Kensal Rise Children's Library, London

We wanted to devote part of our #ReadItMD13 (Read It Mummies and Daddies 2013) campaign to libraries and it's a spooky coincidence that scheduling things for this week coincided with a fairly high profile argument AGAINST libraries spread across the media. I'd rather like this post to be a celebration of libraries rather than yet another rant against Terry Deary's irresponsible and just plain selfish opinion that they're "Outdated, of no use any more" by pointing out once again, quite simply, that this blog would not exist without Abingdon Library, our 'Local'.

Before we had Charlotte we used to drop in from time to time for books for ourselves, and we'd often meet friends with their children. It seemed like a brilliant family activity, spending a while in the library trawling through the interesting book stacks, watching their excellent fish tank for a while, and doing some colouring and scribbling. We always had it in mind to join Charlotte up as soon as we could and luckily we were reminded when we went to register her after her birth that we could do so pretty much straight away.

Abingdon Library, like most libraries, is a place that people don't just visit for the books and though Mr Deary probably thinks that it's the domain of the old-fashioned stereotypical book hoarder, the children's section at Abingdon Library is always very busy and heavily used.

We used to drop in for Song Group, a nursery rhyme time for children and at times it was (to shoehorn in a well-loved book title) a squash and a squeeze but always very enthusiastically embraced by parents who could let their kids be loud and noisy, singing or shaking / bashing things along with well loved nursery rhymes.

It became a weekly social thing for a lot of parents in the same boat as me, lucky enough to be able to spend a day a week with their children doing something interesting and engaging. We'd grab a stack of books, settle down for rhymetime and then head home to dive into our newly acquired treasure trove. Back then I hadn't really had much of a clue about children's books, other than the vague memories of stuff I loved when I was a kid and when my younger sibs were wee ones so it was great to discover that most of those old classics and their authors were still around and still as well loved as ever.

The idea for the blog came a while later when The Strolling Mum and I decided we'd like to try and keep a record of what Charlotte had read to her, so we didn't continually get the same books from the library and so we could set something up (hopefully) for other parents to dip into.

As I've said before on  Twitter, we're not uber-rich, and can't always afford to buy brand new books for Charlotte so the library, and its frequently updated and well-stocked children's section was brilliant and still is today and is somewhere we'll always support and visit as much as we can.

Now Charlotte has started school it's difficult to drop in as regularly as we'd like but we still make the effort, again because it's the best way of discovering new books and unfamiliar authors we'd otherwise miss. It's always brilliant to find something in the library stacks that other booky folk have recommended, or things you'd missed by an author you'd been tweeting at the previous day.

With funding being cut left right and centre, and the recent move by the government to try and stifle libraries in schools, your local library is more important than ever. As cultural centres are slowly removed from the plans and demographics of modern towns, it just seems crazy not to use something that's provided for free, and can turn into a regular outing akin to going on a treasure hunt. There's always something new or interesting to find in our local library and I'm sure yours is the same too. Just dive in and find out!

It's something we've always wondered. What DO squirrels get up to when we're not looking? One minute they're innocently scrabbling around on the ground for lost acorns or missing cobnuts, the next minute you turn around and they're gone.

One little toddler knows the secret, one Hazel Nutt who is the tiny genius behind a trilogy of excellent little books (helped by her mummy and daddy of course).

Hazel knows that squirrels are very mischievous and also extremely clever.

We find out just how clever in the first book "What Squirrels Do When You're Not Looking"

If you happen to see a swing swinging when there's no breeze, or a strange slidey bald patch in a treetop, you might not give it a second glance - but Hazel knows what's been going on and you can almost guarantee that the squirrels have been around and about, playfully teasing us behind our backs.

With rhyming verse and a hilarious look at how squirrels are extremely good at pulling the wool over our eyes, "What Squirrels Do When You're Not Looking" is available via CreateSpace and Amazon.


