Archive for the 'Age 3+' Category

Pretzel

Posted by Lou on Mar 01 2010 | Age 3+, Animals, Classics, Picture books

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  First published in 1944, the story is by no means out of date but still has that lovely innocence of books from that era. 

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There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

Posted by Katie on Jan 18 2010 | Age 3+, Picture books, We Heart Books Store

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Jeremy Holmes’ gorgeously quirky version of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly is now in stock in our store.

Such a macabre rhyme and beautifully executed by Holmes. Since we first saw the book in early December, we haven’t got tired of turning to the closing page to see the old lady’s eyes closing for the final line, ‘She died, of course.

You can purchase your copy here.

The trailer is mesmerising and sets the mood perfectly…

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When We Were Little…

Posted by Katie on Jan 11 2010 | Age 3+, When we were little...

As I have mentioned before in ‘When We Were Little’ posts (here and here) we lived for a time in England when I was little. Rupert the bear was another of the English characters that is indelibly linked to my memories of our time there. I still have a copy of a Daily Express Rupert Annual, which I think was given to me one Christmas.

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Having now done some research into the Rupert story, I am blown away by the endurance of this ever-so-English little bear.

Rupert Bear first appeared in 1920 in the Daily Express comic strips by Mary Courtel. In an incredible feat of longevity for the world of the print media, the Rupert Bear strips continue to this day. The artist has changed several times, and one of the most significant storytellers and artists responsible for Rupert was Alfred Bestall, who held the reins from 1935 to 1974. Each year, a Rupert Annual is published, and my copy is the 1981 hardcover edition.

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One of the most distinctive aspects of the Rupert stories is the story-telling format. This is not a regular cartoon comprising pictures and speech bubbles. A complete Rupert story is told over several pages of an Annual. Each page consists of a simple heading and four or five illustrations, and the illustrations are captioned by four pairs of verse. At the bottom of each page, a paragraph of prose repeats the story again, which means that the story can actually be read on four levels.

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As a reader, it’s a slightly unnerving format, and the verse is often slightly ‘off’. But it is interesting – and means that children of different ages can enjoy the story. These days the first thing I think of is what a nightmare this must be to copywrite and edit – how restrictive must those word limits for each written element be…

Rupert himself is said to epitomise traditional British public school values. He lives in an idyllic English village and, with his friend Bill the Badger, has a series of unexpected  magical adventures. With their gorgeously distinctive outfits and occasionally their leather rucksacks, Rupert and Bill always get home safely to Mrs Bear, who never seems the slightest bit perturbed by their adventures.

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Clearly, the character of a newspaper comic who has been around for nearly ninety years is iconic. Paul McCartney’s inspiration for the song ‘We All Stand Together’ (the ‘Frog Song’) was apparently his realisation that something he loved so much as a child was also a favourite with his own children. The clip includes animation of Rupert Bear. Deservedly Rupert has a fervent fan group, the Followers of Rupert Bear, and there is also a Rupert and the Frog Song website

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Oh Christmas Tree…

Posted by Katie on Dec 18 2009 | Age 3+, Christmas, Picture books

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Our Christmas tree this year is not a perfect specimen. It is asymmetrical, slightly bushier on one side, and has a decidedly wonky top. But I love it because it is an Eco Christmas Tree! It is a real living tree in a pot, and we have hired it for December. I though this concept was brilliant as soon as I heard about it – with tree delivery and collection included, you also get the satisfaction of knowing that a healthy tree continues to grow and thrive all year round.

When I was growing up we always had our Christmas tree in a pot. My mum and dad bought a small living Christmas tree for my first Christmas as a baby and every year for 20 years we continued to bring the same tree into the house. In the end it was so tall that it touched the ceiling. I really loved thinking of the tree and I growing alongside each other.

When Rowan was born, I intended to create a similar tradition for our household. But I soon learnt that my mum is a better gardener than I because I was unable to keep our little tree alive for the year… But Eco Christmas Trees provides the perfect service for someone like me. They even offer to deliver the same Christmas tree to you next year!

I do love Christmas tree traditions, and one of the Christmas stories Rowan and I are enjoying at the moment is Mr Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry.

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The story starts with the delivery of a very tall Christmas tree to Mr Willowby’s grand house. The tree is the biggest he’s ever seen – so big that it can’t stand up straight in his parlour! Mr Willowby asks his butler to chop off the top of the tree so that it will fit better. The butler cuts the top, but instead of throwing it away, he decides to offer the cutting to Miss Adelaide, the upstairs maid. Miss Adelaide gratefully accepts her ‘tree’, but discovers the tree-top is too tall for her attic room, so she too trims off the top… And so the story continues, and the tree-top is gradually shortened and shared with smaller and smaller animals.

