They say never meet your heroes. Meeting your daughter’s, though? Pretty fun. Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharratt are the unassuming, slightly mischievous pair behind one of the biggest hits in children’s publishing, the multimillion-selling You Choose books – which my little girl is completely obsessed with. Look online and you’ll see parents sharing stories of how their children’s copies were so loved they fell to pieces; that no other book got a look-in at bedtime for over a year. I can wholeheartedly say every child should have a copy.
For the uninitiated, the concept is simple. Each beautifully drawn double-page spread encourages the reader to make a simple choice from a set of brightly coloured illustrations, crafting a unique day in the life (the food and pets pages are our most pored over). The first one was published 23 years ago, gaining serious momentum to become an established, beloved brand. There are now six You Choose books, with the latest (You Choose Party Time) released this month, and they have sold more than 2.5 million copies and been translated into 18 languages. A more recent board book series for even younger readers has also gathered steam, with a third coming next year (You Choose Nursery).
