Summer holidays are here (in Scotland!) I genuinely cannot believe how fast this last year has gone by. Has life sped up? I feel like someone’s put my life on 2x speed! I was talking to a friend the other day about the guilt I feel when I think about lockdown sometimes. That guilt is due to feeling there were aspects of it I quite enjoyed. I’m almost scared to say that out loud because it seems so selfish. Or inconsiderate. Or privileged. Don’t get me wrong - I’m aware of the extremely lucky position we were in to have a house with a garden. To be able to work from home. To have access to a tv, to video calls, books, toys, art supplies! But we grieved too. My father-and-law was in a care home, he died from Covid early in the pandemic with only one of his children able to say goodbye in person. 8 people were allowed to attend the funeral. My health anxiety and OCD spiralled a bit (a lot!) But there were aspects I look back on fondly. Which my brain struggles to accept! But there were. Life was slower. I joined the masses and perfected my banana bread recipe (topped with peanut butter and a drizzle of honey - a delight!) We grew sunflowers. We went very long walks, found nature trails we never knew existed and we watched them change with the seasons. I got to spend so much more time with my baby girl than I would’ve otherwise. We would gather round the iPad and watch Oliver Jeffers reading his books aloud! I was probably the fittest I’ve been with all the Joe Wicks and online Pilates! There was time to just be. I wish our lives could have kept hold of some of the slower stuff. But it seems to have returned to normal plus some! Please tell me this isn’t just me? Like someone’s sat on the fast forward button and my life’s whizzing by much quicker than it’s meant to!

I always think I’m going to achieve so much over the summer holidays too. Another trick of time! But I know I’ll blink and I’ll be back at school, masking my insecurities while presenting to staff on the in-service days. Back to the daily slog. Work. Food shopping. Never ending cleaning. Club pickups and drop offs. Wondering if my husband and I still like each other as we barely get 5 mins to be us! Oh man, now this has turned into a therapy session and I came on to write about books and the summer holidays!!

What does summer mean to you? Mean to your children?

Freedom from routine? No school uniforms and no lunch boxes, no morning rush or homework? Staying up a little later, waking up a little slower? Having the whole day to do everything or nothing at all? More time to be outdoors? (albeit here in Scotland that will likely still involve waterproofs!) Long days of daylight? New adventures? Sunshine? (sometimes!) Beaches, parks and BBQs? Travel? Gardens buzzing with life? Festivals? Making memories.

Don’t worry…I’ve not forgotten the “are we there yet-s” or the out of routine “meltdowns”, the sunlight streaming in at 5am making for frustratingly-early wake ups and “but it IS morning-s!” the “I’m sooooooo bored-s” and the “don’t push your brother-s!” Juggling work and kids and childcare and life (really busy, fast paced life!). Basically all the bits that don’t go on our Instagrams!

To welcome the summer holidays, I invite you to slow down with a picture book. Savour the details and the illustrations. Enjoy the interplay between words and pictures. Just be. Even for just five minutes!

Below are some of our favourite summer themed picture books. The beach is one of my favourite places to ‘just be’ so there is some accidental bias towards beachy books - but all for different reasons. All of these are available on our website to purchase.

For the round-the-world or staycation traveler: