All posts tagged: Children’s books

‘I Like’ Friday.

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Some things I am liking this fine Friday, last day of March. Posca pens are something new in my art supply arsenal and I love them!  I have tried and failed with paint pens before, they seem to either explode all over the page or they don’t work at all. Posca pens work like a dream and no explosions yet! Making your own books is also a new thing in my world and I love it! So far I have only used the basic bookmaking skills and I intend to venture out further into the bookbinding forest with the help of these classes – Get Messy Art Journal Bookbinding and CreativeBug book making. ‘Grand Designs’ is our nightly viewing at the minute but we are nearly at the end of the Netflix supply, so will have to find another watch.  Any recommendations? Hot cross buns are always a winner at Easter and I like to make them aplenty before Easter!  I have a batch in the oven right now in fact.  I use the recipe …

My favorite books of the year 2015.

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I don’t read lots of books because I am a ridiculously slow reader, but I have read some really good books this year.  So I thought I would share them with you on this rainy, stormy Christmas Eve eve! Three of my favorite novels have been ‘All the Light We Cannot See’ by Anthony Doerr, ‘The Martian’ by Andy Weir (I still haven’t seen the film, but then I do know how it ends!) and ‘The Heart Goes Last’ by Margaret Atwood (I whizzed through this one in three weeks – see, that is me reading fast!!). Three of the best non fiction books for me this year were ‘Big Magic’ by Elizabeth Gilbert, ‘Everyday Superfood’ by Jamie Oliver and out of a ton of art books this one is a beauty, ‘Drawing and Painting Beautiful Faces’ by Jane Davenport. We do tend to read lots of kids books because I still read to my youngest every night.  Favorite children’s books have been ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ by C.S. Lewis, the ‘Harry Potter’ books by …

Four Christmas Books for Children

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Reading to kids is the best thing I think, I am reading the Harry Potter series to my youngest who is 10 and we love it.  I read them to my teen when he was younger, but I am happily reading them again.  I will be sad when both of my kids are too big for reading aloud, maybe I should offer to read at the library or the kindergarten classes at school?! The other thing I miss as they get older is picture books, I love love love picture books and still have a little browse when I am in the library.  I will flick through and admire the illustrations and stories and maybe even borrow one or two. It is with great pleasure that I present to you a small selection of Christmas/Holiday books for the kids (big and small) in your life. First up is Samurai Santa by Rubin Pingk which I chose on the illustrations alone!  Turns out Samurai Santa can throw a snowball as well as any naughty ninja.   …

The insides of books

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I borrowed some books from the library today and all of them had some loveliness inside.  I haven’t read them yet, but I am sure the picture books will be devoured and I will browse the non-fiction and hopefully I will love the novel. From ‘The Bear’s Song’ by Benjamin Chaud.  Look at all the detail here, all of the illustrations in the book are like this.  Makes me want to find things!  In this picture I like the lady exercising in the window. ‘My Father’s Arms are a Boat’ by Stein Erik Lunde and Oyvind Torseter.  Wonderful 3D created illustrations throughout this book using cut out paper. At last I am at the front of the line for Kate Atkinson’s ‘Life After Life’.  I can’t wait to get stuck into it. From ‘Josephine’ by Patricia Hruby Powell.  I spotted this book during Multicultural Children’s Book Day, I was immediately drawn to the illustration style and I wasn’t disappointed when I saw the book.  It is thicker than I thought and I can’t wait to …

Multicultural Children’s Book Day-Celebrating Diversity in Children’s Literature

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I talked a bit about Multicultural Children’s Book Day-Celebrating Diversity in Children’s Literature this week and about the book I am reviewing for this event – The Girl with a Brave Heart.   January 27th is the big day, so pop to the library and grab a book about a different culture to read to the kids.  If you need any ideas for books, check out any of the links at the bottom of this post or visit Pragmatic Mom or Jump Into a Book. When ‘The Girl with a Brave Heart’ by Rita Jahanforuz and Vali Mintzi arrived from Barefoot Books, the first thing that struck me was that it is a gorgeous vibrant book with fabulous colorful illustrations.   Is it me, or does every book published by Barefoot Books consist of wonderful read aloud stories alongside stunning illustrations?  I can’t thank them enough for letting me read and review this book. We read the book as soon as we received it and we tried to guess what was going to happen in …

Multicultural Children’s Book Day is coming

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Next Monday, January 27th 2014 is the very first ever in the whole wide world –  Multicultural Children’s Book Day. It is the wonderful brainchild of Mia at Pragmatic Mom and Valarie  of Jump into a Book, both blogs are chock full of book recommendations, go and have a look.  It will be a day to begin many days of reading about different cultures and the stories within.  Or even well known stories set within a new culture.  I think we have read every connotation of the Cinderella story over the years and enjoyed them all. I received an e mail a few weeks ago to see if I  wanted to be part of this extravaganza of reading, and  review a book connected to  Multicultural Children’s Book Day here on my little blog.   My pleasure. I love books and I love love childrens books and I love love love picture books. In fact I am hanging onto any situation where I can pull out a pile of picture books to read to my kids, ok, …

What are you Reading now?

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I have had ‘The Earth Hums in B Flat’ by Mari Strachan for a couple of years and never picked it up, until this week when I gave up on ‘Hawthorn and Child’ by Keith Ridgeway which I would like to have another go at.  Do you read a book all the way through every time? Or do you give up part way in? I will often leave a book if I am not getting into it, or sometimes I just don’t read it regularly enough and I find myself clueless every time in pick it up again, which is what happened with ‘Hawthorn and Child’ I think. I am liking ‘The Earth Hums in B Flat’ so far and I think I will make it to the end.  I don’t even try to finish books I don’t like, do you finish them anyway and announce your dislike only when each page has been read and turned?  I am sometimes very bad and give up on a book only 50 pages in, less sometimes.  Surely …

This this and that

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I just finished this book and liked it. I saw it recommended on Jools Oliver’s Instagram stream and I thought I would give it a go as the recommender loved ‘Where’d you go Bernadette’ which is one of my favourite recent books. I must admit if I had just picked it up and read the fly leaf, I might not have read it, but I am glad I did. It is set in Gold Rush/Wild West times and the characters are really great, witty and gritty and a good read.  Did I mention I love the cover?  I love the cover. Now, I am about to start this book and I am a big Neil Gaiman fan, so I am looking forward to starting. I love starting a new book don’t you? I have read Neil Gaiman’s  book ‘Odd and the Frost Giants’ to both of my boys over the years and I don’t tire of it, I highly recommend it.  A great mythical read for the kids. Over the weekend I plan to make …

Children’s Books we like.

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Bodhi and I have just finished reading ‘Wonderstruck‘ which is another amazing Brian Selznik book, if you have not read ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’, go go go and borrow it from the library, you won’t be disappointed.  The film is great, but the book is so much more. ‘Wonderstruck’ is a book of words and pictures and the two lives in the book run perfectly together.  Ben’s story is in words and Rose’s is all illustrations.  A very satisfying ‘read aloud’ book for bedtime for the reader and the listener alike. We are now reading ‘Hero on a Bicycle’ by Shirley Hughes.  We liked her picture books when the boys were young and this novel is not disappointing so far.  Set during World War II in Italy, it is very descriptive and captures the events in the story vividly.  We are only part way through, but we are looking forward to reading the rest of the book. On the pile to read next is ‘The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket’ by John Boyne …