***Sorry for the delay in posting this - we have another poorly baby in the house which means I wrote this and never got to add the ph...

Little Loves - November

Saturday, December 22, 2018 BookBairn 2 Comments


***Sorry for the delay in posting this - we have another poorly baby in the house which means I wrote this and never got to add the photos until now. Nevermind! Our December little loves will be up soon!***

Well, November has been and long gone so I'm going to make this a quick one but I didn't want to break the streak of having a Little Loves post for every month. BookBairn and The Wee Page Turner both had chickenpox and BookBairn has a really bad case of it and thanks to a wonderfully vigilant and caring GP we managed to avoid a hospital visit. But it also meant lots of cuddles and curling up together so it wasn't too bad!





BookBairn read two books on repeat when she was poorly: The Sound of Magic: Cinderella by Sanna Mander and The Story Orchestra: Four Seasons in One Day by Jessica Courtney-Tickle. The Sound of Music: Cinderella is a retelling and shortened version with a slightly more modern ending - the Prince and Cinderella become friends for a few years before getting married and living happily ever after. The illustrations are lovely and soft with a beautifully soothing colour palette and feature characters of all colours and ethnicities. Using the magic wand, you and your little readers can wave it around and when it lands on the musical notes on each page the book plays beautiful little tunes to enhance the story! Just magical! And BookBairn adores it! Similarly BookBairn also adores listening to the musical elements in The Story Orchestra: Four Seasons in One Day. Featuring beautiful illustrations and a lovely story about a little girl who travels through all the seasons on an adventure with her puppy and starring the beautiful music of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, this book is absolutely magical! 


The Wee Page Turner has become absolutely obsessed with I Am Bat by Morag Hood and he can now say the word bat. He chooses it every bedtime! Without fail. The illustrations are created through crisp clear printing style with simple colours and plain backgrounds really make the elements of the story stand out. It also means that there is no where to hide so the story has to be charming. And this one is. It's about a bat who likes cherries and does not want anyone, including you and your reader, to steal them. But they start to disappear. Reading this book requires a great sense of humor and some exasperated and exaggerated expressions but it's just so much fun! And The Wee Page Turner has given it his seal of approval.


I'm not sure how to choose a favourite read this month as I read several really good ones! I think I will go for The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie which I enjoyed reading cover to cover in one sitting on the train journey home from London. It was short and (not so sweet) but was thoroughly thrilling! As with all Christie's stories it had twists and turns and had me asking all sorts of questions as I read. I'm going to read lots more of her books next year. (I've lent my copy of this to my mum so I hope she enjoys it too!)

I have become quite addicted to Call the Midwife this month, in fact I'm watching it as I type! I love the characters and the stories of each episode. I can't believe I haven't watched it before.  And the kids have been enjoying Sarah & Duck. They both love it and I love hearing The Wee Page Turner quacking along when he sees duck on the screen.


Both The Wee Page Turner and BookBairn have new winter jackets that have been absolutely wonderful. Both are thickly padded meaning they are super cosy and have lovely bright patters on them. But the best thing? They have mittens attached! So no lost gloves for us this year. And The Wee Page Turner doesn't seem to mind wearing them. But when he does occasionally slip them off when out and about I don't need to worry about them getting lost!







How do you keep a three year old (and her two cousins) entertained at a family dinner? Grabolo has become a true favourite since we got it last week. We must have played a dozen times daily. But three little four year olds played all by themselves whilst waiting for their meals, even though there was a magician, they wanted to play this! It’s a very simple, but incredibly fun game, you roll the dice and reveal a colour and an item and you have to be the fastest to grab it! So much fun!




BookBairn and I enjoyed making salt dough Christmas decorations for the tree. It was great fun and took ages as we had to paint each side a bit at a time but I love seeing them on the tree and she is so proud of them! Something to treasure for years to come.



I'm not sure I have ever mentioned that we have a piano? Because I'm not very good at playing it. But I can play little ditties here and there and I have been practising Christmas tunes. It's some thing I would really like to learn more. But The Wee Page Turner is a natural! He loves bashing away on the keys. And he plays so much better than me - which such reckless joy and abandon!


We are all set (and now half-way through opening) our advent books for this month. BookBairn loves opening her story and occasionally she lets her little brother open one. It's so nice to curl up and read together a lovely Christmas story.

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 you can read them all here. As well as starting an Amazon shop page which has all my recommendations on it. I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for supporting me through these amazon links - I now have reached the threshold to get a payment (£25) and whilst it will be delayed until February it's nice to think that I have been able to but my husband's Christmas gift with money that I have earned myself rather than from his salary whilst I'm on career break. That means a lot to me. So thank you!


I hope you have a lovely festive season!
Hope you've had a lovely month.
Mummy and the bairns xx



Little Loves Coffee Work Sleep Repeat


Disclaimer: I was sent Grabolo for  free for review purposes by the toy company and The Sound of Magic: Cinderella was sent from 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.

2 comments:

  1. Read
    a load of rubbish. I’m infamous (in a house with 2 librarians) for not finishing books and I didn’t finish three books in November. They shall remain nameless.

    Watched
    my football team lose regularly. It’s going to be another relegation battle this season.

    Wore
    lots of winter woolies.

    Played
    Grabolo with BookBairn and her Mummy. Not sure who is the bigger cheat.

    Made
    GrandMa BookBairn’ Christmas present. It’s a photo calendar but shhh, don’t tell her. It’s a secret.

    Heard
    The Wee Page Turner say a few more words.

    and Lastly
    Well done to all for getting through the Chicken Pox weeks. What a horrible disease.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Papa C! I'm guessing one of those books was Harry Potter! And I don't cheat - never have!

      Delete