In November, in the book world we celebrate wonderful books for Non-Fiction November.  A month of reading and enjoying books that are ...

Non-Fiction for Tots: 2018 Round-Up

Thursday, November 29, 2018 BookBairn 2 Comments


In November, in the book world we celebrate wonderful books for Non-Fiction November. A month of reading and enjoying books that are full of wondrous facts. And for children there are so many great non-fiction titles. But if you are a toddler, who can't grasp some of the trickier concepts, or who are not ready to make all the connections that reading non-fiction requires, then some of these non -fiction texts can be a bit wordy or complicated. 

However, there are now some wonderful non-fiction books for the very youngest readers that provide much more than just counting, ABC or basic word primers. And we've been collating a list for you! Without further ado...

Wonders of the World by Isabel Otter & Margaux Carpentier


We really enjoy learning about world landmarks, and BookBairn is quite good at spotting them and recognising them. Wonders of the World by Isabel Otter & Margaux Carpentier is a great book for little explorers and landmark enthusiasts as well as history fans! The facts in this book are aimed at slightly older readers and the passages of text can be quite lengthy but younger readers will enjoy lifting the flaps, turning the wheels and playing with the pop-up elements as you read a little of the information. This is a beautiful interactive tour of the wonders of the world, both ancient and modern through it's vibrant illustrations. The colour palette is striking and alongside illustrations and facts about the most amazing sights on Earth, you will love exploring this one together.


Where in the Wild by Poppy Bishop & Jonny Lambert


I love non-fiction that brings to life the wonders of planet Earth around us! To truly appreciate nature and bring it to life for children in the pages of a picture book is incredible! And Where in the Wild by Poppy Bishop & Jonny Lambert is stunning. It explores animals' habitats from around the world and shows the importance of saving them from destruction. The lyrical text and facts about the habitats make it a brilliant first introduction to environmental conservation. And the illustrations are a beautiful depiction of the wonderful world around us.


10 Reasons to Love a... series by Catherine Barr & Hanko Clulow


We don't really need ten reasons to love a penguin, or any of the other animals in this series. But if you do need 10 reasons then the 10 Reasons to Love a... series by Catherine Barr & Hanko Clulow is perfect for you and your little one! There are half a dozen animals in the series (the lion book isn't pictured) so there is a book for everyone. Packed full of facts that are easily digestible for the littlest readers, written in toddler-friendly language (without being patronising, and including some words that will extend their vocabulary), you will enjoy learning a thing or two about animals as you read with your little one. Each page features beautiful illustrations and the animals are utterly charming. They are perfect for any little animal enthusiast.

Bug Hotel and Bird House by Libby Walden & Clover Robin 


Beautiful and informative illustrations, small bursts of facts with lift the flaps to keep little hands busy, Bug Hotel and Bird House by Libby Walden & Clover Robin are wonderful books for little readers! And of course they are about two very popular subjects amongst little garden explorers. Each page focuses on a new bug or bird so lots of learning through the fun. I also love that they are shaped like a bird house and big hotel because it just makes them even more appealing to play with and the illustrations created through beautiful hand-crafted collage are truly inspirational. These are perfect for when Spring returns and gardens become a-buzz with bees and beasties and trees a-flutter with feathered friends, but my bairns love reading them all year round.

Little Explorers series ... by Ruth Martin & Allan Sanders


There are lots of great books in this series and we've had a few for a while but I think BookBairn has finally grown into them! Like most children, BookBairn is fascinated by the world around her but she also has a keen interest in what happens under the sea so it's no wonder that Under the Sea is her favourite of the books we have in the series. These books are probably the most wordy on this list but the reason they appeal to BookBairn are the cool illustrations and the lift-the-flaps so she can explore the facts as she reads. I also picked up Outer Space and My Amazing Body but there are lots more in the series and they often appear in the 3 for £10 on amazon. These really are great 'little explorer' books with lots of facts, life-the-flaps and fun illustrations and with so many titles there's a perfect book for everyone.

Starry Skies by Samantha Chagollan & Nila Aye


This is a brilliant mostly black and white book that will encourage your little ones to gaze with wonder at the night sky. In Starry Skies by Samantha Chagollan & Nila Aye, each page stars one of fourteen constellations accompanied by a short, one sentence, story about each one. The illustrations are simple and elegant and the shiny surface of the pages encourages hands-on learning. Love the bold illustrations and strong colour choice too as well as the fact it was a little story about a child looking up at the sky on each page making it a more appealing read for very little ones. Perfect for the youngest star gazer in your house. 


