Books Archives - Adventure, baby!

Top Books For Tots

October 28, 2014 / Family, Kids / 10 Comments

I love books, and I love sharing my love of books with Missy E. Since she’d sit long enough to pay attention, I’ve read her books. Short board ones to begin with, and now that she’s three, longer ones.

Here are some of our favourites to read together – maybe you’ll find a new book to try in our list!.

Not A Box by Antoinette Portis
A book encouraging imagination, where a simple box is a key to a fantastical world.

Meet Snugglepot And Cuddlepie by May Gibbs
This book is a sweet introduction to May Gibbs’ endlessly endearing gumnut babies. Join Snugglepot and Cuddlepie as they go on an adventure into the Australian bush and encounter a human.

The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss
The troublesome Cat shows up of at the house of Sally and her brother one rainy day when their mother is away.

Pouch! by David Ezra Stein
A baby kangaroo seeks independence one hop at a time, just like a toddler slowly gaining confidence and exploring their new world.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
This little caterpillar literally eats his way through the book, and then turns into a glorious butterfly. My daughter’s current absolute favourite book.

Who Sank The Boat? by Pamela Allen
A cow, a pig, a donkey, a sheep and a tiny mouse go for a row. One of them sinks the boat – who was it?

The Story Of Growl by Judy Horacek
Growl is a little monster who loves to growl. When her growling causes trouble for her neighbours, she’s banned from growling. How will she get her growl back? This adorable story teaches accepting others for who they are, the importance of community and of considering others as well as yourself.

Where Is The Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek
There are red sheep, blue sheep, scared sheep and brave sheep. But where is that green sheep?

Maple by Lori Nichols
A little girl and her tree grow up together, in this story of a free spirited and nature-loving child and her new sibling.

Hi, Koo! A Year Of Seasons by Jon J Muth
26 haiku poems about the four seasons, with Muth’s famous panda, Koo. A great way to introduce youngsters to simple poetry and beautiful illustrations.

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Williams
Set in our old Brooklyn neighbourhood, Trixie, Daddy, and Knuffle Bunny take a trip to the neighborhood Laundromat and leave somebunny special behind. Told through a combination of black-and-white photos and bold illustrations, this funny book tells a tale about what happens when Daddy’s in charge and things go very wrong.

Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Scott Magoon
Poor Spoon. He thinks Fork, Knife and Chopsticks all have it so much better than him. This enchanting book is about embracing what it is that makes you special.

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
For all the mischief makers out there, join Max and the wild things in their rumpus. A classic book for a very good reason.

The Colour Thief by Gabriel Alborozo
Zot lives in a world without colour. He sees Earth, sparkling with brilliant colour, and sets off to steal some of that colour for himself.

Who Are You, Baby Kangaroo? by Stella Blackstone and Clare Beaton
A curious puppy goes on a journey to discover what a baby kangaroo is called, and learns what all kinds of baby animals are called along the way.

Llama Llama Time To Share by Anna Dewdney
Sharing is hard, but Llama learns that it can also be fun.

What are your favourite books to read with your kids?

Who Are We?: An Animal Guessing Game

August 8, 2013 / Kids, New York Life / 0 comment

We love books in our house. Both my husband and I have enjoyed reading since we were super small, so we read with Eloise as much as we can.

One of her current favourite books is Who Are We?: An Animal Guessing Game?, written by Alexis Barad-Cutler, a local Brooklyn mum to a toddler almost the same age as missy Eloise – so she really knows her market well.

Who Are We?: An Animal Guessing Game is a board book with flaps that lift to reveal the animals that have been mentioned in rhyme on the previous page. The animals featured in the book range from cute penguins to snakes and the arctic wolf. Each spread features a riddle to help guess the animal, and then a detail about them under the flap that you might not know. (Leopards take their prey into trees to eat. Who knew?)

Eloise’s favourite animal in the book is the snake (Ssssssssss!). She loves lifting the flaps and revealing the animals underneath. At almost two, she’s too young to understand the riddle and answer concept, so it’s a great book for her to grow into and find something to enjoy at different stages of her development.

Who Are We?: An Animal Guessing Game is available from Amazon.

Atonement

December 18, 2007 / Sydney Life / 0 comment

I read Atonement, by Ian McEwan, while I was in Europe. It’s an older book that is being made into a movie, but I hadn’t heard of it until recently. I hadn’t read any reviews so didn’t know what to expect. What I found was a delicate, sensitive book with divine storytelling and rich characters.

Atonement tells the story of Briony, who, as a child, tells a lie that ruins the life of Robbie, a family friend and her sister, and for which she spends the rest of her life atoning for.

It’s a simple story, told in three parts. The first part takes place in a few days and is concerned with the family home. It has a languid feel to it, highlighting the lazy days when the family had few worries. This all changes the night of Briony’s sin, and the pace really picks up in the second part of the book. The scene changes to several years in the future, and is set against the war. The tone changes completely, and there is action on all fronts, both literally in the front lines in the war and back in London where Briony has followed her sister Celia’s footsteps to become a nurse. The final part of the novel ends again even further in the future and sums up the story nicely – ending with Briony’s gaining of wisdom, and eternal feelings of regret for the life she has lived and those she had ruined.

Not a particularly cheery book, but so beautifully written. I can’t wait to see the movie!

Bibs and Bobs … as my Nanna would say

July 1, 2007 / Sydney Life / 1 Comment

Alec took me to Gould’s Bookstore in Newtown. HUGE!

Before Saturday brunch in Chatswood. Capturing the happy moment.

Pretty wattle blooms.

This blur of motion is Alec with out grocery shopping and my awesome new black leather boots.

From Baghdad With Love

June 13, 2007 / Sydney Life / 2 Comments

I just finished reading this book, about a US marine who befriends a stray puppy while on deployment in Baghdad, and his fight to save the puppy’s life.

While set against a background of war, the core story is about the friendship between the puppy and the marine, and how saving the puppy becomes a symbol of saving the humanity of the marine and his numerous friends who also risk their lives to save this one puppy.

The book gives some really interesting history on how the army trains its soldiers to be able to kill other humans and the rules they live by that are supposed to help them be able to perform their jobs. One of the major rules is no pets while on deployment. So for these marines, some of whom, like the author, see them selves solely as marines, to break these rules is a major deal.

The puppy and the compassion they show for him show that at core, you can never fully train the humanity out of a person. And that can only be a good thing.