April 2020

Month

Sat
18 ^th

Every Child A Song by Nicola Davies & Marc Martin

Written for the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), this beautiful book celebrates the worth of every child.

Using the metaphor of song, the story shows us how every child is unique and brings something new and wonderful to the world.

At the start of the book we see a newborn baby bring a new song in to existence. That song is nurtured with love, shelter, protection and a sense of belonging. Afforded these basic rights, the song soars and explores. On its journey it finds new songs – some loud and some quiet, and some long and some short – but each wonderful in its own way.

Fri
17 ^th

ABC of Kindness by Patricia Hegarty & Summer Macon

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If you’re looking for a gift for a new baby, or a sweet bedtime read for a toddler then i’d like to draw your attention to the ABC of Kindness because it is utterly adorable!

The gentle rhyme takes us on a soothing trip through the alphabet, highlighting all the ways we can be kind to each other. Whether it’s F for Forgiveness, P for Patience or U for Understanding, this sturdy little board book is the perfect way to introduce the concept of kindness from a very early age.

The book features a host of loveable animal characters and the illustrations exude warmth and comfort. Ivy’s favourite is the little elephant who pops up on multiple pages with a joyful smile on his face.

Fri
17 ^th

Cave Dada by Brandon Reese

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After a hard day of hunting and gathering Cave Dada is looking forward to putting his feet up – but his little baby has other ideas. He wants his father to read him a book and he’s not going to stop crying until that happens.

The father seems somewhat reluctant and suggests he plays with a rattle or snuggles his blanky instead – to no avail. Tired and a little grumpy, Cave Dada sets off to get the book and when he returns we can see why this wasn’t his first choice of activity. The book is a giant stone tablet!

Unfortunately this isn’t the book the baby wants so the tears resume until a bigger book is brought, but that turns out to be the wrong one too. Whilst travelling back and forth to gather more books Cave Dada accidentally invents fire, but still the baby is unimpressed. All he wants is his favourite story before bed.

Thu
16 ^th

Amazing Daddy by Rachel Bright

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The little panda in this story thinks her Daddy is simply amazing! He makes her yummy food, he loves to snuggle and he smells like ‘safe and warm’.

The gorgeous rhyme follows the pair as they go through their day. To an observer, nothing they do is extraordinary – they eat, they play, they have a bath – but to the baby panda every little moment is special because she gets to spend it with her Daddy.

We love this one because of the gorgeous illustrations and the cheeky humour. There are lots of fun details hidden in the pictures – keep an eye out for Daddy’s aftershave – ‘Old Panda Spice’ – and the very important pieces of paper on the table in Daddy Panda’s office!

Thu
16 ^th

Wonderbooks for Save the Children

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In recent months i’ve noticed that Ivy’s awareness of the sheer size of the planet has definitely increased. Where once she was satisfied to hear that a country was far away, now she wants to know how we would get there, how long it would take, what language they speak and where it sits on a map in relation to the UK. I’ve been using picture books to try and teach her about different cultures but i’ve found it a challenge to explain how different her life experiences are compared to others around the globe.

Enter Wonderbooks, a new monthly subscription service from Save the Children. When they got in touch to see if we’d like to review some of their titles I jumped at the chance because the timing was perfect for us.

Fri
10 ^th

The Girl With Two Dads
by Mel Elliott

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When Pearl discovers that there’s going to be a new girl called Matilda in her class she gets very excited. She can’t find wait to find out what she’s like! She watches Matilda say goodbye to her dad and over the course of the day they become firm friends. Together they climb trees, run around the playground and jump in muddy puddles.

But then the next day Pearl spots something interesting. When Matilda’s dad drops her off at school, it’s a completely different dad. How can she have two dads? Confused, Pearl starts to ask her new friend lots of questions. Matilda explains that a family doesn’t necessarily mean having one mum and one dad, and she has two dads who love each other.

Thu
09 ^th

There’s A Lion In The Library by Dave Skinner & Aurélie Guillerey

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With her little dimples and tiny button nose, Lucy Lupin looks utterly adorable. However if you take a peek below the surface, Lucy isn’t quite what she seems. She’s actually pretty mean and she loves to tell big juicy lies!

One Monday morning she goes to the library and tells the biggest lie she can think of. She walks right up to the Librarian and tells her there’s a lion in the history section, eating a book about the Ancient Egyptians. The Librarian takes one look at cute little Lucy and presumes she must be telling the truth. The library is evacuated and the police are called but there’s no sign of a lion anywhere. Everyone is perplexed, except little Lucy who finds the whole thing hilarious.

In fact, she enjoys the lie so much that she goes back and repeats it again and again. On Tuesday she informs the Caretaker that there’s a lion in the romance section, and on Wednesday she tells the Coffee Shop Manager there’s a lion in the geography section. Soon the adults at the library cotton on to the fact that adorable little Lucy isn’t actually adorable at all.

Tue
07 ^th

NERP! by Sarah Lynne Reul

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Ivy and I both love books that are a little bit crazy, so when NERP! landed in our laps we instantly fell in love. Every single word of the story is quite literally utter nonsense, but somehow the whole thing makes perfect sense!

The premise will be very familiar to any parents out there with picky eaters. We see an enthusiastic mum and dad present their child with a series of lovingly prepared dishes in the hope that they might actually eat something, but nothing is quite right.

The frizzle frazzle hotchy potch? NERP! Mushy gushy bloobarsh? NERP! Even the garble snarfy barflecrunch and the yuckaroni smackintosh are rejected with a massive NERP! Will anything make this pesky child say YERP or SLURP?

Tue
07 ^th

A Stopwatch from Grampa
by Loretta Garbutt & Carmen Mok

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This poignant story looks at the loss of a grandparent told from a child’s point of view.

When the little boy in this story receives his Grampa’s stopwatch he is overcome with grief. Grampa is gone and he doesn’t want this little reminder of all the fun they used to have together. The stopwatch used to be their favourite thing. They timed everything! How long does it take to eat a bubblegum ice cream? How long does it take for a caterpillar to crawl up your leg? How long does it take to run to the end of the street and back?

But now there’s no more time with Grampa. Just this little stopwatch. Angry, the boy throws it in a drawer and tries to forget but everything feels different now, even school and spending time with his friends.

Mon
06 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Kat Brown, Founder, Mama Brown & Co

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Hi Kat! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Thanks for having me! I’m Kat Brown, mama to two lively but loving boys Louis (6) & Max (3) and wife to Papa Brown. Having enjoyed working in publishing for the last 12 years, I left after having my youngest son and in September I launched Mama Brown & Co. We are the online magazine and marketplace dedicated to making parenting more playful and helping you get more fun out of family life (however tired you might be!) My husband and I originally hail from Yorkshire but moved down to London to work after university and somehow never ended up leaving. We now live just outside London in Kent but often find ourselves back up in Harrogate visiting family and friends and staying in touch with our Northern roots!

What are your sons’ favourite books?

My eldest Louis’ current favourites are The Christmasaurus & The Winter Witch by Tom Fletcher (yes we are reading it in March!) and Bear Grylls Adventures. He is 6 and in the past year has found a love of chapter books, ever since we read The Famous Five together by Enid Blyton. I read a chapter a night to him at bedtime but he can’t wait until his reading is strong enough for him to read them himself!

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