Little Loves - June
k!) BookBairn had her visits to school nursery and finally went for a trip on the little train at our local country park which we have been trying to get her to do for ages! The Wee Page Turner has grown in confidence to explore soft plays, climb the stairs on the slide at the park, mastered walking with the aid of a walker and can stand all by himself (admittedly only for a few seconds but he can balance!).
So those are the challenges we have overcome this month and here are some of the little loves we have been enjoying.
The book we have read most often this month with BookBairn is 'How to Be a Lion' by Ed Vere, which is published today, but as we got a sneak peek from the publisher we've had several weeks to enjoy this story already. Leonard is a lion like no other: he's sensitive, gentle and writes poetry in his spare time. And he befriends a mouse. When the other lions hear about his un-lionyness they challenge him and tell him there's only one way to be a lion. Leonard, with the help of his duck friend Marianne, uses the power of words to show them that there's no one way to be. Celebrating individuality and the power of words this new fable is truly captivating! BookBairn has always loved lions so there's no doubt that's partly why she has fallen for Leonard, but it's also a beautiful story packed full of vibrant artwork that has utterly charmed her. Look out for this one in the Touring Picture Book Club in August with a giveaway too.
The Wee Page Turner has also been drawn towards a yellow cover. 'I Thought I Saw a Bear' by Lydia Nichols has been pulled out of his book basket time and time again! As with the others in the series, each page repeats the phrase “I thought I saw a ...” and then using the slider you can reveal the creature. He particularly loves when the bear slides on the cover and when he pops up in the car. This book has a transport theme with bear popping up in lots of different vehicles and modes of transport so it's perfect for adding in lots of transport vocabulary too. We’ve been acting our parts of this storing using some of our toys too which makes him giggle! These are very simple, very clever little books that are great for entertaining little readers and perfect for popping in your bag for out and about stories.
After having a 'meh' reading month in May with very few books that I found exciting, June has been a month full of captivating stories for me and I'm struggling to choose a favourite! I read two Agatha Christie books that I really enjoyed but I think the book that most surprised me that I loved was 'Gather the Daughters' by Jennie Melamed. I think this surprised me partly because it's not exactly what I expected from the blurb. It's a very dark and disturbing piece of feminist dystopian fiction where the girls are forced to marry young, and in their childhood are subjected to horrific abuse by their fathers as their mothers remain silent accepting this as normal. The only reprieve comes in the summer when the children are set loose to live in the wilds only returning home to doorsteps to collect food. And at the end of one of these summers, one girl sees something she shouldn't which has them all questioning the normality of their lives on the island. Incredibly dark, harrowing and downright scarring book, this is one that will stay with me for some time and although I wouldn't say I enjoyed reading it, I found it to be an incredible book.
We are huge fans of the Go Jetters, the television show on Cbeebies and were delighted to watch the newest episodes which were released at the start of this month. I really like this show as it's entertaining without being grating like a lot of kids TV and it's packed full of educational elements. Basically, the Go Jetters are specially trained superheroes/agents who travel the world visiting world monuments rescuing them from Grandmaster Glitch who has a nasty habit of glitching things. He's a loveable sort who just gets things a little wrong. BookBairn has learned so much from this show - and I think she is keen to travel to see some of the monuments in real life - she especially likes Big Ben, Tower Bridge and the Eiffel Tower (all conveniently located within short flights thank goodness). The new episodes are equally as good and our favourite has to be when they go to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to try to unglitch the ocean of the mountains of plastic waste! There is a scene that makes both the kids laugh out loud and it's the first time I've seen The Wee Page Turner laugh at the TV. If you're tired of Peppa Pig or Paw Patrol, we highly recommend that you give the Go Jetters a try!
One of the things that we most enjoyed making this month was our dino footprints potato printing that we did for our latest Touring Picture Book Club blog post. It was so easy to set up and tidy up too and we did have lots of fun making stomping sounds as we printed. I haven't done it before with BookBairn and I will definitely try to be more creative with cutting shapes for her because it was so much fun and made a great picture for her 'portfolio' of artwork!
I finally figured out how to link my phone up to play through the speakers of the car. It wasn't complicated but I finally took the five minutes it needed to get it set up. And now we can listen to our Audible and library app audiobooks through the speaker system which I am loving rather than straining to hear them properly (especially whilst the windscreen wipers are on!). We also have a 'kids playlist' using Spotify that we play daily through our Google Home speaker but I realised that I could download so we can listen to it in the car as well which is great because The Wee Page Turner isn't the happiest car traveller but he loves music so seems to keep him happier!
June has been a rather strange month as it started with me being rather unable to do much at all (or it at least it felt that way) whilst I had my arm in a sling after dislocating my shoulder and I'm still trying not to overdo it on that arm as I'm terrified it will happen again and I'm still to see a physio to get the all clear. But I did have to ask for help a lot, something I'm not good at, and it made me appreciate how lucky I am to have such wonderful family and friends all of whom were so willing to help. And that made me feel humbled. So thank you friends!
These blog posts are becoming my absolute favourite ones to write and I know that they will be the ones that I enjoy looking back on in the future. I hope you enjoy reading them too!
Hope you had a less challenging June and are looking forward to the school holidays,
Mummy and the bairns xx
Read
ReplyDeleteThe Darkest Hour by Anthony McCarten about how Winston Churchill dealt with a very dangerous period in world history during 1940. Now a popular film.
Watched
Lots of World Cup football and some great videos of BookBairn and the Wee Page Turner.
Wore
Still wearing shorts most days which is very unusual for me....... and...... I was also there when BookBairn discovered her Belle dress, and yes, I had tears too.
Played
5 rounds of golf while on holiday.
Made
This is a hard one for me. I don’t make many things these days but I always enjoy making something out of play dough with BookBairn.
Heard
The Wee Page Turner say “Papa” to me - clear as a bell - honest.
and Lastly
I’m glad that MummyBookBairn’s shoulder is getting better. Some people get tennis elbow, others get golfer’s elbow but I’ve got Wee Page Turner elbow.
Hahah - Wee Page Turner Elbow - I think it was him that did for my shoulder. And love your round up - it's better than mine!
DeleteIt sounds like you had some lovely moments in a bit of an up and down month. We're big fans of the Go Jetters here too :) #LittleLoves
ReplyDeleteSorry it's taken me so long to pop by and comment, I don't know where the weeks are going!
ReplyDeleteBookBairn looks so proud of her Belle dress, such an adorable photo of her.
Hope your shoulder is fully better now x
How To Be a Lion is sat in my online shopping basket but haven’t bought it yet. Sounds lovely, so it’ll definitely be my next purchase.
ReplyDelete