Jane Finch
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Meet Jane Finch, children's book reviewer
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After a career of 25 years in English Family Law I thought I was pretty hardened to all life had to offer after spending my days in Family Law Court. Then after 20 years of marriage I had the miracle that was my son, Ryan. He defied the medics and was determined to be a part of my life.
I began to write my first children’s novel when he was young. I used to take him to a local hilltop to watch the squirrels play, and I made up stories for him about their antics. The idea was born, and Squirrel Island was published in the UK in 1998. It is now being agented in the USA.
I used to write short stories for Ryan based around things that interested him. When he had a sudden desire to go into every carwash we could find, I wrote Colin the Carwash, and so on. So I accumulated a mass of short stories for children as the years went by.
When he was 9 he was severely bullied at school, so I made the decision to take him out of school and to homeschool. It was the best decision I ever made. We had a wonderful few years together, learning new things and discovering different ways of learning. When he was fourteen he took his GCSE’s and obtained 3 B’s and 2 A’s, so I felt I had done a good job and he had really bloomed with home education.
Now he has started at College and I suddenly find I have time on my hands. When I came across Best Children’s Books I was really enthusiastic to get involved. I love books that are wholesome and informative as well as fun, especially those that can tell children about the natural world about them.
I am looking forward to reviewing for Best Children’s Books. I also write travel articles for Suite101 and write community news for two regional newspapers in Norfolk, England, where I live. I am currently working on my second anthropomorphic book about birds.
-- Jane Finch
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