I don't think of myself as a creative person and I struggle with mess. So doing craft activities with my kids doesn't come naturally. But what I am good at is 'bookish play'. No mess, no fuss, and books at the centre of the activities. So here are five quick, and almost mess-free ideas, for ways we celebrate books in our play.

I don’t enjoy watching the colours get smudged into that delightful shade of brown that kids inevitably turn the paint colours into. But in the interest of learning about colours, I’d put my aversion aside and let BookBairn go wild with her mixing skills (with a little help and encouragement and lots and lots of learning chat from me!). And of course the perfect book pairing is Mix It Up by Herve Tullet Such a wonderful book, that if you don’t like mess or that smudgy brown you can have similar colour mixing fun! 

Play dough, cupcake cases and candles and voila you have cake! I love this laugh out loud story about a little girl who just ant resist the cake! And then she has to try and make another one. BookBairn loves play dough so this activity is always a hit and keeps her busy baking for hours! Even more fun when we make the dough ourselves to begin with and then pop it in the play oven. 

A classic and all time favourite book of ours brought out of the pages and all across the room! I love that BookBairn can do the puzzle and The Wee Page Turner can play with the flaps on the puzzle pieces. (We picked up this puzzle in Aldi last year and I haven't seen it since but there are lots of cool 'Dear Zoo' games, in fact I spotted some lovely building blocks in our local bookshop.)

Disclaimer: We were sent some of these books free for review purposes by the publishers. Words and opinions are my own. If you click on the title or image of the book you will be sent to amazon.co.uk using an affiliate link. This means that if you choose to purchase on amazon.co.uk, I will receive a small sum (around 20-70p per book) from amazon at no extra cost to you. I understand that you may not want to use an affiliate link, but if you like reading our blog please just think of it as a small tip for a tip-off to an awesome book. And know that your support means I can buy more books! For more information check out our 'For Our Readers' section.

I've got a signed copy of hilarious manners tale How Rude! to giveaway. To enter: Follow @BookBairn and @ClareHelenWelsh & RT. And comment below with the weirdest sandwich filling you've eaten.
Competition closes 4.10.18 UK only. https://t.co/RMMtvrSUtt pic.twitter.com/1APSD2kEOF

— BookBairn (@BookBairn) September 24, 2018

This is a perfect early in the school year book. It's full of misbehaving animals who need to learn some manners. With quirky and memorable rhymes alongside adorable animal illustrations, children will enjoy this fun introduction to manners and the importance of being polite! The illustrations are packed full of humour which makes the lesson light-hearted and enjoyable for readers. One of the best things to establish in your class is how to treat one and other with respect, kindness and good manners and this book is just perfect for that! 

"An Amazing Atlas of Wildlife", this book will have little readers discovering some of the most incredible creatures on Earth! This book is aimed at older readers but BookBairn enjoys lifting the flaps scattered across each page and have me read about the animals they feature, so it's great for younger readers too. Discover the animals of each continent through the beautifully crafted pages, bitesize facts and stunning illustrations. With over 180 animals to learn about this one will keep kids busy, and fascinated, for hours! 

*now in board book* As the seasons begin to change and children can see the leaves on the trees change colour and then start to fall, it's wonderful to pair what they can see in their world around them with magical and beautiful storytelling. Following the life cycle of a tree through all the seasons has never been so beautiful in a book as brought to life by the incredibly talented (and a favourite of ours) Britta Teckentrup. The clever die-cuts on each page are wonderful to add depth to the illustrations, and now in a board book edition, it's perfect for little fingers to explore as you read the lyrical rhyming couplets. Part poem, part work of art, part non-fiction, this book is a beautiful journey for little ones learning about the changing seasons. And it might also make us grown ups stop and appreciate the wonder and beauty of nature around us. 

"Whatever your home, 

it is happy indeed...

If you love what you have

and you have what you need."

How far would you go for cake? Mini Rabbit really really wants his mother's berry cake, but when they run out of berries, he sets off before his mother has a chance to stop him. He passes people along the way, all of whom try to warn him not to stray too far from home in search of berries (especially as in each scene there are berries hidden) but Mini Rabbit is single-mindedly hunting for berries on his own. Until he finally finds one, of course, but then he realises that he really is lost. How can he find his way home again? But wait, he can smell something... cake! He follows the scent all the way home. But with a hilarious twist (in typical toddler fashion) at the end, this one will have you laughing out loud. BookBairn just giggles and giggles at the ending! I adore the colour palette in this and I love the deceptive simplicity with which Mini Rabbit is brought to life. A wonderful story, and now I want some cake! 

Hope you like this 'quick review' format!

Kim

Disclaimer: We were sent all these books free for review purposes by the publishers. Words and opinions are my own. If you click on the title or image of the book you will be sent to amazon.co.uk using an affiliate link. This means that if you choose to purchase on amazon.co.uk, I will receive a small sum (around 20-70p per book) from amazon at no extra cost to you. I understand that you may not want to use an affiliate link, but if you like reading our blog please just think of it as a small tip for a tip-off to an awesome book. And know that your support means I can buy more books! For more information check out our 'For Our Readers' section.

