What was your favourite childhood book and why?
My favourite Childhood book was Dr Seuss’ The Cat In the Hat – I was entranced by this crazy scenario of a cat (in a hat) coming into these children’s home and making a mess and always found the grumpy fish so funny. The book taught me that no matter how much of a mess you make of something, you can always get things back in order.
Which of your own published books is your favourite and why?
This is such a hard question to answer because I like them all for different reasons. At the moment it's my latest poetry book A Year Of Nature Poems because writing it allowed me an opportunity to write about something I love… nature and to spread a conservation message. I also got to think back to when I was young(er) and the fun I had in nature, finding frogs, picking fruit and sitting on the balcony of our flats in my hammock during the summer rains.
Why do you choose to read?
It is hard to put into words the incredible benefit I have gained in my life from reading for pleasure. Through reading for pleasure I have taught myself how to grow exotic fruits and how to dig ponds, I’ve found tools to make me a mentally and physically stronger person, I’ve been whisked away on adventures and found comfort when I have been sad. Reading has given me so many gifts and those gifts are free as I learnt when I first started taking books out from my local library.