I, too, am a great fan of Donald Winnicott (Bear necessities, G2, 12 December; Letters, 17 December), whose greatest contribution was celebrating play as the source of creativity, and my sons, especially the younger (now a children’s writer), had a lively relationship with their toys.
This has filtered down to my grandchildren – with the result that each year when my eldest grandchild (14 this week) and I take our annual caravan holiday, I bring with me the 56 toys who lodge in my tiny London flat. They each have a very distinct personality and soothe, amuse, quarrel, act up, boast, swan about and put on excellent plays each year, which I feel sure has led to their mistress becoming rather a good actor in her own right and a promising playwright.
Salley Vickers
London
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