Kid's stuff: The Snowman and other stories

The great Raymond Briggs passed away last week, and his brilliance was unmistakable. He was so very good at what he does, because it still works and I see it work every night.

My little daughter is turning three this week, and while it's such a cliche, it really does change your life. At the very least, it changes up your media intake and all your oaths about screen-time go out the window because you just need to get the bloody washing done.

But it's also fascinating to see how the tastes are growing, as she forms her own opinions about the things she likes.

So this week the Tearoom of Despair is going to kick the existential shits out the door and focus on the wholesome and weird things the kid is into, and the remarkable pleasures I get out of that. There's a lot of it - I don't even get into the astonishing array of music she likes to boogie to on a daily basis, or how Sarah and Duck is helping her become such an elegantly polite young person.

But in tribute to dear old Raymond, I can find time to mention her second-favorite book at the moment (we'll get to her fave later in this week). Even though Thriller is her first comic, the first one she actually wants to read (rather than tear apart and eat) is The Snowman.

It's a silent graphic novel, telling the story in multiple panels across a grid, with no need for any clumsy word balloons. It's the simplest of stories - boy makes Snowman, it comes alive ,they have a bit of fun, he melts - with the coziest of artwork.

I really don't knw how they learn this stuff, but she's following the panel layout easily enough. She can follow the story and doesn't need any words to tell her what is going on.She tells us this, every single night.

I hope Raymond Briggs knew what a profound impact he had on the world, his books might have covered intense subjects like nuclear war, or just got pulsatingly gross as Fungus brings out boils on sleeping necks, but they were some of the best. There are worst books to start with.