ANIMAL INFLUENCES

Readers, writers and performers for Bim Litfest 2014 on books that grab them, favourite authors, and showing words love...

"My favourite book is As a Man Thinketh by James Allen. The book is based on the proverb “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” This book helped me to cement the understanding that everything that we do and believe in life is a direct result of our thoughts. This means that if we can learn to produce better thoughts, we can also improve the external conditions of life. With dedicated action, we can realize the dreams of our imagination.

“The first book which truly captured my imagination and attention as a child was Chicken Licken. In this story, Chicken Licken gets knocked on the head with a falling acorn and believes that the sky is falling. I liked this book as a boy because I always tried to imagine how the sky could be falling. I also liked the fact that all of the characters’ names rhymed: Chicken Licken, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Foxy Loxy. My mind has always been attracted to rhymes, and rhyming stories were always my favourite as a child. I also liked stories which gave personalities to animal characters. I enjoy the story dynamics and imagination which can be achieved by giving human traits to animal characters.”

• Gregory Skeete is the author of the Pilly the Pelican storybook series and is a storyteller for the Bim LitFest Children’s Fair on Saturday, May 17.