So Much

Story

Mum and Baby are at home when the doorbell rings. Suddenly their house is flooded with family members, from Aunties and Uncles to Gran-Gran and cousins. Everyone wants to squeeze the baby, everyone wants to kiss the baby, and everyone loves the baby So Much!

Why we chose it

So Much celebrates the joy of family life and especially of being an adored baby in a loving West Indian family. Young children can identify with the baby from an early age. Written in natural language, the story works well for reading aloud and copying the actions. With its sweet, positive message and warm, funny illustrations, So Much is deservedly a much-loved modern classic.

Where it came from

Trish Cooke was a presenter and writer on the BBC’s Playdays for many years and now writes for stage, television and radio. Her 2008 Cinderella for the Theatre Royal Stratford East was the first pantomime to win an Olivier award nomination.

Cooke started writing for children while pregnant with her first child. So Much was prompted by the lack of black characters in children’s books at that time.

Helen Oxenbury is an award-winning illustrator and writer of children’s books, best known for her illustrations of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig, Farmer Duck and her 1999 edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Where it went next

So Much won the Smarties Book Prize and the Kurt Maschler Award and was voted one of the 100 Best Children’s Books in 2016 by Time Out. The illustrations were nominated for the Greenaway Medal.

It was included in the National Strategy good practice publication on raising the achievement of Caribbean children.

Associated stories

Trish Cooke’s other books for children include Full, Full, Full, Full of Love, Waiting for Baby, Look Back, and Mr Pam Pam and the Hullobazoo.