February 2019

Month

Mon
11 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Lucie Gray, Owner, Paper Aeroplane Creative

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Hullo, I’m Lucie. I live with my partner Mark and two children, Eloise 4 (& the all important 3/4) and Oliver 2. We live in Keynsham, a town squeezed between Bristol and Bath. I’m a packaging and branding designer.

What are your children’s favourite books?

Oliver’s favourite book is ‘Ten Little Pirates‘ by Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty. Each pirate peril is met with an “Oh NO!” and we are guaranteed an arm swooshing “Arrrrr” at the end followed by “again Mummy!”

It’s really hard to pin Eloise down to just one favourite book, she won’t go to bed without at least an armful to read, but at a push it would be something written by Julia Donaldson. She knows them off by heart and can be regularly heard reading them to her favourite soft toy, Rosie.

Fri
08 ^th

Wishing For A Dragon by Becky Cameron

Posted by Shelley Edwards - No Comments

It’s almost time for bed but Olive, Barney and Ella aren’t ready just yet. They want to go on one last adventure before they fall asleep! Olive wants to go to the jungle, whilst Barney wants to head out in search of treasure. And Ella? Well she would secretly really like to see a dragon.

The three friends hop in to a giant hot air balloon which has magically appeared outside their window and then whoooosh, they’re off!

Their first stop is a pirate ship which they eagerly explore, but their time is cut short when the crew decide they don’t want to share their treasure. Next they float down in to the jungle but a hungry tiger makes them a little nervous about staying. This adventure really isn’t working out as planned and poor Ella still hasn’t see a dragon!

Thu
07 ^th

Think Big! by Kes Gray & Nathan Reed

Posted by Shelley Edwards - No Comments

When you think of Humpty Dumpty you can’t help but immediately picture him falling off a wall – but what if he could be so much more than that?

This brightly coloured book starts with Humpty sitting on his famous wall, talking about the future with his friends. One of them asks what he wants to be when he grows up and his response shocks them. He wants to be a boiled egg! Aghast, they suggest that he thinks outside of the box.

Wee Willie Winkie thinks Humpty should be a footballer, Little Bo Peep suggests he becomes a detective, whilst Mary Mary Quite Contrary thinks he would make a great musician. Soon everyone is sharing their career aspirations. Little Miss Muffet dreams of becoming a scientist, Goosey Gander plans to become a builder, and This Little Piggy wants to be a traffic warden!

Wed
06 ^th

Hop Little Bunnies by Martha Mumford & Laura Hughes

Posted by Shelley Edwards - No Comments

Ivy always gets excited when we receive parcels of books in the post but when we opened this one she was bouncing with joy as it combines two of her favourite things – the song ‘Sleeping Bunnies’ and lots and lots of little flaps to lift and explore.

Adapted from the popular nursery rhyme, this beautiful book starts with a group of very sleepy bunnies lazing on picnic blankets. You are invited to wake them up by lifting the flaps and then turn the page to see them all ‘hop hop hop’.

The group of bunnies then take a little walk through the countryside and find lots of other animals having a snooze, including lambs, chicks, kittens and ducklings. Your little one can wake them all up by lifting the flaps (or by yelling ‘WAAAAAAKE UUUUUUP’ as Ivy chose to do!) and watch them play together.

Mon
04 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Jaclyn Townshend, Owner, Lingotot Gravesend

Posted by Shelley Edwards - No Comments

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Hello! My name is Jaclyn and after having my son in April 2016 I left my Facilities Manager role in London and I now run Lingotot Gravesend. I live in Hoo in Kent with my husband and our son Finn who is 2.5, and we love to travel to see my parents who live in rural Spain. I’m part of a book club who meet monthly and I love to read, sadly I don’t have as much time as I used to when I used to commute to London and had hours to read, but I now enjoy reading with my son who loves to sit down with a new book and read it over and over (and over…) again!

What is your son’s favourite book?

Finn’s current favourite is Oi Frog! By Kes Gray & Jim Field – it’s a hilarious rhyming story about a frog who discovers that all animals have their special places to sit. Finn loves saying the relevant rhyming word to the animal (i.e. cats sit on mats, foxes sit on boxes) and he’s learnt lots of new words as a result. There are lots of different animals in the series and I can’t wait to get more books for us to read.

Sun
03 ^rd

Aalfred And Aalbert by Morag Hood

Posted by Shelley Edwards - No Comments

You may remember that last year we got very excited about a book called The Steves which featured two puffins arguing over the fact they share a name. Ivy loved it (and still does!) so I was over the moon to spot that the Author, Morag Hood, has just released something new.

Aalfred and Aalbert are two aardvarks who are absolutely perfect for each other but, despite being neighbours, they have never actually met. This is because Aalbert sleeps at night and Aalfred sleeps all day. Both long for companionship but don’t realise that what they are looking for is right under their nose.

Unbeknown to them, a tiny blue bird has been observing their coming and goings and decides to play matchmaker. He hatches a number of elaborate plans involving alarm clocks, broccoli and balls of red string but nothing seems to work.

Sat
02 ^nd

Hubble Bubble Granny Trouble
by Tracey Corderoy & Joe Berger

Posted by Shelley Edwards - No Comments

Since discovering the joy that is Tracey Corderoy, Ivy and I have been on a mission to read all of her books. We have devoured all of the Shifty McGifty picture books and now we are loving this Hubble Bubble series about a very unusual grandparent.

The little girl in the story wants to tel us all about her Granny, who happens to be a little bit different. She dresses all in black, has a pointy hat, keeps frogs and bats as pets and the food she serves is extremely unconventional! She loves her granny but sometimes she wishes she could be a little bit more like the kind of grannies her friends have.

She suggests to her Granny that it might be fun to have a makeover day together and she sets about making little changes which she thinks will make her more ‘normal’. They knit some hats together, travel in to town by bus (rather than broomstick!), buy some new clothes and get their hair done. By the time they are finished, her Granny looks just like all the other grannies in the street.

Fri
01 ^st

Feelings
by Libby Walden & Richard Jones

Posted by Shelley Edwards - No Comments

You’ve probably noticed that we’re partial to books which encourage emotional development and this is the most recent addition to that particular shelf in our house.

The gentle rhyme explores all of the emotions which your child may be experiencing and helps you to name them and understand how they feel inside. Anger is described as a fiery pit of bubbling magma, embarrassment is a burning red face under a bright spotlight, calm is a gently rocking boat on a smooth ocean and sadness is a river bursting its banks and covering everything in sight.

The book covers a wide range of feelings including courage, sadness, anger, happiness, jealousy, loneliness, embarrassment, excitement, fear and calmness.

← Newer Posts