BookBairn

So tonight's #litchatter question comes from the Where the Wild Things Are card (as you selected on my Insta Stories yesterday - I should have guessed picture book fans would choose that one) and I'm going to pop the questions here and I'll leave my answers, as I hope you will too, in the comments section. Sorry I didn't get this posted on Sunday evening but I was just too busy this weekend having family fun!

Do you have a favourite book picture book? What do you love most about it?

Choosing just one favourite picture book would be impossible for me because, as you know, we love so many. A while back on Instagram my friend asked me to share my top five favourite picture books and I managed to choose just five. I wonder if any of our long time readers can guess them? I think I mostly chose these books because of the experiences I had reading them and not necessarily because they are the most beautiful or magical (though they are that too!). But those choices were more about how much I enjoyed reading them with BookBairn (as The Wee Page Turner was still too little to respond to stories, even though we did actually read with him, we didn't get the reaction that gives you joy as a parent!). I wonder if I should do another post like this? But I'm not sure I will be able to choose just five!!

Do you still read books meant for children or young adults? Why or why not?

This is pretty obvious what my answer is going to be because I have a whole Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and blog dedicated to not just my children’s love of picture books but my own love of picture books. I also really enjoy reading YA and MG picture books for pleasure. In fact, starting next week, when our schools go back in Scotland, for the first month I’m going to read purely MG books.

What do you think? Please share your opinions in the comments below - or I'll link to the Instagram discussion too!

A post shared by BookBairn and Mummy (Kim) (@bookbairn) on Aug 5, 2018 at 12:31pm PDT

What about you? Do you still read children's books? And do you have a favourite picture book?

Happy Lit Chat!

Kim

Warm summer months are filled with lazy days, lemonade, trips to the beach, nature walks, swimming pools and firefly nights. Summer is a great time of year, especially if you’re a kid. School is out and inspiration can be found in various places from your garden to a trip to the zoo. Whether you are planning on spending your summer on vacation, swimming, beach bumming, catching fireflies, camping or running your own lemonade stand, there is bound to be a fun book to read.

Throughout the month of July, the @kidlitpicks book club shared some of our favorite summer-themed books. Credit goes to to Charnaie from Here Wee Read for the timely theme!

Mine, Run Wild, by David Covell

“Run Wild takes me right back to my childhood summers—running barefoot and exploring all day long. Barefoot in the field, on the sand, across rocks and twigs. There were bruises and bumps, but that never stopped anyone, not when there was an adventure to be had.” — Summer from @readingisourthing

National Parks of the USA, by Kate Siber and Chris Turnham

“Everything about this book feels classy and timeless, down to the retro-style illustrations." — Mel from @spiky_penelope

Summertime, by Jane Foster

“The illustrations are packed full of bold high-contracts graphics and lots of key Summer words that you will want to pack this in your beach bag alongside the sun cream!” — Kim from @bookbairn

Rooster Summer, by Robert Heidbreder and Madeline Kloepper

“This will absolutely be an annual read for me.” — Miranda from @bookbloom

Perfect, by Danny Parker and Freya Blackwood

“Beautiful text above is accompanied by paintings by Blackwood which ‘magically evoke the light, scents and feel of a perfect summer day.’” — De from @books_and_babycinos

Rudie Nudie, by Emma Quay

“There's a lovely rhythm to the story, loads of love and the kids end up snug in bed.” — Carissa from @bookskidslove_

The Sandcastle That Lola Built, by Megan Maynor and Kate Berube

“A perfect summer story!” — Arielle from @childrensbooksgalore

The Night Flower, by Lara Hawthorne
"The Night Flower is exquisitely illustrated, its vibrant pages brought the Sonoran desert’s summer and its unique annual event alive for us on the other side of the world.” — Rossa from @curiouslittlepeople

The Last Peach, by Gus Gordon
"We found The Last Peach an intriguing tale that made us smile, giggle and eventually laugh out loud!"” — Rossa from @curiouslittlepeople

