warm water. Start with a little water and mix gradually till it comes as you need it. It needs to be able to be strong and hardly drip at all.
3. Now is the fun part. Either throw in some Spirulina powder to turn the icing forest green or put a few drops of green food colouring.
3. You can either cover the whole cones with green icing or do one base layer green, wait for it to dry and then a white coat on top to imitate snow.
4. You can now decorate by sprinkling some dessicated coconut and white edible glitter so it covers evenly the tree. 
5. Lastly stick in the sweets around.
If you now put these in the fridge they shall solidify properly and the sweets will hold for a long time. I would store them in the fridge through out the holidays.

And that's my top 5 easy peasy and yummy holiday arts and crafts activities to keep the kids fully entertained and happy!
Will throw in some more in the next few weeks so stay tuned and meanwhile don't forget to share with your friends!

Siggi x

The Magic of Being a Children's Storyteller

So with Siggistardust magic taking over the borough of Chelsea and Kensington I couldn’t help but share with you why more than anything, I love Storytelling.

For those of you and by now many of you, who have been to a Siggistardust storytime in one venue or another, you will know that it’s a quite an event.
When that famous big red storyteller’s hat goes on, something new, exciting and magical takes over the room. And the best thing is, the kids feel it. If they are 1 years old or 5, the magic comes alive!

Since I was a little girl, one thing permeated my every decision in my art, my comics, my plasticine characters, and that was did it convey a good story. Did the characters have depth. Where were they from, did they have an accent that differentiated them from the rest.

Ironically, due to my circumstances and suffering with a type of dyslexia, reading was always something I struggled with and to be honest, I still do. Give me a great children’s book anything from 10- 50 pages I will fly with adventure and charisma in my reading, but give me a huge Harry Potter or The Alchemist and you got me stuck. Which is where I encountered a contradicting catch 22, stumbling block, while growing up. Statistically there are so many children in the country with reading problems. Which is why the UK Reading Agency have the Summer Reading Challenge every summer time encouraging kids to read more books. Thanks to the hundreds of volunteers and people like just me, I feel like we made a difference together in giving children of all kids, a way to engage with reading in a safe unjudgemental environment that brings out the best in them.

 I self taught myself screenwriting whilst still at school. It was my way of making up for what I couldn’t connect to in books that were presented to me. I felt the format of scripts were far easier to manoeuvre through and I was always was greatly drawn to the idea of character dialogue. My eyes flowed gracefully over the words and my brain could digest what was trying to be conveyed. I spend my teens in-between frantically writing screenplays and bringing them visually to life with complementary comic book /storyboards. Someone once commented that clearly the only reason I occasionally turned up to school was for research material, as when I wasn’t inspired I didn’t really turn up. By the age of 16 I had boxes upon boxes with thousands of story or dialogue ideas, no one even knew about. I guess it’s no wonder when I was called to CBBC for that famous meeting at age 15 to discuss one of my stories, 7 top exec producers were the ones waiting for me not the PA I was expecting.

In truth? I was just a teenager passionate about telling stories and bringing them visually to life. And it’s something that has stayed with me ever since, through all my opportunities, disappointments and experiences.

I wish life had taken me a different path in terms of my upbringing and reading, but it’s now something I want to inspire children to do and fall in love with. If it’s bringing characters to life, through eccentric high pitched voices, or to low cockney Yorkshire farmer accents. I have it all prepared! In fact as a friend sarcastically pointed out, finally, I have found an outlet for my 43 accents and endless characterizations I spend my sleepless nights perfecting, instead of counting sheep.

Children have so much to develop, learn and get inspired by to become the best they can be and imagination is the key to life. Imagination if developed is what allows a person to get a message of divine inspiration to take either stay in their unhappy life, or come up with an out of the box idea who to recreate their situation into a better one, create themselves a job that isn’t offered to them,
or knowing a genius ideas as to where to look to find a partner that’s right for them.

All inspirations, I believe that come from their right brain if developed.

As Siggistardust Storytime spreads to more public venues from libraries to children’s centres, to anything really where kids go to develop, learn and have fun, I hope I will have the opportunity to inspire your children and take them on the journey they deserve to fly on.


Till next time,

Siggi
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My interview with a children's interior designer

In keeping with the new craze of children's interior design, I turned to Medina Sam, of MK Kid's Interiors to find out the scoop behind what it takes to achieve the perfect room and what's it like having the responsibility of such a task.
Medina also uniquely helps children with autism create their perfect room, something that not only empowers them but can support in their growth and development.

1. What do you think defines the perfect children's bedroom?
It has to be a fun and exciting space, a room that also encourages sleeping (after all, a bedroom is for sleeping.)

2. What are your top 3 tips parents can do themselves to improve the environment of their child's bedroom.

De-clutter - often children's rooms are filled with items they collect, and gifts they receive. Often times they are thing that are not used. If you can't get rid of it hide it, which leads to my next point.
Plenty storage - invest in ample storage so that clothes, shoes, books and toys will have its place. This will teach a child how to tidy up as well as create a perfect atmosphere for relaxing and sleeping. It will also ensure that nothing is out of place.
Personalize - make your child's room special for them. Make your child's room about them, add furniture and accessories that reflect their personality. You can do this by hanging their own artwork, pictures, or favourite things.

3. What do you think about the pink and blue gender divide?
I think its a child's preference, however I love the gender neural themes as the possibilities are endless; one can experiment with accessories, lighting and furniture more than if the walls were painted blue or pink.

4. Your favourite room theme and why?
I like a mixture, but most importantly it must fit the context; childs's preference, age and the architecture of the building. I design a children's room based on and around their needs and wants.

5. What's the best children's Interior design job you enjoyed the most and why?
My most rewarding moment was completing the design of little Jaeden's room. The room was dark with a double bed, chest of drawers, wardrobe, cot and a side table. I totally transformed the room from start to finish, up-cycling some furniture and adding features that 2 year old Jaeden loves; numbers, and hanging monkeys. Jaeden fought to get into his room as we were adding the finishing touches. When he finally got in he jumped on the bed in excitement. When I saw his parents at a later date, they told me that Jaeden was praying for 'auntie Dina' (that's what he calls me). Though too young to verbally express his gratitude, I was absolutely touched by Jaeden's actions. The best designs are always the rooms that the children love!

6. What are your top 3 most important parts of a children's room to change, or give attention to?
1. Space - children need space to play and be themselves. Be sure to create floor space, by minimizing the use of the walls if the room is already small.
2. Bed - a quality bed and mattress are extremely important for good sleep. It is essential to get a sturdy bed that will withstand the 'jumping on the bed' stage and beyond. It needs to be a bed that can grow with your child. No one buys a new bed every year.
3. Lighting - as with adults lighting has the ability to affect our mood. You need to ensure the room is well lit in the daytime and is dark enough for sleep at night. It's also a good idea to incorporate night lights as some children can't sleep in the dark. Lighting makes or breaks the space as well as your child's mood.

7. You work with autistic children in creating their environment together with them. What are the benefits you found, that they get from that experience?
Autism affects children in various ways. However some fundamentals are the excitement in creating their own space. One of the boys with autism that I worked with, was extremely creative, therefore our Creative Consultation worked really well with him. He was excited and proud to create a master piece of art for his room. He was also able to express the things he liked and didn't thus creating a space that better suited his needs.

For more on Medina and her work visit: www.mkkidsinteriors.com