Been a while…

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Firstly Happy New Year! It’s been ages since my last blog. Before Christmas we had about 6 weeks of household bugs then a crazy dash to get everything ready for the big day. However, I did manage to read a book during this period. Hope you enjoy the review!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

This is a good but dark book about a boy whose family is murdered and through a sequence of events he ends being brought up by ghosts in a graveyard. He then makes it his mission to find out who murdered his parents. The books is aimed at 12year olds and older (it mentions divorce and suicide and obviously being set in a graveyard covers the topic of death a bit).

I have to be honest and say that I found the first couple of chapters a bit confusing but this could be due to trying to read it with little sleep as the kids had been ill. Once I got into it I couldn’t put it down!!!! If your 12+ year olds are into fantasy/horror I would definitely recommend it!

If your child has read this book or has any other suggestions for the 12+ readers, would love to hear from you!

What are your top 5…

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…..Children’s Books?

Share your top 5 and then nominate 5 people!

Rules:

1. Thank whoever’s nominated you and share their blog link

2. Let us know your top 5 children’s books

3. Nominate 5 people to do the same

4. Let your nominees know you nominated them

I’m still relatively new to blogging so thought this would be a great way to get to know other like minded bloggers! I’m slightly obsessed with books generally and particularly children’s books as can think of nothing better than encouraging imagination and remember the special joy I got out of reading when I was younger.

So my top 5 (in no particular order!) are:

1. The Witches by Roald Dahl – I was completely obsessed with this book and Roald Dahl in general.What an incredible world his mind must have been!

2. Titch by the late Pat Hutchins I completely forgot I owned this book until I saw the sad news of her passing and remembered the countless times I’d read this book as a child. Beautiful illustrations and a wonderful theme of a little boy who wasn’t as bigcouldn’t keep up with his big brother and sister.

3. Whistle for Willie – by Ezra Jack Keats

A great story I used to borrow again and again from the library about a little boy who tries to whistle. I must see if I can get this book for my boys!

4. The Secret Garden- by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Absolute classic. Beautiful book about a girl who is an orphan and sent to live with her Uncle in a mansion. There’s a garden she’s determined to restore and a cousin she never knew existed.

5. Mrs Pepperpot Stories – Alf Prøysen

There were many adventures for Mrs Pepperpot. She could make herself shrink to the size of a pepperpot and talk to animals! Such a great series by a Norwegian author.

Tags:

So I nominate

1. Old House In the Shires

2. Norah Colvin

3. My Bookstrings

4. Suzanne Bowditch

5. The Thankful Heart

Children’s Poetry…

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Children’s rhymes and poems can shape the way we look at the world when we’re younger and bring back amazing memories when we’re older. To give you an example, I honestly can’t walk past a fish tank or see a kitten without fondly remembering sitting in a classroom (think it was Year 1) and learning, writing out and illustrating this one by Ogden Nash:

The Guppyby Ogden Nash

Whales have calves,
Cats have kittens,
Bears have cubs,
Bats have bittens,
Swans have cygnets,
Seals have puppies,
But guppies just have little guppies.

A.A. Milne, Michael Rosen, Roger Mcgough, Spike Milligan all have special places in my heart and different meanings for me. I think the one that terrified me was one we had to learn for a school concert: Matilda – Hillaire Belloc it’s a bit like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” but much darker!

Children’s poetry is fantastic for repetition, vocabulary and according to one blog even physical coordination…

Why Reading Poetry is So Important for Children

It’s also great to create poems with children and get them thinking about how words can sound with rhythm. How they can be used to express thoughts and feelings or just fun noises!

A game that my 3 year old son loves it when I rhyme words and change the first letter to make new and sometimes nonsense words. He joins in which is fantastic (though we have to be a bit careful…listening to the radio he heard the name Jack Horn…he suddenly started shouting “Jack Horn! Jack Corn! Jack Forn!Jack Morn! Jack P…..” 😳 Luckily we were in the car so no one around and I managed to distract him by shouting frantically back “Jack Corn Jack Corn” and then change the topic which seemed to work)<<<<<<<<<<<<
y article that gives ideas for simple activities. I particularly love the suggestion of having a book around the house that kids can write in. I used to have my own blue notebook (would love to dig it out!) And poetry is educational, helps kids to read etc but most of all it's just good fun!