Saturday Is Swimming Day, by Hyewon Yum

"This is such a gem, friends!" — Lauren from @happily.ever.elephants

My Best Friend, by Mary Ann Rodman and EB Lewis

“It provides an opportunity for adults to have an open discussion about how to treat others, making friends and what to do if a child ever faces this situation with their peers.” — Charnaie from @hereweeread

Goldfish on Vacation, by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Leo Espinosa

"The summer stay-cation that may have been been lackluster and boring is instead filled with new camaraderie and a sense of excitement. Which is everything that summer should be." — Wendy from @homegrownreader

Summer Color!, by Diana Murray and Zoe Persico“Vibrant colors and easy rhymes highlight the beauty of summer in this warm and tender read.” — Heather from @kidlitbookbits

And Then Comes Summer, by Tom Brenner and Jaime Kim

“And Then Comes Summer is a perfectly nostalgic treat for these long days of sunshine and freedom.” — Anna from @kidlitcrafts

Uh-Oh!, by Shutta Crum and Patrice Barton

“This book is perfect for little ones on the move with lots of exploring and discovering to do as it has vivid ILLUSTRATIONS to draw the eye in.” — Teri from @petitbookcorner

OUR #KIDLITPICKS THEME FOR AUGUST IS:

For the month of August, @kidlitpicks is sharing the funniest books we can find! Introduced by @spiky_penelope, co-founder of this awesome project.

You know what I realized the other day? @kidlitpicks has never made a list of our favorite funny books! I'm talking about the books we can barely read aloud because we're laughing so hard and the books with pictures so ridiculous that we can't help but giggle as we pour over the illustrations. Funny books give everyone a moment in time to be fully together, laughing about what's on the page and leaving the stress or worry of everything else behind. And they're often a good way to address serious issues that are otherwise very difficult to talk about.

Throughout the month of August, the #KidLitPicks book club wants to make you laugh! Join us as we share our favorite laugh-out-loud books by tagging your reads with #kidlitpicks_LOL all month long!

Happy Reading,

The KidLitPicks Team and Kim x

Wow July seems to have gone by in a heatwave blur hasn't it? We have loved the lovely weather and enjoyed spending lots of time in our garden which we had overhauled last year and is now much more family friendly. We have spent lots of time with friends and family and I feel like I have spent hours and hours in local play parks pushing the swings! I can't pinpoint anything specific that we have done but just enjoyed time together which seems so important now as BookBairn starts school nursery next month and it's so important to me that we adventure together as much as we can before she starts as the time is going to fly by even faster. And so to treasuring my little loves for this month.

It's actually quite difficult to think of which book BookBairn has enjoyed reading the most this month because she has enjoyed reading lots and lots of different books. It feels like every bedtime and quiet time we have read a different story and I love that! Whilst I know that repetition is great for kids reading and understanding, I love that she is reading more widely! One of our favourite recent reads is '100 Dogs' by Michael Whaite which is a brilliant rhyming story that shares 100 dogs each getting up to different things. It's laugh out loud funny!

Read it now Mummy!!!!!!

The Wee Page Turner absolutely adores 'The Queen's Hat' by Steve Antony. We read it several times every day as he pulls it out of his book basket and slides around the house on it's cover. He then sits at any adult's feet and quite literally throws the book at them. It is a brilliant story of the Queen who is on her way to visit someone very special when the wind sweeps her hat off her head, and as it soars high above London and many of it's landmarks from Trafalgar Square over London Bridge, and The Wee Page Turner's favourite Big Ben! The colour palette in this book is predominantly red, white and blue and the simplistic line drawings (that are packed full of detail) clearly entrance the smallest reader in our house. We are definitely going to get the other books in this series.

I have finished the Harry Potter series this month and I have just loved reading (and listening) to them so much. There is a whole world of things that I didn't know about the world of Hogwarts and Wizardry. As enchanting and magical as everyone told me (but I was too stubborn to read and then I missed the boat) I loved every page. I laughed and wept over the characters and their stories. I can't wait to read them all again!