Did you also know that Squirrels have their own Olympic Games?
Hazel knows, and in "What Squirrels Do: The Squirrel Olympics" you'll find out how our furry little friends limber up for their own sporting extravaganza. We all know squirrels are fantastic at running and jumping, but I bet you didn't know that they can also limbo under the lowest twigs, or walk precariously between washing poles treading a perilous tightrope. Funny and action packed, it's great to see our squirrely friends taking part in challenging events around the garden and trees.

Here's a link to "What Squirrels Do: The Squirrel Olympics" on Amazon and CreateSpace


Last but by no means least, Hazel shows us behind the squirrely curtain one more time to take a look at "What Squirrels Do: Just For Fun". When our back is turned, and ever so quick, Squirrels are always ready with a cheeky little trick (hey that rhymed!)

Cheering each other on with flower pom-poms while being chased by dogs and cats. Pulling cheeky faces at us (which we'll never see because squirrels are just too quick for us to catch them in the act!)

"What Squirrels Do: Just For Fun" can be purchased at CreateSpace and Amazon

Charlotte really loved reading the adventures of Hazel Nutt and it have given her a whole new way to look at the many Squirrels who live in our locale, and scurry around on the rooftops early in the morning. We know they're not being noisy pests, we now know (thanks to Hazel) that they're up to all sorts of fun activities and anyone who loves nature and animals will definitely find this lovely little collection of stories amusing and fun.

Charlotte's best bit: The squirrel tightrope act in "The Squirrel Olympics"

Daddy's favourite bit: Great engaging artwork, and a whole ton of fun. Fab stuff Hazel, can't wait for more!

(Kindly sent to us for review by the fabulous Hazel Nutt herself!)

The talented Squirrel Whisperer herself!

We've previously expressed our love of anything Shaun Tan puts his hand to on the blog so amongst others on our wishlist this year was his brilliantly atmospheric book "The Red Tree".

If you're not instantly in love with the book purely from looking at the cover art, you'll love it once you start delving into the pages and getting lost in the dark (and sometimes fairly opressive) landscapes that are stock in trade of Tan's work.

The Red Tree probably shouldn't even be described as a children's picture book. It appears to deal with a fairly hefty theme - depression - in a way that children can grasp but adults will recognise with bells on. The lone female character in the book lives a fairly mundane life and you soon slip into that state of mind that 'Tan books' evoke.

We see her journey through the day and the metaphors and symbolism depicting depression quietly murmur with each page turn. Perhaps I see it because I've lived it, but it's definitely there, though I'd love to hear other folks impressions on this too.

For Charlotte, the book made her sad. She wanted to know why nothing seemed to cheer up the little girl in the story and why her world seemed like such a dark place. The book ends on a high note though, just in case all this dark and doom-laden talk puts you off.

If nothing else, it's once again an opportunity to lose yourself in the work of one of the most talented people working in picture books today and who could possibly pass up an opportunity like that?

Charlotte's best bit: The last page and the end to the story, so very beautifully done.

Daddy's favourite bit: Again with me it's the fact that this is another weighty theme dealt with in a way that is subtle and understated. Deliciously detailed art makes this one very special book. Are we ever going to find a Shaun Tan book we don't like?

Achilles the crocodile is grumpy. Achilles the crocodile is also very naughty. Achilles the crocodile does not want to eat bananas for breakfast any more. Achilles the crocodile wants to eat...a child!

We've had our eye on this book for ages and finally managed to pick it up. The title caught our eye, but the book itself is such a well observed look at the way children think (even kid crocs!) that it is very deserving of our prestigious "Book of the Week" status.

Achilles begins to annoy his mum and dad as they put all manner of fantastic fare in front of him, trying to tempt him away from his single-minded goal of scoffing down a child. He won't be coaxed, cajoled or reasoned with (sound familiar, parents? Still trying to get your child to eat spinach or onions? Yep us too!)

Like most children (and probably crocs) Achilles has to find out the hard way that perhaps eating a child won't be quite as easy as it seems.

