Description Share Post Put Your Records On Corinne Bailey Rae, illustrated by Gillian Eilidh O’Mara (Fox & Ink Books) Every Sunday, Bea visits her great- aunt Portia. It seems their day follows the same pattern, with sipping tea and telling ‘each other stories about their week‘. Thereafter, they check Portia’s garden and feed her rabbit before walking her ‘short-legged dog called Buttons’. However on this visit, when readers join Bea and Portia, we follow them upstairs, to a room that Bea’s never visited before. There are costumes alongside albums from Portia’s past. It seems this music is a source of inspiration, memory and comfort to Portia. What will Bea choose? What will she make of the sounds and moods when Portia suggests Put Your Records On. Corinne Bailey Rae is best known for her music, including the titular track. However this picture book reminds us of the necessity of music within our lives, the hopes and opportunities, warmth and love. Then again, Gillian Eilidh O’Mara’s soft toned illustrations are infused with memory, future and love, too. In fact, we realise the trust that’s built between our two central characters and the hopes for the future. What’s more, there’s an historical connection to people and places past, rather like I’ll Go and Come Back. Bookwagon loves and recommends Put Your Records On.
