BookBairn

You will know that Nibbles the Book Monster by Emma Yarlett is one of our absolutely favourite picture books and kindred spirit of BookBairn. He has an insatiable appetite for books and munches his may through BookBairn's bookshelves on a daily basis. He is never far from our Favourites Shelf!

And today he is released in paperback! I don't normally do extra 'plugs' for books that go beyond telling you what we are enjoying reading but I felt for Nibbles I would make an exception! Conceptually clever and innovative, Nibbles works on multiple levels - little ones like BookBairn enjoy following the mischievous little character and feeling the cut outs and peeking through the pages - BookBairn still squeals on the final page; younger children will recognise their fairy tale favourites as well as adoring Nibbles's trouble-making; and older readers (scudding us grown-ups) will just love how Nibbles invades and corrupts the stories that we are so familiar with.

The illustrations are sensational! Nibbles is mischievous and yet is still adorable. The fairy tale characters are so expressive. And the detailed pages of illustrations of piles and piles of books are quite simply a dream! To read BookBairn's review from our initial reads click here.

We can't wait for the sequel to Nibbles which is due to be released in September. It will combine BookBairn's favourite book monster with her new favourite interest - dinosaurs! Quite honestly it couldn't be more perfect!

But in the meantime if you haven't met Nibbles yet - you should check out the paperback when it's released on 6th April!

Enjoy your book-nibbling,

Mummy and BookBairn xx

*DISCLAIMER* I was given our book for free for review purposes, however, all words and opinions are my own.

The countdown is really on until the new baby arrives - less than two weeks now until our due date! We've been painting the nursery, which is a shared bedroom with BookBairn, and it's no longer pink but Daddy has kindly reinstalled the Favourites Bookshelves so that we can get back to reading asap. And one of the books we've been reading a lot, at BookBairn's request is 'What's in Your Tummy, Mummy?' by Sam Lloyd.

BookBairn just adores this hilarious lift-the-flap book about what's inside Mummy's tummy! It's such a simple book - on the first page Mummy tells the little boy that she is really excited about the surprise inside her tummy and on each subsequent page the Mummy's tummy gets a little bit bigger as happens in real life! Each page also has a lift-the-flap over the Mummy's tummy and the little boy guesses an animal that might be inside his mum's ever-growing tummy. It starts small with a flea, gradually getting bigger and bigger from chimpanzee to a horse until finally he thinks it's so big (almost a whole page spread) that he thinks it's a dinosaur! On the final page the mummy reveals the real secret inside her tummy - a new baby! It's a brilliant pop-up double-page spread that has the mummy shouting "yippee!!" - I know how she feels, I'm much looking forward to having this baby in my arms now too!

BookBairn really loves this story - she enjoys lifting the flaps but her favourite thing is the dinosaur page (though she thinks it's more like a hippo!) and then shouting "Yippeee!' in her absolutely loudest voice. We do then chat about what is actually inside her mummy's tummy because I do have concerns that she might actually think that there is a dinosaur in there (and sometimes I feel like it is!).

The illustrations in this book are typical of Sam Lloyd, if you have read his Boris books you will know that he favours simple cartoon characters with bright bold colours against simple backgrounds allowing the characters to really shine!

The only downside of this book is that it is written in rhyme but, in my opinion, it doesn't quite flow making it a bit stilted to read. BookBairn doesn't seem to care too much as for her the real enjoyment is in the lift-the-flaps. But it makes it a bit clunky to read.

For me, though, as long as BookBairn is enjoying and engaging with stories about having a new baby at this crucial time that's the most important thing!

You have probably noticed that things are slowing down already on the blog as I'm using BookBairn's naptimes to rest instead of writing reviews. I hope you will understand and be patient with me over the next few months as a new baby will definitely keep me busy (as well as BookBairn!). I am still keeping out social media up to date and you can see our latest reads by following us there. (All the links are at the top of this page.)

Happy reading!

Mummy, BookBairn and BookBump xxx

*DISCLAIMER* This book is borrowed from our local library!

One of the books that we have most been looking forward to being released this year was 'Bathtime for Little Rabbit' by Jorg Muhle. BookBairn and I (and Daddy) fell in love with Little Rabbit in his first book - 'Tickle My Ears' where you help Little Rabbit get read for bedtime.

And we are delighted to see the release of this prequel (bathtime before bedtime, right?). In a similar style to the first book, young readers are encouraged to participate in the story by following simple instructions that make-up Little Rabbit's bathtime routine: from rubbing the shampoo into his ears, to protecting his eyes from soap suds, to blowing his fur dry and rubbing in his lotion. For children who are struggling with bathtime routine this is a great interactive book to help ease their fears or discomfort. I like the inclusion of the rubbing in his lotion as BookBairn has eczema so we always put lotion on her skin and it reinforces for her that this is part of the routine. BookBairn (and Daddy's) favourite part is when the hairdryer button doesn't work and they have to literally blow Little Rabbit's fur dry - they both huff and puff and have a great giggle trying to get him dry! It makes me giggle just watching them.

