Davina Bell creates children’s books that feel like a big, warm hug.
She lives in Melbourne now, but it was her childhood in Perth that shaped the writer (and reader) inside her.

It’s lovely to speak with you today, Davina.

Let’s start with what you remember about growing up with books.

Everything in my life is shaped by how I was brought up with books.

I was the youngest-ever member of the local library and we would go there very week, and as a result of that I always loved books. My parents did then and still have a love of reading, so I feel like that seeped into me from a young age.

My dad’s grandmother would take him to buy a new book at the start of every school holidays. She would take him out of boarding school and take him for a trip to the bookshop. It was a really special and sacred thing, and he continued that with us.

I remember my dad reading to my brother and listening to that a lot.

My dad was a 1980s businessman, he was often busy and not often home. So when he came home and read to us, it felt like a really special occasion to be with him and to hear his voice in a different context. So I do have really deep, precious memories of that.

But because I loved books so much, I became an independent reader quite early. I think from about 4 or 5 years old I was reading myself, which my parents really loved, so I don’t have memories of being read to after that.

We had a really beautiful local bookshop called The Singing Tree (now trading as Westbooks) when I was growing up in Perth. They had a special gold sticker that was on the back of all their books, and they were really kind people. So I just associated books with kindness, and the hush of the bookshop, and this special little sticker.”

How about now? What do you love reading?

I’ve almost finished the new Leigh Sales’ book Storytellers, which I have found so compelling. I have always loved listening to smart people talk about their work.

I read – or used to read, pre-baby – a lot of contemporary literary fiction, especially American. I also read a lot of middle grade fiction. Kate DiCamillo is my favourite author in that space.

I also read a lot of non-fiction. I am quite interested in science and neuroplasticity and longevity, and I read a lot about parenting.

I have very sporadic, non-sensical reading patterns. I just follow my nose, and it all stems from a love of books which came from my childhood.

You dropped the phrase ‘pre-baby’ in there – so has your reading changed since you became a parent?

I feel like the time constraints have changed what I read.

Everything I read now is with the lens of ‘how do I raise my son in the world?’, so I feel like the selections I make and the themes I think about are all subconsciously related to that in some way.

I really do believe modelling reading is so important in raising a reader. For all of us, attention spans are shorter, with phones and everything, and it is harder to read these days, undeniably. If you want to work on your child’s reading, you have to work on that aspect of yourself.

You might be reading on your phone and you could point out to your kid, ‘oh actually I am reading an article about this or that’. So that even if they don’t see you with a book, they know you are reading.

What are your top 3 tips for parents and carers to enjoy reading to young children?

Number one – when kids are really little, loving books is actually about loving YOU.

Your warmth, your attention, your closeness, sharing in your wonder or excitement. They associate books with you and having a special time with you.

When people say ‘oh my baby loves books’, I actually think, well, your baby loves you. Your baby loves that physical contact, the eye contact, that modulation of your voice, and seeing you speak in a different way. I suppose for me, that harks back to being close to my dad in my childhood.

Number two – picture books are like a little bit of theatre.

If you can overcome the self-consciousness a bit, you can make it theatrical, make it dramatic, make it silly. Do the voices and be a bit over the top. Point things out in the pictures, say ‘wow I wonder what’s going to happen there’. You can be surprised and delighted.

And I think the longer you put that on, the more you will get into it.

I really feel there’s a lot in bringing in a bit of performance and maybe trying to tap into your own playfulness and childishness. That will make a big difference.

Number three – well, this is only something I have come across since having a kid. My son is 22 months.

I have realised, with the books we have read over and over again, he actually loves to be re-told them even without the book in front of us.

Try re-telling their favourite books without the book itself, try to pause and get them to fill in the words and remember the pictures.

If you don’t want to read the same thing again, or are too tired to even hold up the book, you can say to your kid, ‘tell me the story’ and see how far they get.

Do you think parents should tell their own stories too?

Yes, you should also tell stories from your own life, from your own head.

And – this sounds mundane but is really effective – you can tell stories from the day.

At the end of a day, to tell the story of the day in a narrative way, with moments of tension and drama and relief, is also really effective because it shows kids there is a story to their life in a very simple way.

Thank you so much for chatting with us, Davina. Are there any other little secrets you’d like share?

I do have one more tip for parents who speak many languages.

There is a fantastic bookshop in Sydney called Lost in Books that has editions of children’s books from around the world. I did a story-time there with an Arabic translator. They do incredible things with families across the board.

It’s worth getting in touch with them if you want something in a specific language from around the world.

Thank you so much Davina!

Find out more about Davina Bell.

* The image on this blog title is sourced from Under the Love Umbrella (Scribble books), written by Davina Bell and illustrated by Alison Colpoys.