I love childrens picture books.

When done well, childrens authors and illustrators have this amazing ability to show us grown ups how the world appears when you are very little and everything seems so very new and so very big. The abundance of imagination often defies any need for logic in a world of infinite possibilities. Sometimes there is a moral message hidden within the story, sometimes the story exists to aid children through periods of transition and sometimes these stories are just simple wish fulfilment. Either way, I find something truly endearing about a thoughtfully written and beautifully illustrated childrens picture book.

So as well as sharing my love of music I wanted to share my love of childrens books with you all. Having the Facebook Live feature on my phone I figured I could try to recreate the experience of being read to, kind of like a poor man’s Jackanory from the mid 90s…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niL_h6kYPbk&w=853&h=480]

Obviously I’m no Rik Mayall, but you get the idea!

So we made a Sign…

and chose a story.. For the first week I decided to go with a story that I know very well. One that had been THE bedtime story every single night for the best part of a year. A story that at one point I was able to recite from memory without looking at the words – This  story was…

“Edward Built A Rocketship” By Michael Rack and Illustrated by Graham Ross.

The story of a young boy with a determined imagination, who builds his own Rocket from the every day objects he finds lying around.

Once everything is ready, he packs his teddy, kisses his mum good bye and….

Is ready for Blast Off!!

Of course, whimsical space adventures ensue with space aliens, meteor showers and even a crash landing back to Earth.

And here it is!! The very first “Online StoryTime” with Rainbow Phil…

I’d love to know what you think, did you enjoy it? More importantly, did your little ones enjoy it?! I have a whole list of books in mind for Online StoryTime and was planning to make one video every two weeks. Here is the list I have in mind so far, can you see any of your favourites in there?!