A while ago I was tagged in a game of sevens by Sandra who compiles the gorgeous and stylish Pass the Parcel. Sandra featured the seven books that inspired her as a mother and given that We ♥ Books is all about books and children I thought I’d copy.

My pile features:

Minus nine to one: The Diary of An Honest Mum by Jools Oliver – My beautiful blog partner and friend, Katie, lent me this book when I first had Ned. Jools, wife to Jamie, wrote this incredibly frank and funny book about her pregnancy and birth of their first child Poppy. Just like I had enjoyed having Kaz Cooke by my side while I was pregnant, I found Jools’ book so comforting as she writes about all the things I was feeling as a first time mum. There is a part in the book where she has just had Poppy and she talks about feeling like she is the only person in the world to be up in the middle of the night. She and a girl friend who was also a new mum decided that if they sent each other text messages while they were both up that they would feel a lot less alone. Katie and I also began to have VERY early morning text message conversations and I will never forget how that made me feel semi normal at such a strange time.

The book is also so beautifully published with gorgeous pictures of Jools, Jamie, Poppy and Daisy throughout. There are also some recipes in the very back. If you can, find the hardcover edition, it really is a very special book.

The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule – The SouleMama blog has always been a favourite of mine because of the simple ways Amanda uses to bring creativity into her home and family. I’m not a big sewer or have any real creative bent and part of this book and her blog is sewing but I like it more for the crafts and ideas she gives you for connecting and enjoying with children. I particularly love the chapter on ‘living’ where she provides ideas for sharing nature with children, about seeking and finding and fairies – all things Ned loves and I love even as an adult.

Buddhism for Mothers by Sarah Napthali - I love being a mum and I have a gorgeous boy however like most of my friends I worry about being inadequate- in motherhood, in my career/business and as a partner. I have only just bought this book recently and keep dipping into it. It’s so easy to read and see the benefit in her advice. I have long been interested in Buddhism and find that there is so much to learn from Buddhist teachings about so many things in life.

The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease – I have used this book as a reference for a long time. I first picked it up when I worked for children’s specialist bookshop The Little Bookroom about 16 years ago and at the same time used it for Uni in my children’s literature classes. This book is a classic, it is one part guide to reading to children and getting them to enjoy books and second part treasury of more than 1,500 titles from picture books to novels that are the best to read aloud. I have always held storytimes where I have worked previously in bookshops and have always delighted in and seen the impact reading aloud has on children. This was even more apparent I found when I worked in the UK because of the reaction I had from the children to my accent, it really showed me the power of varing your voice while reading and how it captures children’s imaginations. Now I read this book as a parent and it reminds me to be in the moment when I read to Ned. 

How To Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson – This book is stunning just like Nigella herself. I’m not a very good cook  as many will testify to but I do love to bake. Cakes and desserts are what I’m best at and cupcakes are my all time favourite. This is the cookbook that I always return to. A really good investment.

The New Useful Book by Playschool – Big Ted, Little Ted, Jemima and Humpty where all a huge part of my childhood. My little brother and I didn’t watch much television but my mum knew that she could trust Playschool to be educational and I continue that trust today. This book like the TV show is brilliant. It is packed with craft ideas (easy ones), games and song lyrics – which is really handy for when you forget a rhyme or the actions that go with it. And as a bonus the illustrations are by one of my favourite illustrators, Bob Graham. This is an absolute gem of a book.

We Love Foodby Kirsty Manning-Wilcox and Peta Heine – You will see from the photo I took that I actually only have this in manuscript form. This great book has just been published this month by Hardie Grant. As I mentioned I’m not the best cook and this is one thing that does make me feel pretty inadequate. I love this cookbook because it is easy, the food is interesting and it is all really nutritious. I enjoy using this book which is encouraging to someone who doesn’t enjoy cooking. The recipes are interspersed with pages that explain and ingredient, with notes on how to grow and harvest it. I have seen the published book and it is beautifully presented and photographed. It is a down to earth, everyday reference and the beef stroganoff is fantastic.

Although I should tag some others to play, I thought I might just say to everyone to please write us a comment and let us know the books that you value as mothers.

The countdown is on for us for Magnolia Square – 11 more sleeps until we open at the brand new venue of St Kilda Town Hall.

One of the things we love about being part of Magnolia Square is running storytime. We’ve been thinking that we need some comfy floor cushions for these sessions. Buoyed by the successful completion of these beauties I’m attempting some more invisible zips, and may even try to extend my skills to something new in the design of these cushions… Stay tuned!

A while ago Rowan started asking us to read him a ’story with our hands’. This means using our hands to make a book shape and making a story up. He usually requests ‘only three’ stories which is sometimes a bit taxing for the cogs of my imagination…

At three and a half, Rowan has loved hearing our made-up stories, something I remember loving when I was little too. What’s even nicer is hearing him make up the occasional story with his hands too.

