I love a good bedtime story. With my girls I have enjoyed rediscovering stories from my childhood as well as uncovering new delights. Of course, I have particularly delighted in stories which manage to weave in the creative use of wool!
Some are quite subtle: a favourite at the moment is the Mice and the Clockwork Bus. Here the brave little mice thwart the greedy intentions of D.Rat and his junk bus which always get makes them late to work. By their imaginative cobbling together of a new clockwork bus, the mice set up a new bus service with cheap seats for all. As a result of his misbehaviour, D.Rat ends up as chief winder of the clock mechanism… for four years!
Throughout the book are great cartoon characters, one of which is a lovely lady mouse who’s busily knitting throughout the story – and, no, those needles can’t be used to fix the bus!
The story of Brave Bitsy and the Bear is heart-warming. Little Bitsy bunny falls our of her girl’s pocket on a walk in the woods and a kind brown bear carries her home again. But will bear make it back to his hibernation spot before he falls asleep and winter closes in? With the help of a ball of wool and an unravelled jumper can brave Bitsy save the Bear?
But my favourite has to be Milo Armadillo!
All Tallulah wants for her birthday is a pink bunny, of course! But as no pink bunnies can be found, Granny comes to the rescue with her needles and in no time has knitted up… an armadillo. Oh, Tallulah likes Milo, but Milo isn’t a pink bunny – however hard he tries to disguise and change himself. All Tallulah wants is a pink bunny.
So one sad day he decides there is nothing for it but to go back to Granny to be unravelled, row by row, and be remade into a pink bunny. On hearing the news when she arrives home from school, Tallulah is horrified and rushes off to save him, as she does love him really, just as he is. But will she get to Granny in time? (I won’t spoil the ending for you!)
The best bit about the book is not only that the starring character, Milo, is knitted with so much love, but that there is a knitting pattern for him in the back. Oh joy! He is easy to knit and great fun. Do you like him?
Hello Milo!
“Is this my best side?”
The link to the pattern is here – and I’d definitely recommend the book, as the story gives him so much life and character.
I’m keen to uncover more good knits, I mean, reads! Which stories do you and your children love?
Night Night!
Mice and the Clockwork Bus The Mice and the Clockwork Bus Rodney Peppé (Puffin Books)
Brave Bitsy and the Bear Angela McAllister (Author) Tiphanie Beeke (Illustrator) MacMillan Children’s Books, 2005
Milo Armadillo By Jan Fearnley. Walker Books, 2010
