My Literature Log...

As predicted, it has become difficult to fit everything in to each week now, let alone day. I feel like I'm juggling lots of balls in the air since I started studying. At the moment they are all staying up - I wonder how long that will last...

Surprisingly, I'm not that bothered by dog hair swirling around the floor anymore or the fact that my garden looks a bit wind-battered. Maybe I'm mellowing into student life. My weeks are flying by and my brain is fit to burst. This weekend I have made a plan - to have a day of rest from uni on Saturday, and then today, Sunday, to get everything up to date from the previous weeks studying. I can report that my plan has worked. I even managed to fit in a quick half hour in the garden, planting the last of the pansies I bought last week.

On Friday we started 2 new modules - English and Maths. The dreaded maths... I've always considered maths to be my weakest subject. After just one lecture and one seminar, I have been inspired to take a fresh approach to it and I feel challenged to teach it well. My brain just seems to say 'aaaargh...' at the mere mention of the word, and I found I was not alone in this! Even with a grade 'B' 'O' level, I was not convinced I had a sound knowledge of the subject. Perhaps I can change my misconceptions over the course of the next few weeks.

I just know I'm going to enjoy the English module. My tutor is particularly brilliant! There is something about her that just appeals to me. Our first seminar was about children's literature and over the course of the next year, I have to compile a log of about 500 examples of children's literature. The work that I've done in our school library over the last 2 years is going to help me enormously, plus it is the perfect opportunity to trawl through the shelf upon shelf of children's books here at home, re-reading and making notes.

My favourite children's author is Eric Carle. I love everything about his books - the rhythm, the richness, the illustrations and, of course, the story. Of all his books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is my absolute favourite. It has an extra special place in my heart as it was Tom's favourite book. If ever he was having a difficult day, I would read it to him or play it on his CD player, and he would usually calm down and eventually smile or get that twinkle of pleasure in his eyes. Have you ever heard the audio version? The music is particularly lovely. So lovely, that I played it at his funeral as an introduction. Whenever I hear the story now, the music is in my head the whole time. It makes me smile.

Before Tom became ill (he was 4...), his other Eric Carle favourite was The Bad-tempered Ladybird. He used to love saying the line 'hey, you, want to fight?'. He was such a gentle soul, it seemed incongruous to hear him say such a thing.

What are your favourite children's books? Any additions to my log will be most gratefully received, so do leave me a comment!