Booking in November

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My personal highlight of the month was going to a book launch for Christmas Wonder, by Vikki Conley and Cheryl Orsini. I have blogged about my love for Cheryl’s illustrations before. I absolutely adore her work, it is both colourful and filled with emotion, but at the same time quiet and calming. So it was a huge privilege to get to meet her and tell her of my love for her work.

This new book gives voice to all of us who grew up celebrating Christmas outdoors with pavlova, BBQs, cricket and summer nighties. I really think it will become a staple of Australian Christmas in years to come. I know there are other Aussie Christmas books, we have a few, but this is hands down the most beautiful and accurate depiction of the feelings I have about my Christmas experiences. My advice is don’t delay until next year, buy it now. I’m giving it as our teacher gift this year, confident it will be more appreciated than a(nother) mug and more personal than a(nother) box of chocolates.

Picture Books

The Sloth Who Came to Stay, by Margaret Wild and Vivienne To – I do love Vivienne To’s illustrations and they are the perfect accompaniment to Margret Wild’s wise words. Kids will love this book because who doesn’t love a sloth (I know my almost 3 year old wants to make his hair like the sloth’s). This is great because the more times parents get this story, the more likely they will absorb the message which is to slow down, enjoy life, chat to neighbours, have family dinner time and listen to each other.

The Bear, the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle, by David Litchfield – This was not the best sequel in my mind. I felt it didn’t flow well from the first book and could have been a stand-alone story without making it a sequel. Having said that I adore David Litchfield’s illustrations and this was still very visually pleasing.

Oi Puppies!, by Kes Gray and Jim Field – Another addition to this very popular series. the kids absolutely love it, so we keep reading it. I guess even if I’m not enjoying the story, at least I get to see the kids’ reactions, which are priceless.

Carnivores, by Aaron Reynolds and Dan Santat – I’m still trying to get my hands on any works by Dan Santat that I’ve missed. This one was really funny. It’s about a shark, a wolf and a lion who band together feeling misunderstood and lonely. The message that everyone is different and sometimes we just have to accept what makes us different and own that is a great one for kids.

The Knight Who Said “No!”, by Lucy Rowland and Kate Hindley – I mainly picked this up because the illustrations reminded me of David Roberts’ work. A very nice story, great rhyming text, strong pictures.

Pea + Nut!, by Matt Stanton – Matt Stanton is becoming a regular feature in our library bag (see Booking for Jude section). This rhyming picture book about a calm, strong panda and a loopy, boastful flamingo who have a baking battle gave us lots of laughs.

Show and Tell, by Rob Biddulph – Rob Biddulph produces really polished, very entertaining picture books. All kids are familiar with the basis for this story: Show and Tell day at school. And lots of kids will understand the feeling of wanting to have the best show and tell in the class, so a book where kids keep one-upping each other is very interesting and amusing.

Booking for Odette

Odette has gotten it into her head that she is ready to learn to read. So now we regularly have those little books with simple sentences that are pretty painful for parents, but essential for kids. At this stage for Freya I found Elephant and Piggie to be so helpful because I could stand the books and they were at the right level. Unfortunately I can’t really go back to that well as Odette has them all memorised, making the act of actual proper reading ineffective.

I’ll let you know if we come across anything new that is helpful for her and enjoyable for me.

Booking for Freya

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After going through about 5 Daisy books in a row Freya moved on to a new series this month it’s called Go Girl. Again she got a taste for it first through Borrow Box. We had a few of the books on the shelf as a hand-me-down from older cousins but she hadn’t ever wanted to read them. But after listening to a few chapters on audio she decided to give it a go.

The books we have (but seem to no longer be available) contain 5 stories of 10 chapters apiece. They each feature one lead female character who seems to be about 9 or 10 years old and. The main characters in each book find themselves in awkward or new social situations, such as becoming class captain, joining a netball team or going to camp. The reader gets to understand what the character feels, what friendship problems they encounter and see how one might solve some of these problems. This is great for my soon-to-be-tween girl.

While these books are not thrilling or even very interesting for me, as I read them with her it gives us an opportunity to discuss social cues, norms, and taboos. This series has Freya reading personally (without adult supervision) and enjoying the process. It does feel like she’s turning a corner.

Booking for Jude

If you’re not yet reserving library books, or suggesting purchases and they getting first read of them, you are missing out. I absolutely love when I get the library to buy a book I know my kids are going to get excited about and then I bring it home as a surprise. The look in Jude’s eyes when this happens is superb.

This month he got to read recent releases for a couple of authors he loves and he was not disappointed.

The Taylor Turbochaser, by David Baddiel

Funny Kid Kicks Butt, by Matt Stanton

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Also Jude finally got into Harry Potter. I have borrowed the first one from the library a couple of times to give him the chance, but he’s never wanted to. This month I got to the top of the Borrow Box waiting list to listen to The Philosopher’s Stone on audio and after only a couple of chapters, he was hooked. He borrowed a copy from an uncle and whipped through it. He’s now closing in on the ending for the second book.

Booking for Mum

Inheritance, by Dani Shapiro – This was a very emotionally written memoir of the author learning that truth about her paternity. It gives the reader an opportunity to contemplate their own family history and the traditions, habits, connections, and attitudes we ‘inherit’ from our ancestors.

What Your Child Needs From You, Dr. Justin Coulson – After reading this I realise I need to be reading at least one parenting book a month. Despite being a mother for almost 10 years, there is still so much I need to (and want to) learn. One section particularly stood out to me about parenting being about the parents and how they feel about the tasks required of them to be successful in raising their children. He points out that parents who approach parenting as a chore, a nuisance, something getting in the way of them living the life they really would prefer will continually be unhappy. But that parents who have a willingness to commit their whole selves to the task of rearing their children and sacrifice and serve their children will be much more effective and will actually become better people themselves. I’m paraphrasing, but what I took from it was that the more diligent and wholehearted you are in parenting, the more joyful you will find the experience, and, generally, the more successful you will be.