Children’s Poems <<<<<<<<<<<<
ouch and let me know – What was your or what is your child's favourite childhood poem?

Brilliant blog posts on HonestMum.com

Honest Mum

Weekend book review…

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One of my favourite parts about writing this blog, (my other favourite is that I’ve started writing stories and poems again) is that I get to read kids’ books and have a legitimate excuse for it! I enjoy reading adult literature too but there is something comforting about reading things I remember from childhood. Seriously, if you’ve had a tough day pick up a children’s book and get lost in it. Try it – it really works! I love re-reading Spike Milligan’s children’s poems, Roald Dahl books, Enid Blyton, Roger Mcgough’s “An Imaginary Menagerie” and another childhood favourite (which is at my mum’s but I’ve put it on my kindle) Michael Rosen’s “Quick, Let’s Get Out of Here”. Some of my best-loved all time classic books are “The Secret Garden”, “The Little Princess” and “Tom’s Midnight Garden”. The blog in some ways has helped me re-visit fond memories and I also love reading more modern authors and seeing what children are currently reading. Pseudonymous Bosch, Julia Donaldson, David Williams, J.K Rowling (ok showing my age as lots of adults have her books as a childhood memory! New-ish for me though :-))…the list could go on – If you have any suggestions of books you or your children have read I’d love to hear about them!

Anyhow, thought I’d do a review on the latest I’ve read:

My Brother’s Famous Bottom– By Jeremy Strong

This book is a great one for 7-9 year olds. I only realised after that it’s part of a series. It’s set in a slightly mad household. They’re struggling for cash as they have 3 children (the twins being the latest addition) and they audition the twins for a disposable nappy advert…it results in chaos! I loved the characters: There’s a boy called Nicholas, a set of twins, an angry neighbour and his wife, a motorbiking step-grandad, an outspoken grandma, a patient mum, a very funny dry humoured wind up-merchant dad and a goat. I found myself chuckling throughout. Short but sweet and I definitely want to read the next book in the series. Will be encouraging my boys (a baby and a toddler) to read it when they’re older. Very funny!

Imagination….

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“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

Albert Einstein

It’s so true. They say that necessity is the mother of invention but I believe imagination plays a big part in there too. If we looked at only what we know without curiosity and “what ifs” then we would surely never develop further than our own surroundings? For children imagination is so important for development, learning and of course fun!

It’s interesting to see how a child’s mind works. To give you an example, when we went to a fish and chip restaurant my eldest very excitedly started making loud chicken clucking noises. I kept asking him where the chickens were as I just couldn’t see it no matter how much he pointed. Throughout the meal he sporadically made the clucking noises followed by “look at the chickens Mummy!” He does have a random imagination sometimes but even so by the end of the meal curiosity got the better of me. I picked him up and took him to where he was vaguely pointing. It was a clock. Of some sailing boats “Look Mummy! Chickens!!!” Took me a few seconds but then I saw it….there are 2 “chickens” 😂

<<<<<<<<
, that he will always have this imagination and that real life doesn't end up getting too much in the way.<<<<<<<<
d a lovely article on why imagination is so important and also a piece on how to encourage a healthy imagination in children. After all without imagination we may never have heard of amazing people such as Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, J.K Rowling, A.A. Milne, Julia Donaldson and many many more! What an emptier world that would be!

1. The Magic of Imagination and It’s importance for Kids<<< a href=”http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/finance/family-matters/11393118/ways-encourage-child-imagination.html”>Five ways to encourage your child’s imagination

Baby’s Books…

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…He’s still a baby if he’s turned one right? Well, think they’ll always be my babies no matter how old! Anyway, my youngest turned one and in spite of everyone in the house having winter lergies, we had a wonderful day of fish and chips and a visit to the aquarium. I think my son and his huge appetite would have tried to eat the fish there too, given half the chance!

