Great library find

Chris found this book at the library a couple of weeks ago and since then, I have really been enjoying reading it with Rosie. It's quite different from some of Julia Donaldson's other well known books (eg. The Gruffalo) but it's a great book for 3-5 year old little girls. Not too many words, lots of great illustrations to fire up their imaginations, and inspiration for non-crafty types like me to make paper dolls with the kids since we have some rainy weather on the way here this week. What's not to like?

We're also big fans of some of Julia Donaldson's other books here. Stick Man and Tabby McTat have also been given a big workout this year after we gave them to Rowan for his birthday last year. 

Highly recommended reading.

What my boys are reading at the moment...

I saved most of my books from these series that I had when I was little. I think I'm just missing Third Year at Malory Towers, the horsey one. I didn't enjoy that one as much when I read it because I didn't really have much interest in horse-riding.

It's such a proud mother moment for me to now see the boys getting into them. Hopefully they won't be too embarrassed that I'm revealing it here....

I might read them again when they've finished.

Op shop find of the day

I found this for 50c in one of the local Vinnie's shops this morning. I wasn't a die-hard fan of reading these when I was younger (I was very much at the upper age limit of the target audience when they first came out), but I read a couple of them and didn't mind them. The holiday house we stayed in recently had another one of the series on the bookshelf so I read that and was taken back to childhood days.

This one is the first one in the series, the one that kicked off over two hundred Babysitters Club books.

On reflection, I think that the hook-in for reading books like these lay in the whole "girls being best friends" dynamic. Reading them also takes you back to a time when community, helping others and spending time with kids were more highly valued. I'm not sure what young girls finding them for the first time in our current age of individualism and self-centredness would make of them now. I don't have much experience with girls in this age group these days, but I get the feeling they would probably see themselves as being a bit more sophisticated than Kristy and Claudia et al.

Great book I found in the library for Rosie

Babar's Gallery. A fantastic read for the littlies and adults alike. Babar and Celeste set up an art gallery to display all their stored artworks, with elephantized versions of many famous paintings, including The Scream, the Mona Lisa, and Botticelli's Birth of Venus. Hilarious.

Babar and Celeste's kids have plenty of questions to ask of the art appreciation kind as they are looking at the portraits too. "Does it have to make sense?" was one of my favourites.

If you've visited, or planning to visit, your local art gallery, this is really worth reading to your kids. There's a list at the back of all the famous artworks featured in the book (if, like me, your art appreciation and recognition skills are limited...).

Enjoy!