A Note from Pippa Chorley about the writing of Counting Sheep
This story was dreamed up one cold, dark night when I couldn’t sleep. I remembered my father always telling me to ‘count sheep’ as a little girl when I was unable to settle down at bedtime. But when I closed my eyes I couldn’t help imagine the flock having a little bit of fun first.
I loved the idea that the sheep have numerous schemes and failed attempts before succeeding in their goal. The old saying comes to mind that ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again’. We all need failure in order to find success and that takes determination and resilience.
After much farmyard fun and a few crazy ideas, Sam eventually stands out from the flock and solves the problem in the most mature and sensible way. Yet again, another famous truth springs to mind that often ‘the simplest solutions are the best!’
I had a lot of fun thinking up the different ways that Sam and the sheep might solve the problem, a few ended up being left out of this story in the editing process – I wonder if you can think what they might have been?