One thing I am eternally grateful to my mum for is her instilling a love of books and reading in me early on. She made it fun. Thanks, Mum! Here are a list of 9 children’s books I remember loving when I was a little kid.
Posts Tagged ‘Children’s books’
9 Books I Remember Loving As a Small Child
Friday, January 23rd, 2009Inkheart the Movie is Better Than the Book
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009According to a film review in the Tapei Times, the film adaptation of Inkheart is better than the book.
Staff reporter Ian Bartholomew writes:
“… there is lots of good acting, a splendid plot and a string of mildly funny literary jokes (referencing The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan and Sinbad the Sailor) mean that there is plenty to be getting on with.
…
So without giving away any more of the story, Inkheart can be recommended wholeheartedly as ideal Lunar New Year viewing for the whole family. One or two sequences might be upsetting for very young children, but on the whole the mood is playful rather than frightening, and its loosely allegorical treatment of a reader’s relationship with the books gives it some depth as well.”
I’ve never read Inkheart so if I see the movie, I won’t be able to judge which is better. If you have read the book and do see the movie, I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.
Inkheart opens in theatres on Friday, January 23.
Babar’s Museum of Art
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
The Nassau County Museum of Art (Roslyn Harbor, NY) is launching a new Ridder MiniArtMuseum for Children with a fantastic exhibition designed to capture the attention of young museum visitors. Babar’s Museum of Art opens at the NCMA on January 18 and runs through May 26, 2009.
Featuring Laurent De Brunhoff’s illustrations, Babar’s Museum of Art introduces children to some of the world’s greatest works
of art but with a bit of a modification - all human subjects are replaced with elephants!
Babar’s Museum of Art started as a book to introduce children to notable works of art found in museums and galleries throughout the world. The exhibit, which has been a feature of art museums worldwide, displays the original illustrations created by Laurent de Brunhoff for the book. (In the UK, the book is known as Babar’s Gallery.)
Everyone who loves art, Babar, or children will love Babar’s Museum of Art. The old train station in Celesteville stands empty—should it be torn down? “No!” declare Celeste and Babar, who decide to turn it into an art museum. Their children (like many young museum-goers) have a lot of questions about art: “Does it have to be pretty? Does it have to be old? Does it have to make sense?” Celeste’s patient answers explain the basic ideas of art appreciation. Babar and Celeste’s generous donations to the new museum include witty and striking elephant-inspired version of Michelangelo’s Creation of Man, George Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, and Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, along with many other celebrated paintings. Children and adults will want to visit Babar’s Museum of Art again and again!
Even if you don’t ever get to see the exhibit, the book is a great way to introduce children to art. It’s also good for a chuckle!
Canadians, Join the Family Literacy Day World Record Attempt!
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
In 2006, a world record was set in the USA when 78,791 people read to a child for 30 minutes. ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and Oxford Learning are asking Canadians of all ages to join in the attempt to break the Guinness World Record for “Most Children Reading With an Adult, Multiple Locations”.
Everyone participating in the World Record Attempt must read the complete Munschworks 2 collection by Robert Munsch or the 5 individual books from the collection in the following order:
The Family Literacy Day World Record Attempt will be held across Canada at various locations on January 23 and January 24, 2009. For full details, registration and event location information, or if you would like to host an event, visit the ABC CANADA site.
Now We Are 80 - Pooh Bear Returns
Monday, January 12th, 2009“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” — Winnie the Pooh
Move over Britney Spears and New Kids on the Block, Winnie-the-Pooh is making a comeback!
80 years after the last official Pooh sequel, The House at Pooh Corner, a new book featuring the bear of little brain is due out in October. Return to the Hundred Acre Wood is the first authorized sequel, with the blessing of the estates of both author A.A. Milne and the most notable Pooh illustrator, E.H. Shepard.
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood author, David Benedictus is not new to the world of Pooh. He has adapted and produced audio versions of Milne’s books starring big names such as Dame Judi Dench, Stephen Fry and Jane Horrocks. Illustrator, Mark Burgess has also worked with residents of Hundred Acre Wood having illustrated Winnie-the-Pooh’s Pop-up Theatre Book and Peek-a-Pooh!
The actual plot of the new book is being kept secret but rumour has it that the book is a continuation in which Christopher Robin grows up.
