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This is not my hat – Jon Klassen

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Today I visited a bookstore. My task was to find books on crime and punishment in the adult, non-fiction section. Help was sought and books found, and I was about to leave with my treasure when I remembered another book I wanted to find.

“Oh,” said the weary assistant.

“A children’s book – This Is Not My Hat.”

“Ah,” said the assistant, suddenly eager, eyes brightening.

And this is it. You may have heard of it, but I had not until recently. As it turns out it’s another book on crime and punishment, and it may just be the best of the ones I came out with.

The story involves a hat, a big fish, a little fish, and the question of whether or not the little fish will be a lucky fish. The illustrations are restrained and the story telling minimalist. Together they pulled me right into the dark water with the fish wondering what would happen next, all the drama caught in the side-view eyes.

I think it’s a brilliant book, one you could talk about forever to a child, imagining what might happen and why, and whether or not it should – a classic tale about fishy goings on.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Nightwalk by the Thames at high tide

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I often walk beside the Thames, sometimes in the dark and sometimes by day. I love the movement on the river, and along its edges, especially when the bridges and their reflections add extra colour to the palette.

Last week I happened to be beside the Thames after a period of persistent rain. The water reached high up the walkway, slapping against its edges. It was easy to feel the river’s power and its threat, and to understand why the busiest lifeboat station in the country is Tower which opened in 2002, and is moored close to Waterloo Bridge.

Here are a few little facts I’ve picked up about the station. There is more on this RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) website.

  • This September Tower was the first lifeboat station to reach 10,000 launches.
  • The crews have to launch within 90 seconds of receiving a request from the Coastguard. For coastal stations that time is ten minutes.
  • It is manned 24/7 for 365 days of the year.
  • Around 50% of its rescues involve accidents or sudden ill-health on board other boats.
  • There are three other lifeboat stations on the Thames – Teddington, Chiswick and Gravesend.

I hope that the Thames Barrier will keep major flooding near the bottom of the list of risks facing these crews.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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How can war still exist?

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There’s so much talk of war, and war crimes right now – discussion about who has visited what horror upon whom, and whether such horrors are legal. It makes my heart shrink into my bones.

Why do questions like these still have to exist?

How can we claim to be ‘playing fair’ at all when we bring death and destruction to another? How can any of us walk tall when others are ripped apart by loss, and their homes cratered with corpses? Where is the honour in deliberately obliterating the hope and livelihoods of millions caught up in the storm of our actions? Where is the pride in shredding the souls of others, in stamping bootnails and bombs into generations of families? What is the justification for any form of warfare, regardless of whether it is legal or not?

Surely there is none, for we know in the deepest layers of our common humanity that the cruelty and violence of war should be banished from all lands for all times, for the sake of us all.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023