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Jason and his books returned to Clitterhouse Farm to entertain children at the annual FolkFest event.
Situated alongside the circus skills area, Jason got out his own juggling balls to blend in during the quiet moments, but a strong flow of young families kept him busy with several readings of his three rhyming picture books.
Some of the younger book lovers – and their parents – enjoyed pointing to Hannah Rounding’s pictures as they helped Jason find the rhymes in his pre-school book, What Can You See?
Children aged 4 and up competed with their grown-ups to see who could laugh the loudest at the BookTrust recommended anarchic rhymes of I Like To Put Food In My Welly – many of the parents were already on board with the title, before Jason had even opened the book – the children were drawn in by the food-filled welly that accompanies him on his events; one child emptied it out to find it contained an out-of-date pack of crisps, four fruit bakes and a yoghurt-coated biscuit that had made its way down to the toes, which – after several years of entertaining children – was as much of a surprise to Jason as it was to the children.
After enjoying the music, food stalls and swing, one child returned, and asked Jason to read the book again. “Over by the welly,” she insisted, dragging him and the book back to one of his most popular props.
A Zoo In My Shoe also elicited the expected responses, as children turned up their noses at the idea of smelling their feet and eating pizzas covered in fleas.
“It’s always great to introduce new young readers to the books and enjoy the sight and sound of children laughing at them for the first time,” Jason enthused. “The FolkFest visitors were so engaged and the best thing was that a few even came back for more.”