I love the idea that a tree can become lots of mini-trees, as well as the wonderful sense of sharing in this book. The final illustration of Mr Willowby with his tree in the foreground, with the detail of a tiny mouse-hole and the mice and their miniature tree is so lovely.

What about everyone else? What Christmas books are you enjoying at the moment?

||Mr Willowby’s Christmas Tree is available in the We Heart Books store||

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Why is the Sky Blue?

Posted by Lou on Nov 18 2009 | Age 3+, Ned

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My favourite book of 2008 is still a favourite.

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The Terrible Plop

Posted by Lou on Nov 06 2009 | Age 3+, Animals, Art, Australian, Illustrators, Picture books

 Our great friend Nicci directed us towards this hilarious clip on Youtube… 

The Terrible Plop is definitely one of my favourite picture books this year.

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jellybeans

Posted by Lou on Oct 23 2009 | Age 3+, Picture books

I bought this gorgeous little picture book exclusively for me, although Ned may like it in a couple of years.

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This is one of those books that is deceptively simple and communicates so much, I only had to read it once and knew I had to have it. The characters are a rabbit called George and a cat called Oscar who are so very simply drawn but are yet so expressive. George and Oscar are best friends, they love being together and one beautiful sunny day they text each other to meet in the park and eat jellybeans.

After eating a sky blue jellybean George starts to wonder about the sky and if there is a heaven – up there.

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‘Will we go there too – both of us?
I’m going if you’re going, that’s for sure.’

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This is not a story about the existence of heaven it is the story of friendship and the bond between Oscar and George who want to be friends always. It is a gentle introduction to death for children but I don’t really think that is even the main theme.

These simple little line drawn characters just convey so much. They worry about what will happen when they get to heaven – will they be able to find each other?

Maybe they should arrange a meeting spot. “…what if it’s really big and you never bump into anybody?”

And then the big question – will they know each other when they do meet?

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Thoughtful, George answers “then we just become friends all over again

This is definitely one of those special picture books that transcends age. Incredibly simple but the emotions and thoughts it evokes are amazing and it could be given as a gift to an adult or child. Picture books like this are rare and I’d really love to hear about books that others think fall into this category.

 Sylvia Van Ommen is a Dutch author/illustrator who has a beautiful website where you can see more of her fascinating little characters. She has also made a cartoon that features George and Oscar, here is a teaser trailer for the English version…

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When We Were Little…

Posted by admin on Sep 21 2009 | Age 3+, Animals, Picture books, When we were little...

A guest post by one of our favourite bloggers, Scribbler, founder and writer extraordinaire of the utterly fabulous blog called Vintage Kids’ Books My Kid Loves. She is mum to a 4-year-old aficianado of vintage kids’ books.

Molly Brett Goodnight Time Tales

I’ve loved books my whole life. Children’s picture books in particular, and if you read my blog, you know I sort of went nuts after I had my son… obsessively collecting books for him that I’d had as a child and ones I wished I’d had. I don’t remember exactly which Molly Brett title was my first… I just remember an American childhood filled with her books and illustrations. Wonderful little worlds inhabited by cuddly animals and fairies. Adorable wooded scenes with teddy bears and squirrel babies. A moss-covered wonderland where salamanders lead pet snails around on leashes. Owls wear top hats. Where children’s toys are in cahoots with sparrows. And frogs shop for sausage links. All the sorts of things little girls imagine to be happening right outside their bedroom windows when they are just out of ear shot.

Molly Brett beach illustration

A native of Surrey, England, Molly’s mother was a painter of animals, so although Molly had no training, she was a natural at creating the stories so many children around the world came to love. Under her publisher, The Medici Society of London, she produced 21 books and countless illustrations for greeting cards and prints before her death at 88 years old in 1990.

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I spent hours and hours of my youth, poring over these intriguing tales, then would close my eyes at night and wish and pray they were real. Oh, what I would have given to be invited to an animal tea party! One of my favorite stories from this book in particular is called “The New Policeman” and involves a mess of sweet forest animals driving around in toy cars:

Fuzzy Hedgehog felt rather lonely as he scuttled through the wood, for the other animals found him too prickly to play with, although he longed for friends and to join in all that went on around him. Just then he saw a notice on an oak tree which said—‘Nest Builders and Hole Holders are asked to a Meeting to discuss the Dangers of Traffic on Winding Way.’

Well, one thing leads to another, and one can only imagine how proud Fuzzy must’ve felt when he received his policeman’s helmet and set to work making the traffic right. Delightful! If I remember correctly, most of her books were made up of a series of stories, each with one illustration in color and then sketches on the type-page in black and white.