There's such a delicious payoff at the end of this, and throughout it subtly mixes two things children absolutely love to see in their books. A pinch of naughty and subversive behaviour, and a character that's engaging but also a little bit scary and dangerous (even as tiny as Achilles is!)

Thoroughly recommended and every bit as great as we hoped it would be.

Charlotte's best bit: The lovely chocolate cake Achilles parents try to tempt him with. Charlotte only 'does' one type of cake, and it's chocolate cake. The gooier the better!

Daddy's favourite bit: Great repetition, brilliant and simple illustrations and the sort of title that makes you sit up and take notice even before you've opened the front cover. Sublime!

So, International Book Giving Day is GO and there's some truly inspirational book giveaways going on. We decided we'd do our bit slightly later than today as it neatly coincides with Charlotte's birthday coming up very soon.

On that note we thought that we'd do away with the usual plastic frippery associated with the kids' party bags and give them all a book instead!

We searched high and low for some reasonably priced books that weren't too rubbish, and fitted in with the theme of the planned party (which is all about nature and the great outdoors).

We found this - Hopping Mad by Michael Catchpool and David Roberts, a great little book exploring nature (and in particular squishy frogs, yay!) 12 of these will be going out to the partygoers in their party bags (probably with some sweeties and choc too). Can't wait to see how these are received, just hope the kids attending are as dotty about books as we are!

When a new family moves into a house next door to a huge sprawling rambling and overgrown wreck of a place, it's not long before the neighbourhood kids tell young Rose the story of Mr Wintergarten, the creepy old guy that lives there.

He is mean, he's nasty, he will never give you your ball back if it goes over his (very high and very unwelcoming) garden fence. He has a massive dog that eats children and he lives in the dark eating bugs and grubs. Ew!

It doesn't take long before Rose's little brother has his ball taken by a mean kid, and kicked over the fence so Rose (along with her mum) bravely decides to knock on Mr Wintergarten's door...

This is a tale that feels very familiar (a bit like The Selfish Giant) yet it's told in a rather nice and cosy way, with a positive message about how young people interact with their elderly neighbours and relatives. We won't spoil the end but this is actually a very happy book despite the slightly menacing looking image on the cover.

Bob Graham's delightful illustrative style is brilliant, lending the book a classy air and Rose (the very brave little girl) was a character Charlotte could easily identify with and like straight away.

Charlotte's best bit: The very last frame in the book which is rather joyous and celebratory. She also loved Mr Wintergarten's dog (which doesn't actually eat kids after all!)

Daddy's favourite bit: Again, loved the last frame and the message that runs throughout the book. Treasure your elders, they won't be around for ever and they always have the very best stories to tell.

There's a huge surge of interest in the definitive works of L Frank Baum this year. I'm referring, of course, to his amazing stories of Oz and with new movies on the way courtesy of Disney (a rather dark looking movie treatment at that), and new stage productions and even an animated tie-in too, there's plenty of Oz goodness to enjoy.

On the book side, there's this rather neat "pop up" book that mixes utterly beautiful artwork with photography to re-tell the most famous story in the series - Dorothy's first adventures in the magical land of Oz and her first meeting with some of the most well known characters in children's fiction. The Tin Man, The Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion and of course the Wizard himself. Not forgetting the wicked witch of the east and her terrifying flying monkey soldiers.

Charlotte loves the Oz stories but is more interested in the fairly slimmed-down versions that have previously been available. This was a perfect book for her, with great interactive paper engineering complimenting the story. Unfortunately she managed to rip one of the parts where the paper mechanics were quite fragile but a spot of glue and a quick fix and all is once again well.

Stella Gurney retells the tale very well, and Lorna Freytag's illustrations are excellent too. Lots to love here so if your children go completely Oz crazy this year, this is a very good book to grab as a tie-in.

Charlotte's best bit: Dorothy's trip along the Yellow Brick Road and her meeting the Tin Man

Daddy's favourite bit: It's a heck of a year for Oz stuff and it's good to see a nice big beautifully presented version of the story retold in such a way. Excellent stuff.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Carlton Books Ltd)

There's always something cool and booky going on over at Rhino Reads!