Baby 101: Anatomy, Botany, Architecture and Zoology by Jonathan Litton & Thomas Elliott


This new series of board books are perfect if you want to introduce your baby (or toddler - they are still very toddler friendly) to their first STEM facts! Brainy babies will love learning all about the world around them (and their bodies!) in an engaging and colourful way! With very basic facts and simple explanations, there's no reason that you can't start your little one off in their science-learning journey. Every book in the Baby 101 series by Jonathan Litton & Thomas Elliott is bright and colourful and just so engaging! And there's a lift-the-flap surprise on the final page of each book. Perfect for the littlest tots! 


Sounds of Nature: World of Birds by Robert Frank Hunter


We love a sound book! But when you combine a sound book with learning about nature it's like hitting the jackpot! Sounds of Nature: World of Birds by Robert Frank Hunter is full of facts about each bird species, you can press each page and listen out for the sounds of tropical bird and songbirds. With ten habitats to flick through you can listen to birds in the wild from all over the world. All from the comfort of your own reading nook! The illustrations are truly beautiful too. (World of Forests coming next year.)

Who's Hiding on the Farm? by Katherine McEwan


Ever since we got Who's Hiding on the Farm? by Katherine McEwan both kids have devoured it (in one case there may have been some actual chewing!). Packed full of lift-the-flaps it kept BookBairn busy and happy on a car journey home from the farm and then the Wee Page Turner played with it for ten minutes (a miracle for a one year old!) and didn’t rip a single flap! All the animals hiding under the flaps make it so appealing to explore and packed full of detailed illustrations and animal facts there is still a lot left to discover in this book! (Who's Hiding on the River also available.)

This First Explorers series (from a variety of authors and illustrators) are truly fascinating first information books. The illustrations in this series are absolutely brilliant! So colourful! But the part that really gets little ones engaged is the interactive paper mechanisms that they have to push, pull, slide and turn to reveal more facts or make, for example, the dinosaurs move. BookBairn can't get enough of these mechanisms! She loved them in the First Stories books too. And similarly they are super sturdy and pretty indestructible (depending on how rough your children are but these are pretty strong in comparison to other books of a similar style). My only criticism of these books is that they are only four pages long and I'd love more! 


So Many Feet by Nichole Mara & Alexander Vidal


So Many Feet by Nichole Mara & Alexander Vidal is a great non-fiction book about all sorts of animals and their different feet. From the slow feet of the giant tortoise to the fast feet of the ostrich, from the dancing feet of the shovel-shouted lizard to the hanging feet of the sloth, from the thumping feet of the elephants to the soft feet of the tigers: who knew there were so many variations of feet in the animal kingdom? Starring sixteen animal species, each page introduces you to an new adjective to describe their feet followed by a sentence explaining the special properties of them. And the final page asks the question: "what can your feet do?" and BookBairn just loves this part! She tells me her feet can dance and then shows off her signature dance moves.


Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History & Dream Big Little Leader by Vashti Harrison


"Dream big, little one.
There's so much you can do.
Just look at all the leaders
Who came before you!"

If you want to inspire your little reader then it might be worth looking at some of the wonderful biographies that have been released in recent years, but many of them are aimed at older readers including Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison. But to go alongside this book aimed at slightly older children (aged 7+), the same author/illustrator has released a board book featuring a handful of the inspiring women from her previous book. Dream Big Little Leader shares the stories of some extraordinary women and accompanied by beautiful portraits, it makes a brilliant story to leave your little ones to fall asleep inspired after their bedtime reading.


Hello World: Solar System by Jill McDonald


Babies and toddlers will love this bright and vibrant book all about the wonders of the world around them and this one from the Hello World series will have them gazing upon the sky with wonder. It shares the very basic concepts of our solar system: the moon, the planets, the sun and the stars in a simple way that very young readers can enjoy, understand and learn from. And Solar System by Jill McDonald is such a colourful and joyful book your little readers will be so mesmerized they probably won't even notice that they are learning as you read!

