Mother's Day Memories: Penguin Staff

Books are meant to be cherished, shared, and to create connections. This Mother's Day, we are celebrating the timeless legacy of stories and their enduring impact across generations. Read on for Penguin staff memories of reading with their Mums and kids...

Becky - Director

When I was a child Mum read my sister and me the wonderful High Summer on the Heaphy Track. Told in the first person by a primary school aged girl who walked the track with her family, and illustrated with black and white photos, there was something so compelling about the low-key dramatic moments, familiar-feeling sibling tensions, and wide open landscapes. Seeing the book instantly evokes the good feeling of being in the small and safe world of my family, and when I read it to my own children forty years later I would get a lump in my throat at certain bits! And, inspired by that book, my sister and I are about to walk the Heaphy Track, with her children, who are the ages of the kids in the book. We’ve never done such a thing, wish us luck…. Wild Walks by Hannah-Rose Watt is invaluable in helping us plan and to feel like we might actually be able to do it, and also contains a sweet dedication to her own mother, who took her hiking from a young age. There is something beautifully circular about all this which makes me glad to be a daughter, sister, mother, auntie, reader, rookie hiker!

Cath - Children's Publisher

My mother read my sisters and me so many books, but The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward stands out in my memory because every time I asked for it Mum would protest that it wasn’t Easter for months yet, but would quickly cave in and honestly, I think she enjoyed it as much as her daughters did. The Tawny Scrawny Lion, a Little Golden Book, was also a huge favourite. I was mad keen on bunnies and wanted to become the 11th sibling in the rabbit family.

My three children have each had different favourite stories – my eldest was a huge fan of Slinky Malinki by Lynley Dodd. I know every word by heart and could lie down and recite it with my eyes closed. When I paused, my son knew it was time to turn the page. He was also obsessed with The Little Yellow Digger by Betty and Alan Gilderdale – now he drives one for his job. My middle child was addicted to Thomas and Friends and the Fred and Ted stories by P. D. Eastman. He’d line up his favourite stuffed toys along the sofa with books propped up and quietly read with them – we called it ‘Hugo’s book club’.

My youngest had me read Kimberly Andrews’s Puffin the Architect, Hound the Detective, Moose the Pilot, Goose the Artist and now her latest addition Giraffe the Gardener on repeat. Now she’s old enough to read them to herself, I’ll often find them piled up beside her bed in the morning, after a late-night reading session. There’s no sweeter feeling when they’ve caught the reading bug and pass it on to their siblings and others. Once in the middle of a party I found my daughter reading Who’s Driving? by Leo Timmers to her little cousin Stella, cuddled up on a bean bag with the dog listening in.

Shanee - Key Account Manager

I’ve read The Cat From Muzzle by Sally Sutton to both my boys over and over again since it was released back in 2019. My youngest who’s almost 9 now, still loves this read to him at bedtime. They love the fact that it’s based on a true story of how a cat named Dwayne travelled for 5 weeks from Muzzle Station to Kaikoura including crossing the Clarence River. It is astonishing to believe that a cat could make that trip!

The rhyming text also makes for such a fun read with kids…

He Loves the Muzzle’s bleating sheep,

the snowy, blowy breeze,

the gentle cows, the cluck-cluck chooks,

the buzzing mountain bees.

Kat- Sales Executive

My mum always read Little Golden Books to me. I had many of the Little Golden Books in the normal format but also a big LGB Treasury. My mum always used to read the first couple of pages, then skip a few, then read the last couple and go, “All finished.” That worked until I got a bit older and noticed, so I would tell her “Hey, you missed some pages.”  I did the same thing to my girls until they also realised. I loved the Scuffy the Tugboat, The Poky Little Puppy, The Shy Little Kitten and Tootle. I loved them all really, but they were the regulars.

My girls loved Giraffe’s Can’t Dance. I’ve read that book a million times, I swear. Always without a doubt, it’s the #1 book they wanted me to read. Seems like such a long time ago now.

Take a look at our wonderful range of Mother's Day books to help you connect with family here.