He got a couple of books for his birthday – doesn’t matter how young children are. Reading is a great way to encourage their language and vocabulary. Personally for me, more importantly it’s a great way to bond and the happy shrieks and giggles we get from reading George’s favourites are priceless memories.

So what better way to celebrate the special day than a list of his top 5 books? (Certainly a much better way than eating cake out of the dustpan the second Daddy’s back was turned! 🤢)

1. Charlie Chick – by Nick Denchfield<<
pop-up book given to my eldest a couple of Easter's ago by a close friend. It's about a hungry little chick. George gets the giggles whenever the pop up beak tries to "peck" him. Very simple sentences and so much fun. I've also just seen apparently there are a series of books such as Charlie Learns to Fly and Charlie Chick Goes to School.

2. Toddle Waddle – by Julia Donaldson<<
eviewed this before but it's still one of our favourites. A fantastic book that introduces children to noises. Beautifully illustrated and lots of fun.

3. Where’s Mr Lion? – by Ingela Arrhenius<
eorge loves this serious of lift the flap books. It was one of the first books I read to him. The flaps are made of felt and are so easy for little fingers to grab but not so easy for them to tear. We have Where’s Mr Lion? and Where’s Mrs Hen? Very colourful and really grab their attention!

4. Maisy’s Colours– by Lucy Cousins
A bright book, George was kindly given for his birthday, featuring Maisy Mouse. Teaches little ones colours and gives examples of each one. George has recently learned to point at objects that aren’t just food related and has great fun pointing at random things in the book.

5. Pop-Up Peekaboo! Bedtime- by DK (publishers)

Another birthday book, this one is full of peekaboo surprises. Have to be a bit careful that George doesn’t grab things too hard (my eldest has Woof! Woof! from this series and ripped the dog’s head off when he was about the same age as George). Such a sweet series particularly this bedtime book!

What’s your little one’s current favourite bedtime story? Would love to hear from you!

Curious world…..

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My eldest is 3 and going through the question stage. “It’s dark Mummy! Why is it dark? What about the moon Mummy? Where is the moon? Pointing at a light in the car: What is that Mummy? Answering his own question: It’s a light! Why is the light on Mummy? Light goes off: Where has the light gone Mummy? The light has gone off….” etc. etc. All this within a 2minute journey from the nursery to the car. It doesn’t stop there. Some days we get what feels like a full day in question commentary. Exhausting but fun – unless you’re trying to get somewhere on time! It got me thinking “Why do they ask “why?”so much?”

I found a couple of interesting links which helped answer my question….and apparently kids can ask up to 300 questions a day!!!! I shouldn’t be surprised but still…Wow!

Mothers Are Asked Nearly 300 Questions a Day….

The article below has some great tips and also suggests reading books to your children to encourage the questions. I love books that give children the chance to ask and answer questions. One of my son’s favourite is a Thomas the Tank Engine book that asks questions along the lines of “What does Bertie need to continue his journey? A red light or a green light?”

Why do children ask “why?”

Such a lot for them to find out about and sometimes we learn new stuff along the way too! Thanks

Last but not least, hope you enjoy my latest poem. It’s about some of the things I’ve found myself saying…….No wonder they ask so many questions!

What a Confusing World! – by Kirsten Allen

I’m listening and watching and only three-But oh my! The world’s such a confusing place to be.
Mummy says “Stay where I can see you!”
But how would I know where that is?
Mummy says “Don’t talk to strangers!”
But “be polite and say ‘hello’ to this lady! Go on – give her a kiss”
“Don’t run – you’ll slip and fall in this dreadful rain!”
“Quick run or we’ll miss the very last train!”
“You must share toys – now give him your bat!”
But if I want something “No! She’s playing with it – you can’t take that!”
“Sit still! Slow down! Don’t just inhale the food on your plate!”
“Come on! Hurry and eat up or we’ll be late!”
However, I’m hopeful that by the time I’m four,
I’ll understand a little more!
©
Brilliant blog posts on HonestMum.com

Honest Mum

Book Review and what a week!