In a press release Benedictus said, “I hope that the new book will both complement and maintain Milne’s idea that whatever happens, a little boy and his bear will always be playing.”
Two-thirds of profits from the book are to be donated to charities including the Britain’s Royal Literary Fund for struggling authors and the Clare Milne Trust, which supports disability projects in Devon and Cornwall.
Welcome back, Pooh!
Author Joyce Barkhouse Named to Order of Canada
Monday, January 5th, 2009Also following the children’s book theme…
Children’s author, Joyce Barkhouse was named as a Member to the Order of Canada on December 30. The Order of Canada is the highest civilian honour within the country and recognizes a lifetime of distinguished service.
The Nova Scotia native is honoured for her contributions to children’s literature and the Canadian literary community. The now 95-year-old Barkhouse is most recognized for her book, Pit Pony which was made into a CBC movie and a 44-episode TV drama.
Barkhouse published her first full-length novel, George Dawson: The Little Giant in 1974 at the age of 61.
Writing skills seem to be in the genes - Barkhouse is aunt to well-known Canadian author Margaret Atwood with whom she wrote Anna’s Pet.
Reading fairytales to children
Monday, January 5th, 2009I’m going to take today’s story in the Daily Telegraph, about how parents no longer read old-fashioned fairytales to their children, with a grain of salt. Firstly, the Telegraph loves to lambast political correctness and, secondly, it was a PR-generated survey (and being a PR person I know all about those).
A third of parents refused to read Little Red Riding Hood because she walks through woods alone and finds her grandmother eaten by a wolf. One in 10 said Snow White should be re-named because “the dwarf reference is not PC”.
Rapunzel was considered “too dark” and Cinderella has been dumped amid fears she is treated like a slave and forced to do all the housework.
Of course, political correctness is rife but children are still children. I wouldn’t take these results as gospel. Where are all the movie-related children’s books for instance.
Last night, my six-year-old daughter and I finished Danny the Champion of the World. Another winner from Roald Dahl. She’s now an expert on poaching, which should serve her well in the future. As the book went on, she began to actually act out the scenes as I was reading them. When Danny and his dad are sneaking into Victor Hazel’s wood, she crawled on her belly around the bedroom. As the doped pheasants were falling from the trees, she ran around the room pretending to pick up the stunned birds. In fact, the thing my daughter found the most confusing was when Danny was caned - I had to stop and explain how kids used to be caned in schools and she looked completely baffled.
If the Telegraph report is to be believed, I should not be reading Danny the Champion of the World to my daughter. 1) It promotes stealing as a good thing, 2) Some pheasants are drugged against their will and six die, 3) A fat man’s Rolls Royce is defaced, 4) The policeman is corrupt, and 5) Danny drives a car on the road despite being only nine.
Of course, Danny is being brought up by a single parent so that might balance things out.
Spot’s UK Tour 2009
Monday, January 5th, 2009
Watch out for preschool pandemonium!
Hot off the Ladybird Books newsletter press comes the news that Spot the dog is coming to cinema’s throughout the UK during January and February.
The popular storytime pup will star in his own feature animation.
The event also includes interactive storytelling and an opportunity to meet Spot in person (or should that be in dog?!).
Nap times may suffer due to excitement over the dog’s public appearances.
Tickets go on sale two weeks before the date of each event. Visit the Ladybird website for information on locations and booking tickets.
Can’t make any of the events? Why not bring home some Spot books?
How to read to a six-year-old
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
Earlier this month my six-year-old daughter and I progressed to chapter books for her bedtime reading. We had dabbled with slim children’s chapter books involving fairies, princesses and ballerinas but now I’m reading what I would call proper books - namely Roald Dahl.
We started with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and then followed up with James and the Giant Peach, which was completed in three days during a snow-bound weekend. Last night we started Danny the Champion of the World. After reading the opening three chapters, I looked at my watch, saw it was 7.28pm and said “Right, that’s it - bedtime.” My daughter jumped at me, grabbed my shoulders and begged me to continue. I crumbled and carried on.
