As I explained in an earlier post, I have been reading some classic children’s literature to my two children, now aged 8 and 12 years. They can, of course, and both do read independently, but there’s a particular joy in reading aloud and being read to. Some stories were designed to be enjoyed that way … Continue reading Reading the (Children’s) Classics aloud: batch 1
Tag: Fiction
Book Review: The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day with art by Brett Helquist
My 12 year old son is a non-bookworm reader and a keen artist, and although he enjoys fiction, he’s recently been gravitating towards non-fiction. This book – The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, A Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity (Random House, 2023) – is narrative non-fiction for kids, and had … Continue reading Book Review: The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day with art by Brett Helquist
BookSwap!
Once a year, the PTC at my kids’ school organises a Book Swap and it is absolutely my favourite thing ever to volunteer to help with. There must be many ways of doing something similar. This one has the huge benefit of being absolutely cashless, and having (virtually) no book go to waste. (I love … Continue reading BookSwap!
Books to the Rescue
Fortunately, the days are gone when we needed Teeth Are Not For Biting (by Elizabeth Verdick, illus. by Marieka Heinlen, Free Spirit, 2003) and No More Biting for Billy Goat! (by Bernette Ford and Sam Williams, Boxer Books, 2013) – the two books that got us through a rough patch that I’m sure the parents … Continue reading Books to the Rescue
Book Review: Holes by Louis Sachar. A book that hooked my non-bookworm middle grader
My son, now 12 and a middle grader, agrees that he likes to read but is not a bookworm. He likes to read, he likes to be read to, and he likes to read together, but it’s rare for reading to be his first activity of choice (he’d usually prefer to draw). Note my surprise … Continue reading Book Review: Holes by Louis Sachar. A book that hooked my non-bookworm middle grader
Book ‘Review’: Scarlet and Ivy series, books 1-3, by Sophie Cleverly
The Lost Twin Whispers in the Walls The Dance in the Dark I’m ‘reviewing’ – honestly more a wholehearted recommendation than a review - the first half of this series together because my 8 year old daughter has been racing through them at such a pace that by the time I got organised to review … Continue reading Book ‘Review’: Scarlet and Ivy series, books 1-3, by Sophie Cleverly
We wrote a kids’ book together!
I suppose many of us had a ‘lockdown project’. I know we were very fortunate in being able to work from home, relatively safe, and at least together as an immediate family, even as we were separated from our wider family. Those days, before the vaccines, before we really knew how Covid spread, are strange … Continue reading We wrote a kids’ book together!
Reading to my (slightly older) children: Children’s Classics
About a year ago, I decided the younger child was just old enough, and the older child still young enough, that I would read some classic children’s books to them both. It’s settled into a reasonably relaxing pre-bedtime ritual. Once the younger is ready in pyjamas, the three of us gather in her room. The … Continue reading Reading to my (slightly older) children: Children’s Classics
Books for Our Children 
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