How books help families to bond

Before I had children, I imagined that bedtimes would be idyllic: a cosy hour involving a bath, snuggling up for stories, followed by two girls trotting off to bed and throwing a casual, ​‘Love you, Mum!’ over their shoulder.

Here is the reality as I remember it:

Bedtime would kick off with a complex game of: Get Them Both Upstairs. Usually this involved our daughters doing a lot of going floppy, clinging to our legs, hiding, and, my personal favourite, grabbing hold of the banisters as we tried to carry them upstairs for the ultimate in cruel punishments … a warm bath full of bubbles.

But no matter how fraught getting ready for bed was, the moment we started reading calm would be restored. Sometimes I would just read loudly over the top of a complaint and, as if by magic, they would fall quiet and succumb to the story. And that included my husband.

It’s brilliant ending the day with something you all agree on. We were all united in our love for the Moomins, Mr Gum, The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog and King Flashypants. Funny books were our favourites especially when read by my husband who, I am now big enough to admit, can do better voices than me.

I love hearing that families have enjoyed visiting The Land of Roar together, or solving the riddle at the heart of Dead Good Detectives, and I can’t wait to hear what they think of my new series, Stink. Often when I’m writing a book I find myself smiling as I imagine how much children will enjoy a particular scene or moment – it’s quite alarming if I catch sight of myself doing this in the computer screen. Who is that lady? Oh, it’s me, laughing at my own joke. Stink is the first book I have written and illustrated, and when I drew the pictures I didn’t just smile. I grinned like a naughty wizard.

I hope the sight of Danny’s best friend being swallowed by a troll and a fairy wearing grape slippers and a pastrami cloak make bedtimes a laugh-out-loud occasion. I hope that Stink becomes a happy book for families.