Hannah Mackay-Jackson surrounds her son with books and chooses ones that represent diversity and gender equality
When I was pregnant, one of the things I was most excited to prepare was the bookshelves! I dedicated an entire wall to shelves which allowed picture books to face outwards. The covers would be displayed as works of art, and the shelf contents could evolve as our son grew as a reader. From the very beginning, I wanted our baby to be surrounded by books.
We read to him daily from birth. Sometimes it was children’s books, other times it was whatever we were reading. It was a wonderful way to bond, and books gave us a ‘script’ if we ran out of conversation to make with a newborn.
A house full of books for all ages
When our son was born I had a huge collection of children’s books - some were my own childhood favourites, and others were from the Master’s degree in Children’s Literature that I’d done a few years previously. Because we had a house of children’s books suitable for a wide range of ages, we often read our son books that weren’t ‘just for babies’.