Planet Awesome by Stacy McAnulty & David Litchfield


I am surprised that I haven't shared this book before because it is, quite appropriately, awesome! Planet Awesome! by Stacy McAnulty & David Litchfield  is a humour-filled biography of the first 4.54 billion years of planet Earth. Earth is the narrator and explains all about how he/she/it was born, it's early life and how humans and animals came to live on it. And accompanied by David Litchfield's wonderful illustrations this is such a lovely book for young readers. BookBairn asks for it again and again at bedtime and I hope she is absorbing all the fascinating facts that are hidden in this biographic story. But mostly we read it because it's so much fun!

I did a blog post similar to this last year so if there isn't enough here, or if you don't see something that will appeal to your little one then you can check that out here.


I've also created a 'shop' on amazon where you can easily find all our favourites, including a specific list for non-fiction favourites! I'll keep adding to it as we go so it's just small at the moment but if you check back it should have more as I build it!


You can find it here: BookBairn's Amazon Shop.

Happy Fact-Finding-Fun,
Mummy, BookBairn & The Wee Page Turner xx

Disclaimer: these are all my choices. Some were sent from publishers (others are books that I have bought myself) but they were not sent in connection with this post. Their inclusion here is my choice. Because I really do think they are great. Please read our review policy if you want to know more. 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 20-90p 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.

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We have been very lucky in the  Touring Picture Book Club , so be able to choose the very best of the best books for our posts and thi...

Touring Picture Book: The Boy and the Bear & Audiobooks with Children

Monday, November 19, 2018 BookBairn 16 Comments


We have been very lucky in the Touring Picture Book Club, so be able to choose the very best of the best books for our posts and this latest one is a beauty! Not only is it by one of my favourite children's writers, it's illustrated by one of my favourite illustrators.



The Boy and the Bear by Tracey Corderoy and Sarah Massini is the magical story of a little boy and a very special friend. The little boy in this story is very lonely. He just wants to play but he has no one to play with. When he receives an invitation to play from across the pond in the form of a paper boat he seems to have found the best friend he is looking for. But really it's just Bear - not quite the friend he imagined. Bear doesn't know how to play hide-and-seek or see-saw or catch. But perhaps what Bear can bring to their friendship might mean so much more. When he starts building a treehouse, the boy becomes fascinated and a magical summer begins and an autumn full of fun. But as the snowflakes start to fall, Bear knows he must go. And one day he disappears. It is with this disappearance that Boy realises what their friendship meant to him. As the season changes to Spring, they pair are reunited with a big friendly bear-hug.



A story about unlikely friendships, and belonging. With beautiful illustrations that capture the changing seasons and the gentle relationship between Boy and Bear.  And the lyrical text makes it a joy to read, and to listen to. A perfect story for enjoying on a frosty winter's day to warm up with the enduring power of love and friendship.


Audiobooks with Children


Did you know that most picture books that are published by Nosy Crow, like The Boy and the Bear, have a QR code inside them that you can scan and listen to an audiobook version of the story for free? And many are also available to download on their podcast? It's such a great bonus extra.


We love listening to audiobooks! Especially ones that we have the picture books to hand so we can look at the pictures as we listen. It's great for us because sometimes BookBairn really wants a story but I just don't have my hands free - perhaps it's the middle of cooking the tea or because we are in the middle of eating tea - but I can pop my phone on the table and press play and her favourite stories are read to her without me having to look at the pages whilst trying to do one of the 12,864 things I try to juggle at once!

Here's some ways that audiobooks work for us:

In the car - we like to listen to stories in the car and often borrow audiobooks on CD from the library or play through my phone on the cars speakers. It's great for longer journeys when you've all had enough of the same songs on repeat. Sometimes we take the book along with us too so BookBairn can turn the pages as she listens. We listened to both What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson and Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers so many times that BookBairn learned them both by heart.

In the kitchen - at dinner time BookBairn can sometimes find it hard to focus on eating her tea and it can be a long slog through the whole process so we listen to the Nosy Crow podcast of books that she is already very familiar with and doesn't require the pictures to follow along with the story. Our favourites are Neon Leon by Jane Clarke and Lionel and the Lion's Share by Lou Peacock.

Together - sometimes it's just nice to curl up together with the book and listen to the story together. When we are both the listeners. It's a great skill to be able to listen and it's good practise for BookBairn but it's also nice for me to get to listen too.


