How does your child express their individuality? Tell us for a chance to win a £100 John Lewis voucher plus picture book Odd Dog Out

[SorchaMumsnet]

Rob Biddulph's beautiful new picture book Odd Dog Out is all about blazing a trail, and being who you are. To celebrate its publication, we're asking you to share how your mini superstars dare to be different.

It's a dog's life in the big city but one dog doesn't quite fit in. It's lonely being the odd dog out when all she wants to do is find her place in the world. She's willing to travel far on her quest, but it might take a different kind of journey for her to realise that maybe she's exactly where she needs to be.

A sublimely sunny and exquisitely illustrated tale about fitting in and standing out, from the award-winning and tremendously talented Rob Biddulph.

We'd love to hear how your little ones to express their individuality (and how you help them to do so) - whether it's insisting on wearing their favourite character costume 24/7 or only eating certain coloured food. For a chance to win a copy of Odd Dog Out and £100 voucher to spend at John Lewis, just tell us on this thread.

This discussion is sponsored by HarperCollins and will close at midday on 22 February

Books T&Cs apply

My daughter has very strong views on what to wear - she will only wear skirts or dresses, preferably My Little Pony branded, and insists on going to school every day with brightly rainbow coloured hair bobbles, clips and hairband and My Little Pony key rings on her book bag. Everything has to be as bright and rainbow coloured as possible :)

DD (2) likes to put in ALL of her hair accessories at the same time - this equates to about 14 clips, 9 baubles & a couple of headbands!!

DS (4) is very particular about organising his toys. He'll line them all up or arrange them in a certain way, sometimes spending hours doing so. I like to think he's methodical & tidy (though shame that doesn't extend to more productive things like getting ready in the mornings!)

At a reading of 'Odd Dog Out' I dodged all the toddlers throwing themselves on beanbags to get a copy for my daughter's 16th birthday. Is Loving picture books alongside all the trashy teen stuff odd? Rob Biddulph personalised it beautifully for her. Who says picture books are just for infants?

DD(6) turns anything she can lay her hands on into an artistic creation. As soon as she spots something a little bit different she will be at it with scissors, glue, pens and bits from her craft drawer and so my house is filled with the stuff.

DS(3) expresses his individuality by wearing shorts, t-shirt and no coat even in near arctic conditions.

My 4 year old can predict the future. He always tells us wants going to happen. Very strange. For example - when I was 4 weeks pregnant he said "You're having a baby!" I replied "Really, what makes you say that?" His response "because you are!"
These strange conversations happen daily!

My son loves to wear pink - and really doesn't care what anyone in his class says. My daughter likes to be different in just about every aspect of life - she's not a sheep - never follows fads or crazes. Bless her, she says - I'm weird and I know it!

My 5 year old son is a little strange in the fact that he has to have all the buttons on his tshirts, shirts, coats etc done up all the way to the top. He doesn't understand that sometimes the top button is meant to be left open!

My son is 11. He knows what clothes he likes - short sleeved cotton shirts (preferably patterned - Hawaiian patterns in particular) and shorts. Now accompanied by green boots. And it doesn't matter that we live in the north and it's the winter, he still wears them at the weekend. He is quite annoyed that high school doesn't have shorts on the uniform list!

My son (3) always insists on wearing a tie. It's his way of dressing smartly doesn't matter what he's wearing, jumper, football kit, trackie bottoms or shorts & t shirts he will always put a tie on.
He's gonna be quite dapper when he grows up!!

We have twins who spend all day every day together, our eldest of the two has cottoned on to the fact that they are in fact two separate people unlike the random strangers who constantly tell us Double Trouble and he likes a bit of alone time.
His brother is always crawling after him trying to copy him, taking his toys and annoying him but eldest DT likes to break away from his brother and do his own thing, his latest party trick is to push all their toys into a little pile to lure in his little brother in and then crawl off as fast as he can whilst his brother is distracted and play nicely by himself.
It's lovely.

My son expresses his individuality with art. He has inherited his talent from my mother and grandmother and is a talented artist.
He finds it difficult to express himself following a head injury but through his drawings he is able to speak and convey those things that he likes and who he is.
I cannot remember a time when he hasn't had a pencil in his hand.

By not having their hair cut. If anyone teases them, they just shrug and counted care less. My boys have gorgeous hair

My little one has the rather annoying diet of chocolate spread sandwiches, minus the crusts, and mash potatoes with chicken nuggets - drives me up the wall.

DS2 and DD2 have both enjoyed dressing up and are rarely seen in 'normal' clothes. Today, DD was dressed as Miss Claus for preschool :)

My daughter, 6, says 'I don't care what I look like' and is just herself - she doesn't seem to mind if people think she is 'quirky'. She is quite happy just to be her own person. She expresses herself a lot through drawing which we love to see. Our other daughter, 9, loves to dance and puts on regular 'shows' for us - it's the best thing to see them happy and doing what they love.

My daughter proudly asserts that she is not a girl at all, but a tom boy. So far this has extended to wearing school uniform trousers, rather than gingham dresses, rejecting any hint of pink and ditching Brownies for Cubs. Luckily it turns out that tomboys can still be very keen on playing with dolls.

Ds often chooses some very bright and clashing outfit. He says the colours make him happy, so he doesn't care. When he was younger he would often wear his cape - with everything. He even wore it to bed. It was his best gift ever.

My 5yo dd2 insists on sleeping on the floor in her room in a pop up tent and tunnel (made for toddlers so it's very small), I really don't think it can be very comfortable. My elder daughter who is 7yo likes to write in her diary every day (and has done for over a year) but likes to keep it secret by writing in invisible ink, so it looks like her well worn diary is full of empty pages. My ds (1yo) has decided his favourite toy is a wooden hammer, so carries it everywhere and sleeps with it.

My DS (aged 3) is strong willed and determined. I love that he knows his own mind but sometimes I struggle to rein this in while allowing him the freedom to express himself and learn.

My eldest has always had his own interests and learns so many facts about the current thing. At the moment its nuclear weapons- he's 6 😲
My youngest son (4), just loves to decorate everything with sequins, fairy lights, ribbon. He's forever taping things up around the house.

My six year old granddaughter just tells it as it is!. One of her most recent witticisms is to tell her Mum that she left her skin on the playground after she grazed her knee. Don't worry though my friend is looking for it!!

Son.....visited by Council Home ed person.....decided in his wisdom to sing Free the People in the style of the Dubliners! Quite out of character ........

My 2 year old daughter lives to choose her clothes and has cone up with some interesting combinations! She also went through a phase of refusing to eat fruit, but eating any vegetable we offered her - she still seems to like broccoli more than fruit!

DD has just discovered jokes1 so she sometimes comes out with the most utter nonsense and follows it up with "I'm just joking you Mummy!"

The more difficult times are where her tales are reasonably plausible. We are starting to have trouble distinguishing what's what. DD has no sympathy she always thinks her jokes are obvious and if we believe them we're playing along. Confusing times in our house right now

DS1 won't dress up and would rather be the o ly person at school in uniform on mufti day!