It’s not been the best couple of weeks. A flair up of my back condition has left me bedridden on codeine, desperately wishing I was at school doing what I love most; reading and sharing books with children.

I’ve escaped my four walls using the everyday magic of books. Books that I know will help hook children on reading, if only I can get back to school to introduce them to each other.

So, with no studying to do for the first time in two years, I decided it was finally time to get my blog up and running, so I could get all of my reviews in one place, see what I have on my bookshelf already and start plugging the genre gaps. And catch up on my ‘to read pile’.

It’s cheered my heart to have authors respond to my tweeted reviews, because without fantastic authors and illustrators, and their publishers, the everyday magic that has got me through the last two weeks wouldn’t exist. They deserve to be praised for a job exceedingly well done, and spending a little of my time to do that, after enjoying their work seems the least I can do.

Imagine, then, my sheer delight when this arrived through the post today.

Thank you so much Christopher Edge, you’ve made my week! The postcard is going in a frame and the book plate in my copy of The Many Worlds of Albie Bright (which is currently on loan to one of my Year 5s).

I’m hopeful Monday will see me back where I belong, so that I can share the wonderful stories that have kept me company and helped me smile over the last few weeks with the children in school.

And, so I can get that poster up in the school library, because I want as many children as possible to meet Albie. I think they’ll love him as much as I do.

You can read my review of The Many Worlds of Albie Bright here: http://wp.me/p87bl3-X