This will be my last blog for some time as I’ve officially started my maternity leave! I’ve had 9 months warning that this day would come, but still it’s somehow snuck up on me.

I am knowingly informed that henceforth I will become obsessed with the colour and consistency of baby poo and I can kiss goodbye any dress sense or colour coordination I may have had. There will be a gorgeous baby (to me anyway) to compensate, of course, but I’m still quite reluctant to lose my sense of self completely.

So before I relinquish my adult life as I know it, I have been living it up, crossing off a long list of ‘must-dos-before-I-die-or-have-a-baby’. In this spirit, wonderful A&B treated me to a decadent afternoon at the Ice Cream Parlour at Fortnum and Mason last week. Fortunately, everyone expects a pregnant woman to devour chocolate fondue, ice cream floats and huge slabs of cake in one sitting. It was a sugar hangover well worth it.

And it’s not just me who’s been spoilt. My daughter-to-be has a wardrobe at least twice the size of mine, blankets and pretty knickknacks, a growing number of musical toys and of course a mini library of mini books.  And of course, it’s her books that fascinate me (far more than the ‘How to Survive your Pregnancy’ and ‘Pain Relief in Labour’ tomes I’m supposed to be studying). Some are perfect for her first year: chewable, with mirror bits, fold out pages and wobbly eyes. Others are the classics we’ll be reading to her when she gets a bit older.

This is what is on her bookshelf so far:

Alice in Wonderland
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Gruffalo
Paddington (a given considering we publish Michael Bond at A&B
Goodnight Moon
Hippos Go Beserk (a lovely gift from our author Susanna Kearsley and one I can see becoming my husband’s singsong favourite)
and
Excuse Me, I’m Trying to Read (Illustrated by another one of our authors, Lehla Eldridge, and with an African setting, very poignant for me).

So bloggers, what do you recommend I add to her shelves? It’s important little Miss Crisp is as well-read as possible and I see no harm in starting her off early.

I need to wrap this up. My lie-ins and indulgent shortbread fests while watching trashy morning TV await.   I’m excited and terrified. And it’s going to be more than a little weird not being behind my desk where I’ve been so comfortable for the last 8 years. But I promise to keep up to date as much as possible on Twitter and will be reading the A&B blog, The Bookseller and our authors’ websites – I mean, what else will I have to do at 3am feeding times, right?

Thank you for all your good wishes!

x
Lara Crisp, Managing Editor (and Mum-to-Be)