Hi! Nice to meet you!

 

     Firstly, a little bit about me. I am mother to a wonderful 8 year old boy called Buddy. My son and I live on the breathtakingly beautiful Isle of Wight and are lucky enough to be surrounded by ancient woodland, wide open fields, lovely, desolate beaches with sea that stretches to the horizon and craggy, moss-covered ruined castles- all things that stimulate a healthy imagination for the whole family! Every weekend we set off on "Big Stomp Sunday" where we catch the first bus that comes along, sit in the front seat upstairs and wait for Buddy to spot something interesting in the distance. That's our cue to get off of the bus and walk across whatever terrain is in our way to our mystery destination. On our adventures we chat about anything and everything and invariably start making up stories to explain away the unexplainable! Whether it is the mysterious and fabled Tower of Kaloth-Kar jutting like a broken tooth into the sky (obviously you have to cross the Three Seas of Cheese on a little toast boat to reach it) or Charlie Snufflesnout who lives in the compost bin in our back garden and eats all of our leftovers, these stories invariably end up coming through in my writing. I have always loved to write but simply didn't have the time to commit fully until Buddy started school, but now I'm lucky enough to spend most of my days sat in the garden, writing or riding my battered up old 'boneshaker' bicycle to a local beach where I can draw inspiration from the beautiful surroundings.

     I feel truly blessed to live here and finally be living out my dreams of producing children's books. Having Snufflesnout House up and running as a company, with my wonderful brother Dennis, is an amazing feeling. (It's a real family affair). I have always had a fascination in child and family psychology, having studied Systemic Therapy, and as parents we have put this into practice on a daily basis, always trying our best to understand our son's fears and worries. This, as well as an ecological message, was something I wanted to put into my books. Hopefully they will benefit other children, too.

As a family, we are keen to waste as little as possible and I'm forever starting projects with old furniture, upcycling them, repainting them and giving them a new lease of life. We have always tried to encourage Buddy to be creative and to try and give him an 'unplugged' childhood (as much as possible), so most evenings we can be found outside in the garden covered in paint or mud! The acquisition of our first compost bin really excited Buddy and he was keen to know how the grass clippings and vegetable waste turned into compost that would feed the flowers. Enter Charlie Snufflesnout! Watching my son and his friends creeping up to the compost bin as quietly as they could to try and catch a glimpse of him was fantastic! One of his friends ACTUALLY saw him so there's the proof of his existance!

I hope so much that you and your children will enjoy Snufflesnout House books as much as we have loved creating them.

 

All the best,

Cat and the Snufflesnout House family X