It’s so exciting to be reminded that words and pictures created in my tiny office on the Isle of Wight can be read and appreciated by people living thousands of miles away.

I have been forwarded an email from a mum living in Canada, thanking her English friend for sending her daughter three of my books:

Ms. Peta Rainford’s stories and illustrations captivated her imagination. I appreciate Ms. Rainford’s gift in distilling the world of children through her characters and at the same time making her tales appealing to grown-ups reading the books. 

All of Ms. Rainford’s characters resonated with my little one. In a way, she’s similar to Isabella and the Hairy Fairy who has such a big and kind heart. H.Fairy also dances to the beat of her own drum. When we first read Isabella, Rotten Speller, Malaya was incensed that the black cat was mean to Isabella and “sabotaged” her magic. She protested to the injustice with this rhetorical question: “Why was the black cat mean to Isabella? She didn’t do anything mean to the black cat!” Jacob’s fear of the darkness is familiar to M as well. It was only in the past year she has made the “darkness her friend” …

Anyhow, please extend Malaya’s and my appreciation of Ms. Rainford’s work! We thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you are a far-flung reader, please get in touch – I’d love to hear from you!