One of my children’s favourite things is to pore over The Guinness Book of Records and read out some of the most bizarre and ridiculous things people do to make a record. They love the sports records and amazing achievements humans have made. And inevitably they pore over the Extreme bodies section and giggle and gasp.
Month: September 2014
We’re going on a Bear Hunt
An absolute must-have for any child’s library – the tale of a father and his three children going on a bear hunt ticks all the boxes. Beautiful, whimsical illustrations by award winning Helen Oxbury. A clever funny and slightly scary interpretation by Micheal Rosen and a delightfully theatrical chorus: “we can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, oh no we’ll have to go through it!”
Thank you, Mr Falker
A little girl grows up with huge excitement about learning to read. When she gets to grade 1 though, she is puzzled that the other children move on to bigger readers while she stays stuck on the beginning. With undiagnosed dyslexia her early school years are tough and challenging. It’s not until Grade 5 that a special teacher changes her life.
Library Lion
Everyone knows libraries have special rules. So what to do when a lion enters the library and doesn’t want to leave? Miss Merriweather, the head librarian, is quite put out at first but she soon realises that he just wants to listen to story time and help her out.
Madeline
“In an old house in Paris all covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed …” So begins one of the great classic children’s books written by author and artist Ludwig Bemelmans in 1939.
Where the Wild Things Are
The ultimate toddler tantrum book. When Max has one of those wild up-to-no-good evenings his mom sends him to bed without any dinner. In his room Max’s anger grows into a forest and Max decides to sail off on a boat, ‘through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are.”
The Crocodile Who Didn’t Like Water
‘Once upon a time there was a little crocodile. And this little crocodile didn’t like water.’ So begins Merino’s charming tale of a a crocodile who wants to love playing in water just like his brothers and sisters, but try as he might he just can’t take to it. Until the day he decides to force himself and something unusual happens.
Igor – The Bird Who Couldn’t Sing
We took this book out the library and Joe, 8 loved the simple story of a bird who for the life of him cannot sing. When he does open his beak the other birds hold their ears and even his teacher, Mother Goose, gives up, telling him “I have done all I can. I’m sorry. I have failed.”
Spud 2 – The Madness Continues
Spud 2 takes place in 1991, when Spud is attending his second year of high school at an elite boarding school in the Natal Midlands. The book juggles between Spud’s privileged boarding school and his small stuffy suburban house in Durban, where he lives with his mom and dad.
Freak
Freak. Bully. When Miriam Fisher enters Grade 7 her life becomes unbearable. Tormented by a group of popular girls, ridiculed for having a small bust and for saying what she thinks and being a little ‘weird’, Miriam finds herself pushed to breaking point.
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