It feels like too long since I wrote a blog post! I thought once BookBairn started nursery I would have more time to write and manage my blog but it turns out I just have more things that I need (want) to get done. I feel like I should have expected this but it has still taken me by surprise!

There are two mornings a week when I have a couple of hours to myself to get things done whilst both bairns are at nursery at the same time and I thought I would be able to fit lots of jobs in. I don't. I decided to join a local gym in order to improve my woeful fitness levels and that along with walking to nursery five times a week is making me feel better in myself but it means I have less time to blog! I'm also consciously trying to do less chores whilst the kids are around and enjoy playing with them instead as well as trying to fit in a bit of chill time/reading time for me when they nap/have quiet time. So again my child-free time seems to just disappear.

We currently receive over 30 books a month from publishers - some requests and some unsolicited - so it's tricky just to keep on top of that and sharing those on social media. Don't get me wrong, it's a great problem to have but it does mean that sitting down, writing lengthier blog posts as well as taking, editing and adding photographs, can be more time consuming than I have to spare. It also means several emails back and forth as well as building some skills as I try and learn about affiliate links and working with brands so that the blog earns me a little bit of pocket money. I don't want to turn it into a business particularly and I wouldn't want to put you lovely readers off but I would like to try and make a little bit of pocket money so that I can treat the kids every so often and buy myself some new books here and there. I have started doing this and try to make sure everything is clear in my disclosures for you and I hope you will support me in this. I hope to start using affiliate links so that if you like the sound of a book, and do intend to buy it, you click through the link and I get a small amount back. It doesn't cost you anymore but I get about between 20-50p per book. So I won't exactly be rolling it in! As I say I hope you will support me in this. 

My plan going forward is to make a conscious effort to find time to write here twice a week. I have several blog tours that I've committed to so that will keep the posts coming and I think I will try and do a weekly round-up sharing some of the books from my social media on here as well, hopefully allowing me to pop content up here without duplicating my workload. If there are any particular posts you would like to see please let me know and I will get writing those first for you! 

I am finding one thing that is taking up far more of my time is through sharing books on social media - primarily Instagram as I think it lends itself well to sharing picture books as it's so visual - and interacting with followers. I've almost got to the magic number of 10k! And would love to do that in time for Christmas so if you don't follow me on there I would love it if you would.

I'm aware this has been a bit of a rambly post so if you got all the way to the end of it - thank you! You're fully up to date!

Kim and the bairns x

A recent Survey of Ethnic Representation within UK Children's Literature 2017 by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) found that only 4% of the children's books published in 2017 features BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) characters and only 1% had a BAME main character. This is a rather damning statistic. And it made me think...

Firstly I wanted to understand a bit more about the Reflecting Realities campaign launched by CLPE and look deeper into the statistics with the aid of a printout of the full survey and a handy highlighter.

The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) are an independent charity motivated to put "quality children's literature at the heart of all learning", supporting schools to teach literacy creatively and effectively and raise the achievements of children. They believe, as I do also, that being a reader opens the world to children and that literature should honour, value and reflect the reality in which they live. They maintain that they "still find it difficult to find enough books to add to [their] collections that are truly and authentically reflections of the wide world in which we live." This is something I will discuss shortly.

32% of pupils of compulsory school age in England were of minority ethnic origins in 2017 and yet only 4% of books published in the same year had a BAME character. Some other troubling information that this survey unveiled that only 1% of children's book published in 2017 starred a BAME main character. Something is certainly amiss. That doesn't make sense does it? Surely the books our children have access to should reflect the world around them? That's just logical. And surely we want all children to find themselves in a book? That's the magic of storytelling, right?

But it's not all doom and gloom because whilst these statistics are quite damning, there are lots of wonderful books out there that are, in my experience, easily accessible, which is why, whilst I wholeheartedly agree that the statistics unveiled by the CLPE is damning, I cannot agree with the statement:  that they "still find it difficult to find enough books to add to [their] collections that are truly and authentically reflections of the wide world in which we live."

I dispute it because I have, without much thought other than curating a shelf of great stories, amassed a collection of books that does reflect the wide world in which we live. How do I know? Because I took every book off our active bookshelves* and counted them. Here's what I found:

*By active bookshelves I'm referring to the ones that the children have access to - I have a box of seasonal books kept away in out attic and I have a box of books for BookBairn to grow into - books which I have received from publishers that BookBairn is still to young to enjoy but I've kept for future. So I stuck to the active, readily accessible books.

The Big Bed, by Bunmi Laditan and Thomas Knight

“It's great as a read aloud, but it's also great for a solo read––the text and the illustrations are equally engaging and pair very well with each other." — Mel from @spiky_penelope