BookBairn: Mummy and BookBairn Book Group

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BookBairn and I have been enjoying books along similar themes again recently so I thought I would share in another 'Mummy and BookBairn Book Group' post. Both books we have been reading share a perspective of what it is like to live on our planet. "Our world can be a bewildering place, especially if you've only just got here" (from the blurb in 'Here We Are')is a good summary of both the books we have been reading.

First, I've been reading "The Humans" by Matt Haig, which is not a book that I would have thought I would have picked up had it not been recommended to me by readers I trust on Instagram. (Bear with me in the description - the concept didn't sound like my cup of tea either but just wait...) The Humans is the story of an alien who is a doppleganger for a British mathematician that has discovered something that the aliens wish he hadn't so they eliminated him and sent an agent to discover who else knew about his discover and in turn eliminate all evidence. But as the alien integrates into our human society and life he learns lots about humanity. I loved this! The insights about humanity from an outsiders perspective (via Matt Haig's brain) are absolutely fascinating. And so on point. Some of the things we do are nonsensical but they are part of social customs that we just do. Because most things we do are in pursuit of joy, of love, of happiness.

“And I knew the point of love right then.The point of love was to help you survive.The point was also to forget meaning. To stop looking and start living. The meaning was to hold the hand of someone you cared about and to live inside the present.”

But sometimes we don't really make much sense, right? If you can suspend your disbelief and get past the alien concept of this book you will just love it!

BookBairn has been loving 'Here We Are' by Oliver Jeffers which has the subheading "Notes for Living on Planet Earth". Jeffers wrote this wonderful book for his newborn son in the hopes of passing on some words of wisdom about life on our planet.

"Your head will be filled with questions, so let's explore what makes our planet and how we live on it. From land and sky, to people and time, these notes can be your guide and start you on your journey."

This is one of the most beautifully illustrated Olive Jeffers books (which is an incredible feat as his artwork is sensational). He explores the land, sea and sky through beautiful artwork annotated with hilarious handwritten notes. Then pages filled with humans of every shape, size and colour and animals from all over the globe. These are BookBairn's favourite pages. She loves describing what she can see - pointing at everything! He explores the contrasts of life on Earth: day and night, moving slowly and moving quickly. And finally he shares the concept he most wants to pass on: "be kind".

My favourite part of the book is the last of several quotes at the end of the book. It's by Oliver's Dad (all-round good human):

"There are only three words you need to live by, son: respect, consideration and tolerance."

And this for me is pretty wonderful. He's so right. And the fact that this is the advice his father passed on to him and he included it in a book that he wrote for his own son is just so perfectly poetic. I love it.
This is a book that everyone should own. It's beautiful, and it's genius and it's going to be my go-to new baby gift.

These two books will make you question, wonder and gasp at their perfectly accurate depiction of life on Earth.

Happy reading,

Mummy and BookBairn xx

*Disclaimer: The Humans was a library book that I sadly returned recently - I might buy a copy when the urge to re-read inevitably arrives. We own Here We Are. And no one will prise it out of our hands. Buy a copy. You won't regret it.

Merry Christmas and festive wishes to all our readers!

One of the things I love to do is curl up in bed with a book on Christmas Eve. Something I can read cover to cover and absorb the full story. So I was thrilled to pick up a very small, but perfectly-formed, book with a festive theme this year. I so enjoyed reading this illustrated edition of 'The Nutcracker' by designer Sanna Annukka. I've never read the story before, originally by ETA Hoffmann though I am familiar with the Alexandre Dumas version that was adapted for the stage ballet. And I found the differences quite fascinating. I loved this story so much, and as it was short I'd recommend reading it even if you are already familiar with the more famous retelling. The illustrations in this version were bold, striking and full of the life of the story. They are very linear and geometric in style and make this book all the more beautiful and stylish.

This was the perfect choice for me to read this year as BookBairn has been enjoying 'The Story Orchestra' retelling of Tchaikovsky's ballet with illustrations by Jessica Courtney-Tickle.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story (the ballet version) is the magical adventure of a little girl called Clara who is given a beautiful selection of hand-made toys by her Uncle Drosselmeyer but her favourite is a wooden soldier nutcracker. She stays up late playing with her new toy when all of a sudden the Mouse King and his army declare war on the Nutcracker and Clara and her brother's toys. Just when it looks like the Mouse King will be victorious, little Clara throws her shoe across the room and clonks him straight on the head and knocks him out cold. (The original Hoffmann tale goes into great history of the Mouse King and Queen which I found to be fascinating.) And when the Mouse King is defeated the Nutcracker is revealed as the true Prince of the Land of Sweets. He whisks Clara off on the adventure of a lifetime to watch performances from the Sugar Plum Fairy and various delicious dancers. As the night ends, Clara awakes to find her nutcracker toy in her arms, as if the whole thing was a dream.

