An Ode to Lauren Child

(Lauren Child's kitchen, with white piano and specially built shelves to display her crockery - after all, she says, noone really needs 20 mugs do they, so they may as well be on display.)

An Ode to Lauren Child
I have this little daughter Imogen

She is small and very funny.

She is a philosopher like you, Lauren Child

She wants to know why, why, why and how come?

She thinks grown up rules,
especially hypocritical ones about spelling and going to bed, are silly.

She can mark a green vegetable never tasted at twenty paces

and not ever never eat it.

She has an imaginary bestest friend called Wormy

who has a birthday most every day and

is almost always responsible for breaking her little brother's toys.

She has sticky outy hair like Lola

and a don't mess with me hands on hips stance when feeling brave.

Like Clarice Bean she wants to save the Planet of Earth

But she still worries about things which cannot be changed,

such as whether the size of her feet are acceptable in the scheme of things. 

(an amazing home made Charlie and Lola house, go to Sweet Sweet Life to see it all)

But for me, I love Lauren Child for different reasons.  I love her use of pattern and colour and wallpaper in her illustrations:

(Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent)

(from Who Wants to be a Poodle)

(Princess and the Pea)

(Pippi Longstocking)

(Pesky Rat)

And I love her ability to articulate life's chief worries. Including this one (from Clarice Bean):

"Worry no 8: What to do when someone is boring you to nearly utter death. Give them the slip and run like crazy".

Oh to be a Running Away From Boring People child again.

(Images: (1) guardian.co.uk (2) -(4) Sweet Sweet Life, all others copyright Lauren Child)

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