East of Croydon by Sue Perkins

Author:Sue Perkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781405938150
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2018-08-27T04:00:00+00:00

They carried on, ignoring me.

There had obviously been some crossed wires in the translation. When they said ‘tree’ what they really meant was ‘canvas’. It became clear that my job was to simply hold up the sheet while the rest of the group performed a puppet show. On me.

Theatre can be such a cruel mistress.

After I’d stood behind this histrionic windbreak for an hour, the show wound to a close. There was a big farewell, with lots of waving and shouting, then we all enjoyed an impromptu hula-hoop session. As you do.

Once the formalities were over, the children scattered like marbles to the hills above, clutching their library books of choice. From what I could see, the most popular titles appeared to be Pirates Attacked Dr Dolittle As He Was Sailing Home, The Wasp With A Stick In Its Eye and Eat Teeth! – a treatise on dental decay and how to avoid it.

A silence descended over the landscape, the crags of rock dotted with colour as the children settled into the outcrops and began to turn the pages. You could feel the concentration in the air, the silent fascination of a hundred children whose imaginations were being stirred.

My eyes filled again as I saw the unmistakable cover of Eric Carle’s The Hungry Caterpillar. My favourite book, sent through time and space to this remote beach. I picked it up, my fingers poking through the cut-out holes in the watermelon and strawberries and as I did so, I felt it again – like a distant rumble – that excitement when I first sat on my mum’s lap, held a book in my hands, and started.

Once Upon A Time.

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