Picture-This Books

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Picture-This Books

Children's books, for children to illustrate themselves. Read, Imagine, DRAW!

27/01/2026

A Small Hyphen With a Big Job

A small but important note from me — involving a hyphen, of all things 🫣😅

Some of you have very kindly messaged to say you’ve tried to visit my website but ended up somewhere else entirely. You’re not imagining it — and it’s not happening to everyone, either.

Since last summer, Penguin Random House have acquired picturethisbooks.com (without the hyphen). It used to belong to a completely different business and wasn’t active, so there were no issues or confusion at the time. It then became available and...what can I say? I wasn't quite as quick as the big fellas and didn't snap it up quickly enough.

Now, depending on the browser, device, or a bit of internet magic I don’t fully understand, missing the hyphen can sometimes cause a redirect elsewhere. Not always — but often enough to be confusing and frustrating if you’re trying to buy a book.

My website has always been and still very much is:
👉 www.picture-thisbooks.com
(with the hyphen doing some very heavy lifting in the middle)

Please rest assured: Picture-This Books is alive, well, and still run by me, just as it always has been. You can shop directly via the website above, select independent book shops, Waterstones.com or Not On The High Street.

Thank you so much to those of you who’ve taken the time to message and flag this. I really appreciate it. And thank you for continuing to support small, thoughtful businesses in a very big-publisher world.

Long live the hyphen ✨

I never thought punctuation would become part of my business admin, but here we are.

H xx

20/01/2026

Hi 👋 I’m venturing tentatively back online after a leisurely & cheese-laden much-needed Christmas break.

I’m also still very much wintering - moving slowly at every opportunity, choosing carefully, staying offline more than online - and that’s something I want to continue to protect this year.

2026 is already shaping up to be a full-on one 😅 My psychology studies are progressing, and my role as a Complex Needs Specialist continues to demand a lot of time, energy, and care. It’s meaningful work, but it’s also a reminder that I can’t do everything - and I don’t want to.

BUT what I can do is show up thoughtfully.

This year, I’ll be publishing one considered blog post a month, released on the first Tuesday of every month (well aware I'm late already - I'm setting intentions, not resolutions 😉), and then shared here. Nothing frantic. Nothing forced. Just writing that feels useful, grounded, and aligned with my values - and with the values behind Picture-This Books. First one of the year is live now. Link in bio and www.picture-thisbooks.com - side note, DON'T FORGET THE HYPHEN...more on this in a few days 😬

These blogs will be customer-led, so if there’s something you’re navigating as a parent, carer, or educator - anxiety, creativity, storytelling, emotional wellbeing - please get in touch and let me know. I’d genuinely love to write in response to real needs, not trends!

Picture-This Books has always been about slowing things down, trusting children’s inner worlds, and making space for imagination. This feels like a natural extension of that - living the brand values, not just talking about them. It’s also not going to overwhelm me to the point where I ghost my customers for several months at a time. Soz about that 😆
Please note, even when I/we are not posting, I check DMs daily myself to make sure nothing is missed.

Wishing you all a belated Happy New Year. I hope 2026 meets you gently, wherever possible.

If there’s a topic you’d love me to write about this year, feel free to comment or message me.

H xx

#2026❤️

06/12/2025

No pictures - just words, space, and imagination waiting to burst onto the page! There is a Picture-This Books title for every child. Whether they love reading and drawing, or perhaps need our encouraging spark...

Picture-This Books make beautifully unique Christmas gifts 🎁 something creative, calm and meaningful for children during the most magical (and excitable!) time of year. They're also perfect for the advent countdown - a page-a-day creative activity that channels festive giddiness into drawing, imagining and giggling their way to Christmas morning. A joyful way to keep little hands busy and big imaginations as curious as ever ✨️

For imaginers aged 5+ years 🌈

Available now at www.picture-thisbooks.com
(Don't forget the hyphen!)

PSST: Last UK orders date for guaranteed Christmas delivery: Sunday 21st December 🎅

-thisbooks 🎄

01/02/2025

My favourite thing about this stage of development is that logical, critical, and abstract thinking skills all pull a chair up at the brain table. Things are about to get interesting in there. Children can simultaneously evaluate and question the information they receive and create rich imaginative and truly unique inner worlds.

Picture-This Books were created to entertain and nurture this emerging nuance and to celebrate the originality that springs from it.

www.picture-thisbooks.com

📚🧠✏️

H xx

30/10/2024

Thank you so much to for this glowing review of Picture-This Books ❤️
Sevvel is one of our brilliant brand ambassadors and loves being the illustrator of our magical tales.

Picture-This Books are created for children aged 5 years and over. They are a playful space for children to bring the story to life and colour, just as they imagine it.

There are five books available now at www.picture-thisbooks.com

We send all books via First Class Royal Mail 📮

Read, Imagine, DRAW!

H xx

10/10/2024

Oh cr@p! It's and I've not prepared and scheduled any content. And my books are big on this. And my brand is big on this. And I'm big on this. And it's all about the kids!! And goodness and kindness and all the nice but real things. And I must convey this to the world via social media in the correct format, today, and right on time as per my professional dashboard data, or else...or else what though?

Right on queue and ever so on today's # trend I'm having a nightmare week. The kind of week where everything is breaking, screeching, crunching, flashing and generally giving up. Even the coffee machine at work broke today 😱
My washing machine, my car, my sales, my sense of self 😅 it's all taking a hit right now. I wish I could say it was a momentary blip but this year has been a tester in the broadest terms.

So, I am NOT posting this in a bid to cheer you on or lift you up - not this year, but in the hope that you might see this in amongst the sea of positivity filling your feed tonight and know that if 2024 is kicking your butt, you're not alone. I'm over here, with you ❤️

Sometimes it's just tough. We are tougher. And it's totally fine if tough wears pyjamas a lot, is scared to check their bank balance and doesn't know what day it is.

Also some stuff about the importance of the right people finding and appreciating you all year round - be that business or pleasure, not just one day a year. You get the picture.
Oooh speaking of pictures... 😂😅

www.picture-thisbooks.com

Over and out 👋😴

H xx

05/10/2024

Swipe for why it makes such a difference ❤️
And then come with me for a couple of minutes and read this post. What does it mean to you and yours? How much of your time is your own? How much of their time is theirs?

Scaffolding is such an important part of growing whole humans with healthy and content minds.

And again, I'm not bigging this up to try and sell some books! I designed and wrote the books in an effort to big this up 📚✏️🧠 it's so important but it's becoming ever easier to forgo creative play in favour of more organised, closed play. Yes/no, right/wrong, limited option, directed and controlled play...

It's understandable but it's limiting. It's understandable because the more directed play is, the more manageable it is, the less messy it is, the more scheduled it can be. We are busy humans and efficiency is creeping into absolutely everything we do.

We are living in an age where it is 100% necessary to schedule chunks of time for unscheduled living. Time where we can shut out efficiency, ease and tidiness.

Remember that creative play will look different for every child, and that you can read "creative" as "free" too.

It's about giving children and young people the space to explore, experience, and experiment. Time off the clock and totally devoid of demand.

H xx

Shop Picture-This Books at
www.picture-thisbooks.com

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Basildon
SS16

Telephone

+447751239286

Website

http://www.picture-thisbooks.com/

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