As I said we use the library to get audiobooks, and listen the Nosy Crow ones but we also have quite a few on through Audible. I have a subscription to Audible as I enjoy listening to audiobooks myself but you can also use it to download children's stories. At the moment there is an offer on for Audible where you can get the first four months for £3.99 which is a bargain deal and you can use your 1 credit each month to download any book. But the children's books are often incredible value - many Julia Donaldson books are less than £5, the Oi Frog series are less than £3.50 and most Oliver Jeffers books are £1.74! I mean that's less than a children's magazine or a coffee and you get to keep the audiofile forever. It's yours! Also you can use your credit for a book for yourself and then pick one up for the kids when they are on sale. (And another tip with Audible is that you can return a book if you don't like it and get your credit back.) You can also purchase these audiobooks through Amazon as a one-off fee without a monthly membership and I'm working on a shopping list of our favourites for my Amazon shop.

If you are interested in a free trial of Audible here's a link.

And if you are interested in the limited time deal of four months for £3.99 (which is less than my current membership fee - reminding me to take up the offer!) here's a link for that!


Check out the other activities happening across the Touring Picture Book Club and pop over to our Twitter to be in with a chance of winning a copy of The Boy and The Bear of your very own!


Along Came Poppy - Origami Paper Boats

Mamma Filz - Crafying a Wooly Hat  

And look out for our next touring picture book which will be in the New Year!


And if you've popped over from one of the other fabulous blogs - hello! And our regular readers - hello to you too! We would love to hear if you have any signed books that you love!

Happy Reading!
Mummy, BookBairn and the Touring Picture Book Team!


Disclaimer: all four bloggers were sent copies of the book after we reached out to the publisher and requested them and we were provided with an additional copy for the giveaway. Words and opinions are each of our 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. And by using our Audible links I receive what is called a 'bounty' but is also a type of commission. 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.





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(Sorry for the delay in posting this - I somehow seemed to have forgotten to schedule it!) October has been and gone. And it's...

Little Loves - October

Wednesday, November 14, 2018 BookBairn 2 Comments


(Sorry for the delay in posting this - I somehow seemed to have forgotten to schedule it!)

October has been and gone. And it's been a lovely month of holidays with BookBairn off nursery for a fortnight, my parents visiting for a week, a birthday and Halloween! Lots of treats!



BookBairn met Max this month and she has fallen in love. We started with Max at Night by Ed Vere which I thought would be nice now that they darker evenings are upon us. And he was a huge hit - she spotted the other covers of the books inside so we immediately requested Max the Brave and Max and the Bird from the library. Max is such an adorable character - he's a bit naive and part of the joke is that your little reader already knows more than him so can see his assumptions are all wrong, thus giving them the giggles. But they are also immediately rooting for Max - hoping that he succeeds in his quest to say goodnight to the moon, or find a mouse to chase or befriending (rather than eating the little bird). Ed Vere's stories are incredibly clever and subtly sweet. The illustrations are just enchanting and BookBairn adores Max. These copies are all library books so I suspect we will be adding some Max books to our collection when these are due to be returned. I love that the library lets you try before you buy.


The Wee Page Turner is rather fascinated by all things The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Perhaps it's because his big sister wants to read the original story to him on a daily basis but it might also be that he loves this novelty puppet book. Interestingly, we had a few puppet books for BookBairn when she was little but she took almost no interest in them at all. But The Wee Page Turner loves this one! He likes it when the caterpillar tickles him. And he often learns in to give the caterpillar a kiss. And now whenever he seems anything caterpillar - we've been in two bookshops recently that had great The Very Hungry Caterpillar displays - he goes straight for them and starts making a little munching sound. I just love that this classic appeals to him too!


I have had the most wonderful reading experience this month as I discovered what I think will be the best book I read this year! Pages & Co. by Anna James is the story of Tilly Pages who  is just discovering there’s more to books than between the covers. Her favourite characters greet her in her family’s bookshop. She book wanders inside her favourite stories. And travels to the underlibrary - the organisation that manages it all. And of course there’s a mystery to solve and a suspicious character who takes an instant dislike to Tilly. What an adventure! I adored every page. There were so many beautiful passages about the wonder of books, book lovers and libraries/bookshops. As well as scenes from a bookworm’s dream. It might be a children's book but it's a wonderful read for a book-loving grown-up too!