And this version really is a dream to read. The illustrations are utterly delightful and really capture the magic of this tale. The characters truly come alive.

But this book has a little more magic between it's pages. Each page has a unique button that when pressed plays a short excerpt of music from Tchaikovsky's original music from the ballet. BookBairn just loves this! And it really does sweep you away into the story. Such a brilliant way to introduce children to classical music too. Whilst this is a wonderful story and beautifully illustrated, BookBairn's favourite page is the very final endpaper which features all ten musical note buttons so she can play each part of the ballet over and over. And, ok, for the moment she chooses her favourite buttons based on their colour but I hope that it will help her appreciate the music too.

These two books are both incredibly beautiful and make great companion reads for the Mummy and BookBairn Book Group.

If you have any recommendations for Mummy and BookBairn Book Group, we would love to hear them! And if you want to read along, we'd love to hear your reviews.

Happy Reading,

Mummy and BookBairn xx

It's been a long time since I put together a Mummy and BookBairn Book Group post - mostly because I've not been reading rather than BookBairn not reading. But I'm keen to get back to enjoying reading for myself now that I have enough energy to read past my bedtime.

I've long-admired Emma Chichester Clark's artwork (and really want 'Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz by Michael Morpurgo with her illustrations - please Santa?!) and decided to pick up 'Plumdog' to get myself back into stories without it being too much text-heavy (eye-close-inducing). And I was thrilled when I spotted 'Love is My Favourite Thing' in the children's section of the library. Plumdog as the star of a picture book! I was sold.

My 'Plumdog' graphic novel is a year in the life of Plumdog and it is packed full of cuteness and humour. Told from Plumdog's perspective it's clear that Emma knows her pooch well. The illustrations are completely irresistible and great fun to pour over whilst enjoying the snippets of text. I loved this! (Though probably best kept for dog-lovers!)

'Love is My Favourite Thing' is a sweet tale about all the things that Plumdog loves, even if her owner (Emma) isn't quite so fond of them. She loves treats, her bed, walks in the park. She loves her mummy and daddy. And overall she loves being loved, loving others and just love. But she also loves diving into the river and pinching ice cream which gets Plumdog into big trouble. She gets sent to her room in the dark. She asks her owners"do you still love me?" and of course they do!! Something that I'm sure lots of children worry that when they are in trouble their parents have stopped loving them. And of course this isn't true. So this is a lovely story for addressing naughtiness, forgiveness and the enduring nature of family love. The illustrations are equally as adorable as in the graphic novel!

We have fallen in love with Plumdog! And we agree love is definitely our favourite thing too! These books would make a great Christmas present as a pair or individually for anyone who has a fluffy friend that they adore. Plumdog will certainly capture your heart!

We have two other paired books to read at the moment so keep an eye out for those and if you have any good recommendations it would be great to hear from you!

Happy reading,

Mummy and BookBairn xx

At the beginning of the year, Mummy and BookBairn Book Group, sharing stories with a similar theme, plot or character and enjoying the idea that we were both reading books along similar lines. For all the reading is often a solitary past time, it can be incredibly social too and for children it mostly is. They enjoy reading with others and discussing the pictures and the characters. I like to discuss the books I've read too, hence why I share our reviews on this blog!
I started a little

This month we have both been reading books starring the character of Jack Frost! As part of my online #kidlitreaders book group, we have been reading 'A Girl Called Owl' by Amy Wilson. This is a fantasy novel aimed at 7-12 (so-called Middle Grade readers) about a girl called Owl who finds out that the missing father-figure in her life is actually the seasonal imp Jack Frost. She then sets out on an adventure to find him and spend time with her father to understand some of the magical things that are happening to her. Of course, she comes across a few other interesting characters along the way and realises that the elements of nature might not be as well-balanced as she thought. I enjoyed parts of the story but ultimately I found it a bit to fantastical for me. I'm still looking forward to discussing this one with the other kidlitreaders as they often persuade me to change my opinions through our discussions. If you would like to join in the chat click here for details. Perhaps a better book group link with your little one would by 'The Snow Child' by Eowyn Ivey: I adored this book and it has the same magical elements of the story (though no Jack Frost).