From Halloween! And now I've finally read them.

For more of our favourite reads you might want to check out our Favourites Shelf blog post.

We haven't been watching as much television recently as I've been trying to cut down on screen time a little. I felt the kids were watching too much and I was relying on screen time to get some peace and quiet and get stuff done too much and that they kids weren't learning to and enjoying playing with their toys imaginatively. So we have cut back but obviously we've not cut it out completely! One of the things I have done, which seems to mesmerise the kids is make up a playlist of disney songs and clips on YouTube and then I screencast/chromecast (or some similar technological term) it on to the TV. That way I know exactly what they are watching but they get to watch their favourite songs without shouting on me every three minutes to play another one. It's my favourite parenting hack!

Since I dislocated my shoulder I have been very wary of not lifting too much and overdoing it as I'm paranoid about dislocating it again. But this week I put all 14kg of The Wee Page Turner in our baby carrier and wore him on a walk in the village where I spent lots of happy childhood summers. Part of the reason we live where we do is because it is less than half an hours drive from this little patch of heaven on earth and I love it. I walked with him out to the lighthouse and to an old ruin along the coastal path and then through the village and along the beach to the beach huts where we raced and built sandcastles and did Olympic jumping and investigated rockpools and even swam once or twice in the rather cool North Sea. And after 5km of walking I didn't hurt one bit in anywhere but my feet! And The Wee Page Turner, who hasn't slept in my arms since he was fourth months old, fell asleep in the carrier and snuggled in close. It was so lovely and a real moment to cherish.

We have been doing lots of crafts and activities inspired by some of the books we love reading and sharing them as part of the #bookishplay team over on Instagram. There are so many inspiring ideas over there and it has challenged me to be more creative with the activities that we do as well as carving out a snippet of time each week to sit down and do something fun with BookBairn. We used to do lots more craft and activities together but it's trickier now that I have two to supervise with paint and, until very recently, The Wee Page Turner just explored everything with his mouth. So I've loved taking the time to sit and play or make with BookBairn. To find out more about #bookishplay check out the hashtag over on Instagram or read this blog post by one of our team members:
'Why Do Books and Playtime Make the Best Combo?'

I have said it before and I'll say it again. I am no baker. If that's your talent or hobby I admire you because I simply do not have the patience for it. I know my strengths and they do not lie in creating marvelous and delicious treats from flour, eggs and butter. But I make the effort occasionally to open one of those pre-mixed kits and add the wet ingredients and pretend with BookBairn that we are baking. And she loves it! So this month we did just that and baked some little cakes for when one of my lovely friends came round to play. And they were scrummy. I did ice them but they didn't look very pretty so we covered them in sprinkles and pretended that it didn't matter that the looked rubbish. Because they were reduced to crumbs within minutes anyway.

One thing we have heard from The Wee Page Turner is lots more babbling and sounds but still only a handful of words. He can say mama and a few other things but still not many other things. One of the things that I have noticed is how much more he understands though so I'm sure it won't be long before he is challenging his big sister for chatterbox of the family.

I am going through a phase where I'm finding it tricky to find the time and energy to blog. Most evenings I am too tired, and The Wee Page Turner has dropped his morning nap which I used to use for blogging time when BookBairn was at nursery two mornings a week. But with that now gone I find myself trying to fit it in here and there and can't really get excited about it. I know it's just a phase and from mid-August BookBairn starts school nursery five mornings a week and The Wee Page Turner will go to private nursery twice a week so I hope I will have time to catch up on lots of things I'm needing to get done as well as go to the gym and find more time to blog! I have a few things planned in August with a couple of blog tours but other than those I think I will be taking a little step back to help BookBairn settle into her new nursery and to enjoy the Edinburgh Book Festival. And then I will get back to blogging more regularly again in September.

Happy summer holidays!

Mummy and the bairns xx