This month we have stepped up our Disney watching as I decided to download and subscribe to the Disney Life App (we have it on our iPad but also downloaded the app to our television so we can more easily watch as a family but I believe you can also use the app to mirror screen or chromecast to other devices - I'm no tech-genius however!). BookBairn is really enjoying listening to more Disney songs and she often asks to watch the film or see a particular character or princess but we only had limited access to certain movies on our television package without paying to download each individual movie. So we now pay £4.99 a month to have access to the whole Disney back catalogue through the app. So we have watched Wreck It Ralph, 101 Dalmatians, A Little Mermaid and several of the Pixar shorts amongst bits of other films. And it's great! BookBairn can easily work the app (as can I) and can choose the characters based on the images. And we also have all the Disney TV shows too so we will be exploring those soon. Such good value we will be asking for some pennies for Christmas from family members so that we can keep subscribing, especially as we have a very magical trip planned in March!

It wouldn't be an October round-up without mentioning the children's halloween costumes. Last year, BookBairn dressed as a ghost so this year when I asked her what she wanted to go as she said a ghost again. So we bought her a new dress as her old one was quite small. But it also works perfectly as I had already picked up a costume for The Wee Page Turner as a Ghostbuster. The Wee Page Turner's favourite song is the theme tune from Ghostbusters and he has danced along to it since he could prop himself up on the sofa. So it seemed like the perfect costume! And of course it meant that they had a wonderful sibling costume!




We have become rather fascinated by a new game that was sent by a publisher which not only makes books but also the most fantastic illustrated games. We have had games from them in the past and have really enjoyed them but I Saw it First! Jungle has become a whole family hit! With a board featuring 300 different species of animal, some of which are very similar, and 300 game cards, the object of the game is very simple: be the one who spots the animal first. Except it's trickier than it sounds! With six gameboard pieces the gameboard changes with every set-up. And a box full of 300 pieces means you are hardly likely to get the same animals very often! Add to the mix a very observant BookBairn who is an keen animal enthusiast and it's a game of level-pegging! The illustrations are great and BookBairn loves looking at them and describing the animals so it's also great for her knowledge as well as building decriptive vocabulary. But mostly it's a competitive sport. Daddy BookBairn and I have even played after the kids have gone to bed (I beat him 30-17 in case you were wondering!). It's fun for everyone!


We really love play dough - BookBairn can play with it for ages and The Wee Page Turner is usually occupied with it for long enough for me to have a cup of tea! And we have mentioned in the past that we love the Kids Knead Play boxes so I ordered a Halloween box for them and they loved it! But a Halloween box now seems a bit past it's date so I packed all the little bits into a ziplock bag for next year and The Wee Page Turner and I went to the hardware shop and picked up lots of screws, dowel, bits of pipe, nuts and bolts and made a construction box! We kept the play dough from the box (as it's good for six months with a little top of water when it gets a bit dry) and voila new box. BookBairn loves it too and is fascinated by the different prints that the screws make as well as using the pipes to make shapes, and The Wee Page Turner likes sticking things in the dough so everyone is happy!


A few more words from The Wee Page Turner. This month he has added "bye bye", "dada" and "bear" to his repertoire as well as having much more understanding than he had before! It's lovely to hear him master his words and be able to communicate with us better.

We have a very exciting collaboration next month (November/December) with the lovely ladies behind Tidy Books, furniture and book storage experts, and Smallprint Books, the best curated children's bookshop you will find online (and in London). We are sharing a book each week that has been carefully chosen as a perfect books to 'give the gift of reading' with and at the end of the five weeks we will be giving away all five books and a book tidy box to one lucky follower. You can read more about it here.

I have also been working away on Christmas gift guides for you all and now have a list (rather like the man in red) and photos sorted I think so just time to get writing and I hope to have those up for you soon.


I'm looking forward to starting to get organised for the festive season!
Hope you've had a lovely month.
Mummy and the bairns xx



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Disclaimer: I was sent I Saw it First! Jungle for  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.

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Since BookBairn's first Christmas I have been doing a book advent calendar with her so that every day in December we have a 'new...

Advent Books 2018 - Tips for a Book Advent Calendar

Monday, November 12, 2018 BookBairn 10 Comments


Since BookBairn's first Christmas I have been doing a book advent calendar with her so that every day in December we have a 'new' book to share and enjoy curled up together. (You can find links to all our previous ones at the end of this post.) Last year I feel like I really out-did myself with my beautiful Advent Book Tree so this year I decided to do something different and rather than create a tree, as I had done in previous years, I have gone for a lovely book collection on top of our mantlepiece.* And I can't wait to get started! Roll on December.

