Sue Meikle’s inspiration for ‘Stanley Said No’

I’m so proud of Stanley said “NO!” not just because it was a story that I wanted to write, but because I love Stanley and his very defiant character and I equally adore the monster, who mirrors his behaviour! Denis brought the story to life brilliantly … really capturing the mischief!

The inspiration for Stanley said “NO!” came from my daughter, who said, “NO!” to everything! “NO” to her hair being brushed, “NO” to a conventional breakfast and a definite “NO” to any outfit that I picked out (often opting to go to nursery in a swimming costume, slippers and an over-sized hair bow!) and that was all before 9am.

I think that the word ‘NO!’ is such a significant feature of young children’s development, as they work out how to assert their independence, that it feels right to have “NO” in a book that is especially for them.

Picture books are my passion, I have worked in early years education for years and years and so, reading them are a part of my daily life. When I specialised in language development, I realised just how important picture books are to children’s language and of course, they are an absolute pleasure to use as a teaching tool.

I’ve also experienced how story times are an essential part of children’s well-being. Whether they take place in a small nurturing space or on a carpet with a whole class or outdoors under a tree, story times provide a real opportunity to share an experience with a child that represents connection, safety and belonging. In my experience, story times are one of the most important parts of a child’s day.

When my own two children were little, stories were always at my side (packed into various bags, on the back seat of the car and weighing down the basket under the buggy). We took them on journeys, to restaurants and anywhere that we had to wait... I can even remember reading them in the shoe shop once (there was a long queue for those of us who left back to school shopping late!) And some of my favourite memories are wrapped up in the stories we shared at bedtimes.

Growing up I didn’t have a rich experience with stories. In fact, I only had a couple of books (which I read repeatedly) and a library card. We didn’t go to the library often, but when we did it felt magical! I think the experience of loving stories, but not being able to readily access them, made me more determined to ensure that other children do. I was also incredibly slow in learning to read, so books with pictures were super important to me. By the time I began ‘catching up’ with my reading skills, I was in year 3 where I had the most incredible teacher called Mr Seal, who let me take home any books I liked!

I hope every child has a Mr Seal in their lives (and an endless access to books).