bubble trouble

When I came across the poem Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy a few years ago, I thought it would make a lovely picture book. And now it is. I wasn’t sure whether the children at playgroup would be able to sit through a reading of the whole book. Twenty-two pages of dense, tongue-twisting text. I […]

the stone baby

Some picture storybooks just don’t seem to be for young children. This is one of those. It’s beautiful and deep. It relies on a few carefully chosen words and intricate illustrations to convey the story. I think it is a masterpiece. It is the story of a six year-old girl who is overwhelmed by all she […]

howl’s moving castle

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones was one of the books I had to read for a Children’s Literature subject I did at university. It’s a strange, complicated, and interesting tale, and is classified as a young adult fantasy novel. I would allow my 8 and 9 year-old boys to read it. The story plucks a plain, […]

along came a dog

I bought this book over the internet. I thought it was a children’s picture book because Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) illustrated the book. Silly me, I should have looked at the description a bit better – 192 pages in total. I was probably blinded by the description of the story… “The friendship […]

skulduggery pleasant

I was tidying up around the place last week, and I picked up one of the books my middle son has been reading. He borrowed it from the school library. The cover looked a bit gruesome, so I thought I’d sit down and read a few pages. Three days later, I finished the whole book. It […]

taking stock #3

Doing… We have just had two weeks school holidays. I’ve been taking the boys to the park as often as I can, to run off their energy. This hasn’t been easy as the weather has been wild some days, with 120 to 140 km/h winds. We went out with a friend one day during the holidays. […]

diary of a wimpy kid – journal

My older boys (8 and 9 years old) have had their noses stuck in a book for the past week – heads down, pencils in hand. The focus of their obsession is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Do-It Yourself Book. I love books that provide prompts for journal writing, creative writing, or art activities. […]

mbobo tree

Millard, G. (author) & White, A. (illustrator). (2009). Mbobo Tree. London: Scholastic. I never intended for this blog to include book reviews. However, the children’s books I am featuring are so darned good everyone should know about them. Glenda Millard is an Australian author, and I had never heard of her before I purchased this […]

the tree

Lyons, D. (author) & Danioth, D. (illustrator). (2002). The Tree. Bellevue, WA: Illumination Arts Publishing Company. I love a book that makes the playgroup parents gasp, roll around in laughter, or clap at the end of the story. My aim at storytime is to engage the parents as much as the kids. I read the […]

where is the green sheep?

Fox, M. & Horacek, J. (2004). Where is the green sheep? Melbourne: Penguin Group. I have a confession. I am not terribly keen on all of the books that Mem Fox has written. Australians are aghast when I say that. Mem Fox has superhero status here, but I approach all of her books with caution. […]