• Have I retired?

    See my new website thecertainway.uk

    Subscribe to the @certainwaytoday YouTube channel

    Get The Certain Way Book and pdf ebook –

    The book is also available from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com and all good bookshops!

  • Endings also mark new beginnings!

    Yesterday, Monday 12th May, All my physical artwork – about 40 years worth of my work went off to the Seven Stories Centre for Children’s Books in Newcastle, England, where it will be stored and shared and studied and looked after.

    Two or three years ago I showed a mountain of stuff that had accumulated in my attic to my daughter. She was appalled that she might inherit the mess! She’s in the business of looking after art and stuff, so we worked out what to keep and what to throw away – mostly photocopies of photocopies.

    I’ve then spent time organising everything into archive boxes and folders, scanning and documenting them as I went. I contacted Seven Stories and offered the whole archive as a donation.

    I’d been involved in the fundraising of the centre 30 years ago, so feel a bit of an attachment.

    They weren’t sure at first, as they were in a state of change at the time, funding was difficult and it costs to look after stuff. The University is connected to them, for whom the whole archive is a research goldmine!

    My books fall in between picture books and children’s novels – short books, mostly series books and heavily illustrated. They represent a genre and a period of children’s publishing.

    So they have, after committee meetings and discussions and making room on the shelves accepted my archive, which makes me feel both proud and validated for all the work I’ve in done the last 40 years or so.

    It’s a sort of an end, but its also leaving things clear for a new beginning!

  • Looking for a quick, screen-free creative project to get kids drawing and off the pesky internet? Eggs With Legs is a simple but fun activity that works brilliantly in the classroom or at home—and it doesn’t require kids to go anywhere near YouTube.

    I’ve made a short video just for adults—teachers, TAs, parents, or anyone leading a group. It shows you how to guide the activity yourself, so children stay off screens and fully engaged in real-world creativity.

    Learn to draw so you can teach your own children – they will think you are amazing!

    I’ve also made a free printable with egg templates and colouring page. You can download it here: Eggs With Legs PDF – Shoo Rayner Story Shop

    This makes a great:

    • Wet play filler
    • Cover lesson activity
    • Drawing club starter
    • End-of-term treat
    • Easter drawing idea
    • Or anytime creative break

    Drawing is the perfect ad-free, algorithm-free, social-media free activity even better when you can teach the simple skills. You only have to be one day ahead!

    Remember… If your child has access to the internet, the internet has access to your child – let’s go offline for Children’s digital activities.