A post shared by BookBairn and Mummy (Kim) (@bookbairn) on Mar 30, 2017 at 5:34am PDT

In our review of the first book, I described Little Rabbit as "truly adorable" and it's just as true in this book. His little buck-toothed smile is just enchanting, and his distressed face when the bubbles get in his eyes are just what you would see with a toddler at bathtime. Again in this book there are no backgrounds and the details are relatively simple, usually revolving around the object you are interacting with like the shampoo bottle or hairdryer. All this simplicity allows little ones to focus on the instruction that the children are trying to follow! It's simply genius!

My only quibble with the book is that it skips teeth brushing - something that I would think most parents would want to see part of the bathtime or the bedtime routine but it features in neither book.

Nonetheless, BookBairn loves this one as much as the original and it has pride of place on her Favourites Shelf!

*UPDATE* This competition is now closed and the winner has been notified!

***We have a spare copy of Tickle My Ears by Jorg Muhle to giveaway (to read our review click here)! If you would like to win a board book edition of Tickle My Ears, please comment below. (Additional entries will be available so keep an eye out by following us on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook.) UK residents only please. Competition closes 8.4.17.***

Love Mummy and BookBairn x

*DISCLAIMER* I was given our book for free for review purposes, however, all words and opinions are my own.

I was recently approached by 'Boolino' a website that aims to turn children into book lovers by helping their parents find books they like in an easy and intuitive way. You can see why I was delighted to pair up with them as one of their 'Boolino Friends' helping to share and review books for young readers.

I answered some tricky bookish questions for their blog post introducing us as one of their new friends and you can read the interview here: http://www.boolino.co.uk/blogboolino/article/bookbairn-interview/

Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what's on the other side? BookBairn loves rainbows - she loves to spot them as they swoop across the sky; she loves that our front door creates little prisms that spread rainbows across the walls and floor if the sun shines through at just the right angle; she likes to sing the rainbow song; she likes to play with her rainbow colour wheel; anything rainbows and she's sold!

So it's no surprise that she thoroughly enjoys the story 'How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow' by Monica Sweeney with illustrations by Feronia Parker Thomas. This is the story about the Sun and Clouds who were best friends, working together to make those rainbows that make us all smile at their colours! But one day the Sun and the Clouds have a big fight and they stopped being friends and wouldn't be in the sky together any longer. And that meant no more rainbows and without the rainbows the world started to lose it's colour until the Earth was only black and white. Except, that is, for one little forgotten box of crayons. These beautiful and brave little crayons set out to restore colour to the Earth by save the rainbows. So they draw rainbows everywhere, they draw them bigger and bigger and bigger until they made the biggest, brightest, most colourful rainbow the world had ever seen. Soon the Clouds and the Sun notice the marvellous rainbow and they apologise to each other, becoming friends again, creating lots of rainbows and restoring colour to the world.

BookBairn's synopsis of this book is much shorter but very sweet. It goes something like this: "Sun and Clouds in sky. Sun and Clouds make rainbows. Sun and Clouds not friends, make big noise. No rainbows. Rainbows gone. Crayzons. Red crayon. Green crayon. Lellow crayon... Draw rainbows. Very big rainbow. Sun and Clouds friends. Very really big rainbow. The end."

A post shared by BookBairn and Mummy (Kim) (@bookbairn) on Mar 20, 2017 at 6:57am PDT

As you can see she has grasped the storyline even at two years old. And what a great way to talk about working together and friendship with her at a level she can understand!

The illustrations in this book are also wonderful! The whole thing looks like it has been drawn in crayon which, artistically appeals to me and to BookBairn it looks sort of like her drawings. The Sun, Clouds and crayons are very expressive and incredibly sweet you certainly believe in their characters beyond simple objects. Clearly, the use of colour in this book in incredibly important and the pages that are simple black and white are not without their charm but it's the rainbows that really are the star of the show. As it should be!

As we see more Spring sunshine and April showers over the coming months BookBairn and I will be out spotting rainbows and hopefully doing some lovely rainbow artwork together to brighten up the house with beautiful pictures!

Happy Rainbow Spotting,

Mummy and BookBairn xx

*DISCLAIMER* We were sent this copy of 'How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow' by the publisher in exchange for an honest review, the words and opinions are our own.

So for the first time in our experience of reading books and writing reviews for the TES class review, the children and I got a book that we were not as keen on. Ever the professionals, we read on and wrote a balanced review, which you can read here:

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/tv-historian-takes-liberties-victorian-history-class-book-review

Click on the image above to find this book on amazon.co.uk *This post contains Affiliate links.

When Claire from 'A Little Book Habit' asked me to write about our bedtime routine for a series she is featuring on her blog I couldn't say no! Firstly, I love her Instagram feed and am a regular reader of her blog and of course we share a passion for children's books. But also I found it fascinating to write about our bedtime routine and how it has emerged and changed over time (and will no doubt change again when baby number two arrives!).

If you would like to know our nightly bedtime routine, and the important role that books and storytime play as part of the routine pop over to A Little Book Habit's post here:

https://alittlebookhabit.com/2017/03/13/bookbairns-bedtime-habit/

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