I love Roald Dahl and I’ve told my daughter he is one of the world’s most famous writers - she loves that fact. I love how he doesn’t sugarcoat anything in his books. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I had forgotten how vividly he describes the wretched starving state of Charlie’s poverty-stricken family. On the opening page of James and the Giant Peach, James’ parents are killed by an escaped rhino from London Zoo - after reading this sentence to my daughter I stopped, whispered the word ‘dead’ and drew my finger across my throat to ensure she fully understood that James had just been orphaned. She nodded calmly and we carried on. The deaths of James’ evil aunts are celebrated in James and the Giant Peach. On the opening page of Danny the Champion of the World, Danny explains that his mother died while he was a baby. Again, she didn’t even blink.
None of these dramatic events has affected my daughter. In fact, it’s the Scooby Doo movies that give her nightmares rather than Dahl’s tendency to give his young heroes miserable up-bringings.
The other beautiful thing about Dahl is the simplicity of his language. My daughter gave me more grief after I finally said that I would read no more of Danny the Champion of the World and I explained she should hurry up and learn to read herself. She is currently at a French immersion school (read Things White People Like to understand this better) and we’re teaching her to read in English at home.
I opened Danny at the bookmark and encouraged her to read the next paragraph, which she did slowly with a little help on the world ‘excitement.’ I explained that she could be reading this book very soon if she continues to practice. Dahl does not have a complex style of writing or use difficult language. He had a wonderful grasp of what children need from a book - practically and literally.
I don’t remember having his books to read to me but I do remember reading them myself at roughly eight, nine or 10. Frankly, it’s great fun to be reading them again because there are huge chunks that I simply can’t remember.
I got a very strange feeling when in James and the Giant Peach the peach floats over New York and the New Yorkers flee because they think it’s a huge bomb. Suddenly images of 9/11 was rushing through my head. Thankfully, that’s something my daughter has yet to discover. While I was reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I couldn’t help feeling the oompa loompas were being exploited and the factory probably didn’t meet the latest food safety regulations but I guess that’s adulthood.
Author/Illustrator’s First Book Wins Accolades
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
The first time a book is published is exciting for any author. Now imagine that first published book receiving praise from review big-wigs such as the New York Times.
This is exactly what happened to Kazuno Kohara, whose book we have featured on the AbeBooks.com homepage in the “Best Illustrated Books of 2008″ carousel.
Kohara graduated from the MA in Children’s Book Illustration program at the Cambridge School of Art in 2007 and had her first book published in August of this year in the US and October in the UK.
The book titled Ghosts in the House! in North America and The Haunted House in the UK, caught the attention of the panel of judges selecting the New York Times Best Illustrated Books of 2008.
New York Times Book Review Editor Gregory Cowles says of the book:
“…sweet and beautiful…(Ghosts in the House!) provides a welcome timeout: its simple linocut illustrations are limited to three candy-corn colours, orange and black and white, and it is so insistently un-ironic that it ends, sincerely, with the words “And they all lived happily ever after.”…the story manages a gentle charm.“
Described as “JUST THE RIGHT MIX OF SWEET AND SCARY for the youngest trick-or-treaters“, the book tells a tale of the resourcefulness of a little girl and a witch who after putting ghosts through the washing machine, turn them into useful things such as table cloths, sofa covers and bed linens.
Tales for Tots Tuesdays - Book Recommendations
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008One of my aspirations is to write a children’s picture book. As I have become more “serious” about this, I’ve been reading tips on getting started and getting to know the industry.
An important step is to become familiar with those who have gone before you - That is, published authors and their books.
So as further motivation to read children’s picture books (read: give myself a kick in the backside), I am declaring Tuesdays to be Tales for Tots day and commit to recommending at least one book that I have reviewed each week.
And there’s no time like the present! Today’s recommendation is Alice the Fairy by David Shannon.
Alice is a fairy. Not a Permanent Fairy, just a Temporary one. She’ll have to pass the tests of the Advanced Fairy School before her status can be upgraded. But Alice is getting a lot of fairy practice- she turns her dad into a horse for a horsey ride, magically transforms cookies baked by her mom for her dad into cookies just for her and can make herself disappear (through a flick of the light switch with her wand).
Alice struggles with some of the more advanced fairy skills such as making clothes get up off the floor and line up in the closet. Maybe she’ll stay a Temporary Fairy forever.
The book is a fun read and the humor appealing to young children. The illustrations are bright and cheerful and those of you familiar with Shannon’s David books will recognize the almost juvenile drawing style.
Alice the Fairy is a great book for any Fairy Wannabe and Fairy Godparent to share.