The Baby’s Catalogue by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

This is one of my daughter’s favourite books to flick through in the mornings when she is waiting for me to prepare her porridge. I usually give her about 4 books to flick through whilst she waits in her bed for me to come and fetch her and this is the one she always seems to be reading when I come in the room.

There’s a lot of detailand variation in the pictures and the illustrations leave so much scope for making up stories and asking questions. The colours and bright and cheerful and the illustrations are quite funny too.

I think this will be one of those books that is a favourite for a long time.

The Growing Story by Ruth Krauss and Helen Oxenbury

I came accross this book in our local library amd fell in love with the illustrations straight away so it had to be bought! I often struggle to find books in the library that I really like so I was pleased when I came accross it. The story is of a boy who is growing, he has a puppy who he watches grown, he goes through all of the seasons before finally realising that he has grown too.

The story is gentle and descriptive and the illustrations really capture the different seasonal changes. I often change the story when I read it as the illustrations seem to have too much more to talk about than what is in the words alone.

Seasonal book basket: Winter

I’ve been looking forward to getting the Winter book collection out – they have to be my favourite!

Here are some of the books in our Winter book collection:

It seems the best season for snuggling indoors with T and reading a Winter story whilst keeping warm indoors.

I really love the illustrations in Shirley Hughes’ book – ‘Lucy and Tom’s Christmas’ – but then I love all of Shirley Hughes’ books.

‘Time to say I love you’ by Clare Walters, Jane Kemp & Illustrated by Penny Dale

I thought I would share with you this book that we found at the library a couple of weeks ago – we l love it SO much that I just had to buy it for ‘T’. I Love the illustrations and get lost in the pictures myself – this is one of my favourites and hopefully ‘T’ will love it as much as I do for many years to come.

I love the page of them running through the rain, curled up by the fire and tucked up in bed under a lovely patchwork quilt – I especially love the little comforter that the girl in the book has – it looks exactly like the Keptin Jnr  (or better known as a ‘ghostie’ in our home) that ‘T’ has a little collection of and can’t sleep without.

I think the pictures speak for themselves though………..

Snail Trail by Ruth Brown

After planting out the winter veg we have been visited by many slugs and snails, thankfully I think that the frogs are keeping the population down at the bottom of the garden where the broccoli and cauliflowers are growing, though the cabbages and brussel sprouts are being munched!

I cam accross this book in the library which seemed so appropriate at the moment and ‘T’ really loves it. I read it to her and then we ventured outside to hunt for snails, she looked everywhere for ages and was so excited when she found one.

One of the things I really love about parenting is being able to take the time to do these things. Before being a Mum I would have found snails a real pest munching on my vegetables, but knowing that ‘T’ is learning and enjoying all of these little wonders makes them an afternoon of fun and a free activity in our garden.

Seasonal book basket: Autumn

The Autumn book basket is coming together though I have found this season the hardest so far to find books for. There are a few that I have my eye on to add to the basket collection but there’s plenty of time for that!  My favourite (ahem……….T’s favourtite!) is by Shirley Hughes – When We Went to the Park, I love how Shirley Hughes manages to illustrate so well, she somehow seems to be able to capture the light perfectly.

The other books are:

• Flower Fairies of the Autumn – Cecily Barker
• Autumn – Gerda Muller
• Come on, wind! – John Mole
• Autumn – Gerda Muller
• Brambly Hedge, Autumn Story – Hill Barklem
• The Untidy Little Hedgehog – Molly Brett
• The Wind Blew – Pat Hutchins

I’m yet to decide on a book about a pumpkin to add to the basket though there are a few I have shortlisted!

Alexander Beetle (Forgiven by A. A. Milne)

We found a bettle in the bathroom this morning………….an ‘Alexander beetle’.

‘T’ didn’t want to hold it but enjoyed looking at it for long time, and looked for it later on in the day when it had gone. It reminded me of one of my favourite books that I had as a child and that I have now passed on to ‘T’:

The poem in it about Alexander beetle goes like this:

Forgiven

I found a little beetle; so that Beetle was his name,
And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.
I put him in a match-box, and I kept him all the day …
And Nanny let my beetle out –
Yes, Nanny let my beetle out –
She went and let my beetle out –
And Beetle ran away.

She said she didn’t mean it, and I never said she did,
She said she wanted matches and she just took off the lid,
She said that she was sorry, but it’s difficult to catch
An excited sort of beetle you’ve mistaken for a match.

She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn’t mind,
As there’s lots and lots of beetles which she’s certain we could find,
If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid –
And we’d get another match-box and write BEETLE on the lid.

We went to all the places which a beetle might be near,
And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear,
And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:
“A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!”

It was Alexander Beetle I’m as certain as can be,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought it must be Me,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought to say:
“I’m very very sorry that I tried to run away.”

And Nanny’s very sorry too for you-know-what-she-did,
And she’s writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid,
So Nan and Me are friends, because it’s difficult to catch
An excited Alexander you’ve mistaken for a match.

By A.A.Milne

I think it will be perfect for bedtime tonight! x

Gyo Fujikawa books

I have recently found a beautiful range of books by Gyo Fujikawa – an American children’s author and illustrator born in 1908 to Japanese parents. Her books are full of every day things and written in such a simple way. She was recognozed as being the first illustrator to incorporate different races in her books before it was mainstream to do so. Little ‘T’ loves having the ‘Sleepy Time’ book read to her before she goes to sleep each night, I’ll be keeping my eye out for more of these to buy!

Around the Year by Elsa Beskow

The books on my baby girls’ shelf  are a lovely collection, some of them are beautiful vintage childrens books which were mine as a child, a couple belonged to my brother and sister and I have collected a few from charity shops and ebay too. Last week, Little ‘T’, my Mum and I went for a trip to a lovely shop and chose this book. We already have a couple of books by Elsa Beskow as I just LOVE the illlustrations, this is the latest to the collection. I wish I could draw like this, I’ve been doing some sketching over the past couple of weeks just nowhere near this good!

Family time

It has been lovely to spend some extra time with my husband and baby girl whilst he has time off from work over Christmas, we have been busy sorting out the garden for the spring, getting all of our bills and paperwork filed fresh for a new year and having fun with T and her new Christmas toys, we’re looking forward to all that 2011 brings. 

Over the last few days I have managed to get about half of an essay on ‘neurotransmitters’ done, can’t wait to get it out of the way and slightly nervous about starting another course next month but sure it will be worth it in the end!

Happy New Year to all 🙂