BookBairn has been reading a book by one of our favourite illustrators, Kazuno Kohara. We have read several of her books, including 'The Haunted House' which we reviewed here. But 'Here Comes Jack Frost' is even better! Featuring primarily blue and white illustrations this book is a beautiful image of a frosty day. It tells the story of a lonely boy who fed up without his friends who are hibernating becomes fascinated by the strange patterns on the window. Racing outside, he meets the white figure who is busy covering his house with frost and ice. The figure introduces himself as Jack Frost and then runs off into the woods, the boy chasing behind him. Jack and the boy skate, and sledge and play throughout the wintery world that Jack is magically creating. Until the boy spots the first sign of Spring - a snowdrop - and the spell is broken. This is a magical tale, bringing to life an impish yet friendly Jack Frost that will have children fascinated by the patterns on their windows and on the world outside. As we move to Spring I'm disappointed that we didn't have this book all winter to enjoy! I'm already looking forward to sharing it again when Jack Frost returns to spread his magic on the world!

We would love to hear of any books you recommend for us to share! Mummy is currently finding herself earlier and earlier to bed and falling asleep in the pages of her book now that Baby BookBump is only five weeks away from joining us. You can follow what I read on GoodReads and BookBairn is always sharing her favourites on our social media feeds (linked at the top of the page).

Happy Reading,

Mummy and BookBairn xx

As you can imagine a 'bookish' person like me is involved in a few book groups. I have my lovely friends who meet once a month for a 'book and a bake' and we chat books for about ten minutes and then eat cake for a lot longer! I am so proud to be a founding member of the #kidlitreaders book group on Twitter where we discuss books aimed at 7-12 year olds, which make for delightful reading and discussion! BookBairn has her own little reading group (though we've not met for a while - sorry kids it's been a bit busy!). But I thought it was time to add one more...

Mummy and BookBairn Book Group!

Inspired by the #bookstagramxover challenge to share a picture book and a companion YA or adult fiction, I thought I would try and share a book pairing for myself and little BookBairn.

As you may have noticed from our social media, BookBairn and I have become a little bit obsessed with penguins. This is in part due to the #kidartlit challenge, in part due to watching penguins on Frozen Planet, but mostly to do with reading lots of penguin-y books. For my 'book and bake' book group our next read is 'The Penguin Lessons' by Tom Michell. Based on a true story, Tom Michell rescues a penguin from an oil slick in Uruguay, only to find that the penguin will not leave his side. Tom then smuggles his new companion across the border into Argentina, where he teaches in an international school. I'm only half way through and loving the adventures that Tom and has penguin get up to!

And I found a great companion story for BookBairn! 'Blown Away' by Rob Biddulph tells the story of a penguin and his friends on a similarly strange adventure across borders. Penguin Blue is flying his kite in the Antarctic and a huge gust of wind blows him, his kite, and his friends (including a polar bear who was probably already a bit lost given he was a bit far from their arctic home) across the ocean to "a tiny island, lush and green (a colour that they've never seen)." These intrepid travellers then try to find a way home! Told in brilliant rhyme which had BookBairn entranced from the beginning. Rob Biddulph's illustrations are bold, bright and brilliant! The snowy, icy Antarctic scenes are a chilly blue in contrast to the vibrant green of the jungle island. With lots of details for discussion they will appeal to younger readers, like BookBairn, as well as school-age children who will want to pour over every detail. Penguin Blue is set for another adventure in 'Sunk' out later this year and we will certainly be looking out for this one!

So we both curl up and read our penguin adventures! It's a little dream of mine. It's also one of the first times that I can quote BookBairn for review: "Penguin Fly a Kite. Again! Again! Again!" - if that's not a five star review I don't know what is!

A video posted by BookBairn and Mummy (Kim) (@bookbairn) on Jan 13, 2017 at 11:34am PST

If you have any recommendations for Mummy and BookBairn Book Group, we would love to hear them! And if you want to read along, we'd love to hear your reviews. (Mummy will be posting hers on GoodReads when she is finished reading!)

Happy Reading,

Mummy and BookBairn xx