There comes a time when your darling children become the fount of all knowledge, and suddenly know EVERYTHING overnight. Not only that, they will quickly correct you if you stuff up or get anything wrong.

So perhaps that's my defence in having trouble with "The Wheels on the Bus" by Jeanne Willis and Adam Stower.

All kids have "The Wheels on the Bus" pretty much ground into every fibre of their being from a very early age, at nursery and preschool, at song groups at their lovely local library, or on children's TV shows. It's not too bad to change things around a bit and 'cheat' by introducing extra characters making silly noises on the bus journey, but Charlotte took a huge dislike to this version because - agh, there's no polite way of saying it - it just doesn't flow. Very unusual for anything Jeanne Willis has written, but it breaks spectacularly at the end of each verse.

You see, there's a certain bounciness to the original

"The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round,
Round and Round, Round and Round
The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round
All Day Long"

And yet in this version, the bus hits a brick wall at each turn of the page - so you get

"The Elephant on the bus goes trumpet trumpet trumpet
trumpet trumpet trumpet
trumpet trumpet trumpet
The Elephant on the bus goes Trumpet trumpet trumpet.
At The Zoo"

It's the sing-a-long rhyme equivalent of driving over a very bumpy road then ending in a ditch, and of course even with the great introduction of some colourful (and in one case, rather farty) animal characters, the fact that it was 'wrong' meant Charlotte couldn't get on with it at all, didn't engage with it and hasn't touched it since. Oh dearie dearie me.

Sorry guys, in all other respects it's a lovely looking book and you might be able to sneak this version in for very young bookworms (2-3 perhaps?) but not past a smart-alec near-5 year old :)

Charlotte's best bit: Of course it had to be the skunks. Even 5 year old girls find gaseous emissions funnier than anything else in the entire world.

Daddy's favourite bit: Great illustrations with some extremely busy panels but such a shame it just doesn't flow.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Pearson)

The Last Policeman (Cover)

As you have probably noticed, Daddy hijacks the blog now and again to post reviews of books that are distinctly grown up.

Ever since I first heard about "The Last Policeman" it joined the teetering wishlist of books. Thanks to Mat Archer and Quirk Books, I've now read my early birthday present and it's every bit as brilliant as I hoped it would be.

The "book hook" here is just too enticing to pass up, and sets a billion questions churning in the mind of the reader even before they read the first chapter.

"The world is ending. No get out clause. No reprieve. What would you do?"

The world in "The Last Policeman" is an astonishingly unfamiliar place, a world with the Sword of Damocles (or in this case, Asteroid 2011GV1) hanging over its head.

Hank Palace, a detective, chooses to handle the world's premature death sentence by going to work.

Investigating a suicide, Palace soon becomes entwined in a case with the darkest of hidden depths and complexities that threaten to pull in and destroy those he holds dear. Hitting dead ends and a whole world of apathy, it's up to Palace to prove that the seemingly clear-cut suicide case is anything but.

Ben H. Winter's pre-apocalyptic world piques your curiosity at every page turn, and forces the reader to answer those questions. What would we do? How would we react if we knew that our death day was tangible? How strong could we be in a situation where life is reduced to survival and instinct instead of comfortable existence? It's a fascinating glimpse of how even the mightiest companies and networks completely crumble and fall apart as their most valuable resource - humans to flip the burgers, flick the switches - or indeed investigate murders - stop caring and await the inevitable.

My initial fear that knowing the fate of the world right off the bat would mean this novel had nowhere else to go was thankfully unfounded. This is a book that keeps you guessing, and keeps you gripped throughout. Hank Palace is no action-packed superhero detective with a witty quip to suit every situation. If anything, he's one of the most humbling and human characters I've seen in a novel for quite some time. Someone who carries on when everything is utterly hopeless. I just couldn't put this down and am seriously contemplating sacking off the rest of the reading list to start it all over again.

This is the first book in a trilogy. Brilliant stuff, more please soon Ben!