Mem Fox actually hates writing children's books.

She told me so tonight, with an abundance of squealy notes and enthusiasm.

Mem oozes energy and is totally and madly in love with books. She is also totally and madly in love with reading and writing. The woman is mad for it.

When signing up for her course, I never imagined that I would get to hear her recite some of my favourite lines from Possum Magic and hear her recite her whole Sail Away poem/ballad.

She is desperate for children to be read to, she is desperate for the entire world to love books like she does and she makes you want to become a better writer, a better reader and a better advocate for literature. She is one of the most inspiring people I've ever come across.

As a teacher of young children, I have always adored her books, but I never realised how freaking funny and charismatic she is. Mem lit up the room, had us all singing on cue and shared how writing children's books is one of the hardest things a writer can do. Who knew that most of her books were so defined down to the number of syllables in each line of text? Count them, its true.

Tomorrow I will teach poetry. Its what I do on Thursdays. However, I am scrapping my planned lesson and going to read Sail Away to my class with gusto and passion. Why? Because Mem told me to.

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Two of my favourite Mem articles : If I were queen of the world; Have we lost our way?