This development has also coincided with Rowan’s new enthusiasm for exploring the breadth of his bookshelf. Not so long ago I remember the phase when Rowan wanted the same few books over and over every night. Now he requests a book he’s never had before, or one we haven’t read for ages. Scary as it is, it isn’t difficult for us to find several new books on Rowan’s shelf that we’ve never read together before. Proof of how much I’ve spent on picture books over the years…

‘Stories with our hands’ are quite convenient when out and about, like at a cafe. Rowan has realised, however, that my hands are otherwise occupied when I’m driving. When we are in the car the request from the back seat is ‘Please can we have a story with your brain, Mama?’

Would love to hear how ‘made-up’ stories are/were told in your house…

Aren’t these Jonathan Adler book ends gorgeous. Nothing like a long dog to hold up your books. 

Comical and cute; Dachshunds are great little characters for children’s literature. The quintessential Dachshund character being Pretzel by H. A. and Margaret Rey the creators of that other quintessential little animal character Curious George.

Pretzel is a love story that begins and ends with puppies (if you know what I mean!).  First published in 1944, the story is by no means out of date but still has that lovely innocence of books from that era. 

There’s lots of lovely new books in our store at the moment… Here are a few favourites… 

Il Sung Na’s stunning A Book of Sleep 

The quirky and cool Big Rabbit’s Bad Mood 

Gyo Fujikawa’s gorgeous board books 

We’re celebrating all these lovely new books with a giveaway. Spend $50 (excluding postage) in the We Heart Books store from now until the 14th of March and get a gorgeous Maisy apron free (value $16.95). Quote MAISY APRON in the comments to qualify. 

We’re very excited that We Heart Books was mentioned on Romona Koval’s The Book Show on Radio National on Monday…

Romona was discussing with Gideon Haigh and Andrew Wilkins (Director of Wilkins Farago Publishing) the standard of literary reviewing in Australia. Gideon Haigh has recently been published in the new journal Kill Your Darlings, which claims that the book pages of Australian newspapers and magazines have become ‘hodgepodges of conventional wisdom and middlebrow advertorial.’ They discussed the future of reviewing and the role that blogs may have…

Here’s what Andrew had to say:

The positive thing from my point of view is that there are now communities of people saying this isn’t enough and we can actually set up our own thing… The cost of setting up anything on the internet [means] you can actually produce a vibrant, interesting, blog – I’m thinking of Inside a Dog which does Young Adult fiction for example, We Heart Books, which does kids’ literature. These are people with no budgets, negative budgets, and yet they’re able to get good quality material out online and build a community of people who actually care about similar things.

We’re quite chuffed! You can listen to the whole interview with Gideon and Andrew here.

I just had to share this sweet illustration by Trafalgar  Square on etsy.

I adore the little rabbit perched on the arm of the chair. Trafalgar Square is illustrator and mum, Kit, she also has a rather lovely blog here. Check out her etsy stores section called Book Love for more sweet illustrations of readers.

Caught this on Sesame Street this morning. How gorgeous is Jake Gyllenhaal?

I think I still enjoy Sesame Street today as much as I did when I was little. Let’s hope that Sesame Street goes on for another 40 years teaching little ones the meaning of ”the word on the street – SEPARATE’.

The beautiful 24 minute film based on the book Varmints by Helen Ward and Marc Caste was nominated for a BAFTA and shortlisted for an Oscar last year. You can buy the book from we heart books and find out more on the film at the studio aka website here.

This really is a very important book and film, it’s message is something special to share with our children as our environment continues to be something we all strive to protect.

One of the most beautiful self published books I have seen has arrived in our store. I Hear Two Birds is a counting book and a work of art written and illustrated by Brisbane local Kathy Panton.

Kathy has a Bachelor of Visual Art, and has recently given up her job as a special education teacher to be a fulltime artist. She told us … ‘I really believe in following your passion and that is why I am an artist.’

‘I can’t say I have any specific influences, but I have long studied the work of other artists who illustrate children’s books. A lot of people say my work is like Eric Carle’s, and that is a great compliment, as I think he was a real innovator in children’s book illustration.’

Kathy actually paints first and then cuts up her work which she uses in a collage technique to make her exquisit pictures. We are so lucky to have these photos of Kathy’s studio to share…

You can see here where she keeps her cut up paintings for use in her pictures…

I believe that Kathy has really captured the essence of what all the great, classic children’s books have. I Hear Two Birds works on so many different levels, it has beautiful flowing, rhythmic text, counting, recognition of colour, shape and everyday objects including animals and nature. It truly is a stunning book and we are very proud to have it.

Kathy also sells her beautiful prints, which are perfect art for a child’s room, from her Etsy store here.