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What another incredible week!

The incredible charity supporting mums, (Motherwell Cheshire, https://www.motherwellcheshirecio.com) have been kind enough to ask me to do a monthly blog for them. Checkout my first one here: Kids’ Storyworld blog for Motherwell

Then last week I read at Hanwell Library and thoroughly enjoyed it! The kids were fab and were lovely and patient enough to sit through Giant of Jum, Kitchen Disco and The Highway Rat.

This week I’m going to try and keep the storytime duck themed. Will be reading Farmer Duck by (the appropriately named!)Martin Waddell. This one was reviewed in a previous blog https://kidsstoryworld.com/2017/07/14/fridays-review-and-other-bits/ ) I’ll also be reading Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough. The latter is the latest addition to our book family and my little boy loves it!!! It’s been a relief to read something other than the “5 Little Piggies”, as he calls it. I keep pointing out there are only three but to no avail. Today wandering around the supermarket he kept telling me we needed bacon. Perhaps that’s where his other 2 piggies went? Anyhow I digress. Back on topic – book review below!!!

Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough

This is a great rhyming picture book about a duck in a truck (who would have guessed from the title?! 😆) It’s a really simple but fun story where the duck’s truck gets stuck in the mud and he enlists the helps of some creatures he meets. This would be a great book for earlyish readers to practice out loud and is also enjoyable for adults to read to children. Would probably say the age is 6 and under. It’s also part of a series of duck books. The pictures are colourful and everything you’d expect to see in a children’s book.

Party like it’s Friday….

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Well I promised the book review of Kitchen Disco (by Clares Foges and Al Murphy) and what a book it is! It arrived on Friday and without exaggeration we have read it about 8 times already. It’s great for around 6/7 and under with so much colour, fantastic rhyming and a good beat. It almost feels like you’re at a party when you read it. It tells you to “Dance like you don’t care!” (Though my 3 year old keeps insisting “I do care Mummy!” – not sure if he means his dancing or mine! 😂)
It’s all about the party fruit have when everyone’s asleep. So “Swing your hips, shake your pips and let’s get all excited!” Such an enjoyable book that my son loves doing the moves to.

There’s also a website attached with a video  (link below) though if I’m honest the book is fun enough without it.

Kitchen Disco

The modern world….

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I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

Groucho Marx

Apparantly if we read, then kids read (well according to this article I found). It also says it doesnt matter if it’s on an e-reader or not. However, I remember my parents reading lots and books being all over the house. Almost every Saturday morning I’d go to the library with my Dad and we would spend hours there choosing books. I loved it and being an only child with not much else to do I would go through book after book (even at meal times if I could get awayI’ve got rid of most of my books in favour of an e-reader (mine’s a Kindle). Wasn’t sure about it at first and still miss turning the pages of a proper book. However, I’ve actually grown to love it for the following reasons:

1. Space saving 
2. Great for travelling 
3. I read books I would never otherwise have read! It comes up with suggestions of books to try, which leads to finding out about authors I’ve never heard. Now I’ve got hundreds of books all at the click of a button.

However, it makes me worry. 

1. My kids may never see the covers of the book I’m reading and ask about it.
2. When they’re old enough, they can’t just pick one I’ve read off a shelf (one of my favourite activities growing up was looking through my Father’s old penguin books- he seemed quite into Sci-fi and short stories)
3. They may think I’m just looking at another computer screen. I hope not and my intention is to talk about the books I’m reading.
4. Will they still enjoy books just as much even if they’re on an e-reader?
There are loads of children’s’ books in the house so it’s a worry for another day but the article really made me think about how my children will perceive books in the future. Would love to hear your thoughts on the article too and if your children are older with e-readers.

Here’s the link: Forbes Article