Last year's Advent Book Tree.

*I have taken it down for the moment and will put it back up at the end of November as I didn't want the bairns to get all excited too soon! 

I'm sure some of you are keen to see what's inside the presents but, like the bairns, you will have to wait (as I didn't stop and take any photos beforehand! - bad blogger moment!) and I will share over on our Instagram. I thought I would share some tips with you that I have learned over the last four years in creating these book countdowns. Different things work for different families so these are just things that work for us.


Get everything organised.

I know it is only November but I find it easier to keep all our festive books in a box in the attic and then dig them out early and spread them all out and see what we have. This is our fourth year of having a book countdown so I now have 24 books without much difficulty (more on collecting books below). If you want to wrap them then you will also need plenty of time to do that. 


Collecting Books

Gathering 24 books sounds like a bit of a feat, and whilst we are very lucky and now get sent books for review, as well as having an existing collection. But we were first time book advent-ers once too so I know that it's daunting the thought of buying that many books. But here are some tips:

Start small.

If you can't collect 24 books. Don't. Start with 12 and do a 12 days of Christmas countdown. Your little one won't know any different and the magic of a 'new' story every day will excite them whether it's 12 days or 24. 

Broaden the theme.

Don't have enough festive or Christmas books? Why not add wintry themed books to the mix - anything with snow, penguins or a winter scene will work wonderfully. Or just use some of their favourites - festive or not.

Use the library.

The first year we did our advent book tree, I went down to the library and borrowed a dozen or so books, wrapped them up and put them in out countdown. Our library allows you to borrow books for 3 weeks, and most of the time I can renew online so I knew it wouldn't be a problem to use them and keep them for the month. But you could also number your books, or wrap them in a way that they stand out to you (a little sticker, or different paper) or in some way orchestrate it that they open the library books first so that you get a chance to return them if necessary.

Charity Shops.

The charity shops local to us now have their festive displays in the windows so you will without a doubt be able to pick up some wonderful books to include.

Book People, The Works or Aldi.

Both The Book People and The Works have book collections of 10 books for £10 at the moment so you could add to your collection using these deals. And the supermarket Aldi I noticed had lots of great books in at the moment for not too costly.

To Wrap or Not to Wrap


I was a little bit torn as to whether or not to wrap up my books this year. Mostly because I'm more conscious of making our Christmas a but more eco-friendly. But in the end I decided I wanted to because, for me, it's part of the magic to unwrap them. When we did BookBairn's first one, she was only 9 months old and she started to unwrap things and play with the paper, by her second year, it was great practise for Christmas day and now it's The Wee Page Turner's turn to experience that too. So I wanted to wrap mine. But I know that some other people use a gift bag or make a fabric bag or just write the titles of books on slips of paper and put inside a refillable advent calendar. You do what works for you. But note it took over 3 hours to wrap them all!

Numbering

Some people like to number their books. Or have the bairns unwrap them in a certain order. It's good for number recognition and number ordering skills. (And if there are library books in the bundle you might want to). But I have always let BookBairn choose at random which one she wants to open and I will be doing the same this year. I'll let them take it turn about to choose. 


How to Display


I have seen some people say that leaving wrapped books around might lead young children to the temptation to open them but we've never had that problem. Every year I've had them stacked on the floor and not one was opened before it should have been. It's the same with keeping presents under the tree - they don't unwrap those before Christmas day. For me that's part of the lesson - learning to be patient and wait. But if you don't think your little one wouldn't be able to resist - keep them out of reach. You do what works best for you. We have always had a tree bundle with the books stacked from largest to smallest. But this year I'm displaying them differently as you can see from the photo.s (I will probably add some lights and perhaps tinsel or some other decorations - I would quite like two nutcrackers to have at each end - but these photos were more of a test run.) There are lots of other lovely ways to display them - just have a look on Pinterest! 


I hope you have found some useful tips here! And we would love it if you shared your photos of your bookish countdown with us so do send to us on social media or tag @BookBairn in your photos.

Here are our previous Christmas Countdowns:


Happy countdown,
Kim and the bairns x




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