"Who was Hitler?" asked my seven-year-old, a couple of weeks ago. It was 7.30 on a weekend morning. It turns out he'd been inspecting the books on my desk. I ought to have seen this coming: I've amassed heaps of primary and secondary sources about the Second World War over the past three years. It just never dawned on me that he'd go browsing through the unglamorous adult books in the study … [Read more...]
The Wind in the Willows
Hello, friends. This week, I'd like to talk about my five-year-old's favourite book, The Wind in the Willows. I realize I'm not revealing any kind of secret, here. Everybody has heard of The Wind in the Willows. First published in 1908, it's a classic of children's literature. Its most famous illustrator is Ernest H. Shepard (who also drew the "decorations" for Winnie the Pooh. There are some … [Read more...]
Lumpito and the Painter from Spain
Hello, friends. Two weeks ago, my children and I had the pleasure of discovering Monica Kulling and Dean Griffiths's utterly charming picture-book, Lumpito and the Painter from Spain. (Disclosure: I am friendly with Monica and an admirer of her many other books.) The story features a dachshund named Lump (pronounced "loomp", meaning "rascal" in German) whose owner, David, takes him from Rome to … [Read more...]
2012 in books
Hello, friends! If you celebrated Christmas yesterday, I hope you had a blissful, delicious, festive day. This year, I included brussels sprouts in the meal (using this recipe) and they were superlative - the highlight of the meal for me. Unlikely, but true. But I'm not here to talk about cruciferous vegetables. I wanted to share my absolute favourite books of 2012 with … [Read more...]
A Picture-book Christmas
Hello, and I hope your holidays were properly blissful! We had a wonderful Christmas and today I thought I'd share with you the picture books we unwrapped as a family this year. I'm one of those parents who squints at a toy and thinks, "Huh. That'll be a hit for all of eleven minutes," before clutching my wallet tighter. But I love, love, love buying books for my kids. This year, we … [Read more...]
Rabbit, Read
Happy New Year, to everyone who celebrates the lunar new year! It began last week, on February 3, and continues for 15 days. That's 15 days of festivities, food, and family. I was hoping it would also be 15 days of delightful children's books but I'm coming up a bit short, here. My local library has a good selection of round-the-world folk tales for older children and a couple of books that … [Read more...]