Booking in July

July saw us back in isolation, remote learning for the kids, no playgrounds, no libraries, no play-dates. Fortunately, we had over 24 hours notice and we managed to make a couple of trips to the library to load up on readers, pictures books, chapter books for the kids. I also got a stack of books for me that, considering the reduced functionally cognitive time I have during isolation, I’m unlikely to get through.

I’ve also been doing an online course, so this blog post is on the shorter side. But the books highlighted here are very high quality.

Picture Books

I Can Catch a Monster, by Bethan Woollvin – I adore Bethan Woollvin’s artwork, it’s very unique and easily identified as hers. It’s just so trendy, fun, bold and creative. Her books are terrific for giving as gifts as they are a story and brilliant artwork in one neat book. Honestly, if you’re decorating a children’s room, seriously consider her wonderful prints, available here.

Bethan’s newest book, Bo the Brave, is spectacular. Bo has two brothers who are off to hunt monsters. She initially succumbs to their declaration that she can’t hunt monsters, but realises that she can – and will – go hunt monsters herself. There are very subtle themes of feminism, kindness to animals and standing up to bullies, but all these are perfectly disguised in a lovely story aimed at the 3-8 year old age range.

Hike, by Pete Oswald – We have really enjoyed Pete Oswald’s collaborations with Jory John, The Bad Seed, The Good Egg and The Cool Bean. (And I believe there is another, The Good Egg Presents: The Great Eggscape) So I have followed Pete Oswald on Instagram and when I saw him post the final artwork for the cover of this book it went straight on our list. I mean check out that front cover! It’s so creative and interesting and it drew my kids’ attention, just as I suspected.

The story of this wordless picture book centres around a father and child who wake up excited and go hiking into the woods. We see that they have packed a tree seedling and we follow them on their adventure to plant the seedling in a very special place. We have read this book many, many times now and I still adore it. It’ll make you even keener to get yourself and your kids out in nature. Again this is for a similar age range, 3-8 years.

Chapter Books

Daisy and the Trouble with Nature, by Kes Gray, Illustrated by Garry Parsons and Nick Sharratt – Daisy has to be one of the best characters created for the 5-10-year-old age bracket. She is feisty, independent, friendly, imaginative, active and really funny. My kids absolutely love hearing the books read aloud.

We have already been through a strong Daisy phase twice, but after getting one from the library before lockdown we’re back in one. So much so that I’ve bought a 10 book series to try to embrace the interest my 8-year-old ‘capable-but-too busy-to-read’ girl has taken. I finished reading aloud Daisy and the Trouble WIth Nature and she straight away set about reading it to herself – twice.

I have heard that some kids aren’t readers until they find that one series that they finally ‘get’ and then they fall in love with reading. I really think this could be that series for lots of kids.

Booking for Mum

Becoming, by Michelle Obama – This was a bit of a marathon audiobook, 18-odd hours at normal speed (but if you’re not yet listening to content at faster speeds, start now). But having Michelle Obama’s dulcet and soothing voice read her enthralling autobiography made it very difficult to stop listening.

This was a fascinating account of Michelle’s rise from the southside of Chicago to the White House. She is honest and thought-provoking as she discusses her heritage, her marriage, her career and her initiatives. She talks about her fertility issues, the challenges of working full time and parenting, her feelings about negative press comments and the wonderful people who have helped her along the way. I loved it all.