The baby book whisperer

Dear Mr and Mrs Ahlberg,

Your book PEEPO has always been considered as favourite in our household. With its catchy rhyming script, busy stimulating watercolour pictures and peeping holes which are baby baffling, it’s a crowd pleaser that's for sure.

Our story time crowd includes my human baby, Lottie, and, more often than not, my fur baby, Louis. This male stud puss hates missing any opportunity for a pat and purr. He also seems to very much enjoy having quiet time without interruption from his nemesis, the baby who enjoys pulling every part of his furry body every which way every chance she gets.

Lottie's two favourite toys must also be part of this special time, not less because there is very much a need for a teddy shield between the feline and febaby (#mumword1).

No matter what time of the day and irrespective of whether Lottie is hungry, angry, grizzly or overtired, your book somehow manages to captivate and stimulate her to such a degree that we have peace in quiet for the duration of the book. It is the real life book baby whisperer which can be read over and over at a very slow pace without a peep of anything other than happy squawks, giggles, and excitable vigorously flapping chubby bubby arms.

Trust me when I say I have raved about your book and its noble accolades including it being awarded the coveted best book for babies title by Parents Magazine. I have been a true loyal mum fan and silent partner. However, given an unfortunate but inevitable (in hindsight) incident, I can no longer be silent.

On 5 August 2019, your beloved paperback book was devastated by 10 tiny but medley fingers. It all began with an innocent index finger grabbing the edge of one of the many PEEPO holes but ended as a compete dog’s breakfast.

I admit that I am not completely innocent in all of this. I may have laughed once on initial rippage (#mumword2) but I soon realised that doing so was the making of a baby paper shredder. Manic mum mode immediately ensued and I managed to peel the tiny gripped fingers of both hands (that were not desperately grasping to ripped paper) away from the book covers. It was, however, too late to salvage any form of reading capability from the wreckage, let alone peeping scope.

Despite my admissions, this unfortunate situation should not have been. If I had the benefit of hindsight or common sense, I would have bought the hard cover book that you also sell. However, I don't. My only superpower (self-proclaimed, obviously) is being a mum and I find common sense hard to muster these days. I fear for my fellow new mums who I am sure will face the same fate.

The book is deemed to be "a classic book no one should be without" (somewhat generically referenced as from “a Mother”) and the "perfect book for sharing" (as referenced from “Nursery World”, a much more credible source). Although it pains me to say, my experience falls short of those high standards and to safeguard your reputation from taking a dive, the only sensible solution to me seems to be the banning of your paper books.

I hope that my feedback is received as it is intended, namely, to bring to light a very real first world problem in baby bookdom (#mumword3).

Yours sincerely,

A concerned Peepo mum fan.