Molly Brett Fuzzy Hedgehog

There is lots of Beatrix Potter on these pages, and one has to assume Molly grew up studying her books. There’s just something about the English countryside that breeds this sort of enchantment. Brett… Potter… Milne. The landscapes and gardens are ripe for one’s imagination to pick. A medley of trickling brooks and sparkling skies. Shadows and toadstools and beds of leaves hidden beneath shady branches. Really, I could wax poetic for a lifetime about these amazing people who brought the magic of England all the way across the pond to my own little bewitching corner of the globe. South Carolina might be a world away from Surrey, but to my childish heart, we were all living in the same hundred-acre wood.

Molly Brett illustration


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A Visitor For Bear

Posted by Lou on Sep 15 2009 | Age 3+, Animals, Illustrators, Picture books

Reading aloud is such a joy when you have the right book and recently I bought one that has even won an award for being ‘terrific’ to read aloud.

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A Visitor For Bear won the E.B. White Read Aloud Award this year and deservedly so. Written by Bonnie Becker, the story is a whole lot of fun. Bear is comfortable being by himself, he has never had any visitors to his house and even has a sign to discourage any arriving in the future. Although bears feature quite heavily in children’s literature I think this bear is definitely one of my favorites.

No one ever came to Bear’s house.
It has always been that way,
and Bear was quite sure he didn’t like visitors.
He even had a sign.

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There is so much comedy in this story and it is great fun to play up while reading it aloud. A very persistent little grey mouse turns up to visit bear – much to his disgust – and hilarity ensues as the mouse continues to pop up causing the bear great anguish.

‘…there was the mouse! (Small and grey and bright-eyed of course.) “BEGONE!” roared Bear.’

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The illustrations match the text perfectly. Illustrator Kady MacDonald Denton captures the humour in the text by making the big brown bear exaggerated in his movements as he tries to make the mouse leave his house; he points to the door furiously, he jumps up and down and finally drops the floor with tears of frustration.

“I give up”, he blubbered. “You win, I am done”.’

Eventually they do a deal and the mouse agrees to leave after they have one cup of tea together.

The stunning format that the publisher Walker Books has used is a long paperback, with beautiful paper and MacDonald Denton makes use of all the space. The spreads are beautiful, one in particular as the mouse and bear kick back and have a cup of tea together, warming their feet by the fire.

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It is then that bear realises that maybe having a friend is not so bad after all. Not preachy, this is a fantastic story about friendship and letting people in, themes that affect both children and adults.

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When We Were Little…

Posted by Katie on Sep 07 2009 | Age 3+, When we were little...

It’s special to me when I discover that one of my favourite childhood books was also a favourite of my mum’s. This was the case with Rabbit And His Friends, which I posted about here, and with the book I’m posting about today: A Little House of Your Own.

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Everyone has to have a little house of his own.
Every boy has to have his own little house.
Every girl should have a little house all to herself.

In this book a ‘house’ is a metaphor for a space of one’s own – it doesn’t need to have a roof and four walls – it can be a cardboard box or a treehouse or the space under a dining table. No matter what place you find, it is important for every person to have a space that they can create and retreat to. As a child or an adult, it is an incredibly affirming idea.

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The copy mum has is a 1961 reprint of the original 1957 publication, written by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers and illustrated by Irene Haas. The endpapers are stained and at one point the jacket became so damaged that mum resorted to cutting a portion of it and sticking it to the front.

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My childhood memories focus mostly on the illustrations of the book – which evoked so strongly in my imagination possible scenarios for creating new cubby houses and hiding places. The detail is exquisite and even now I can’t help but look at these pictures in awe of the simplicity of the form – black and white, pen and ink with incredible detail and variation in light and dark rendered on each page.

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I loved the book’s message when I was little – and the very empowering feeling it gave me. It validated the desire for even a small child to have some place of their very own. This message has the same power, and a different significance as an adult. The following passage resonates particularly now:

Your papa is in his own little house when he is behind his newspaper.
He wants everyone to leave him alone. He doesn’t want anyone to bother him.
No children.
No grownups.

When your mama takes a nap it is just as though she has gone into her own little house and shut the doors and the windows.
She wants everyone to leave her alone. She doesn’t want anyone to talk to her or to ask her questions.
If you tickle her she will wake up -
and then she won’t be in her own little secret house anymore.
But that really isn’t fair, is it?

Too true!!

I’ve just discovered that cocoon couture also blogged about this book, just a couple of weeks ago… You can see the post (with more internal images and a scan of our original cover) here.

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