I love gingerbread. Especially a gingerbread man, that’s soft and chewy with yummy sweet icing – but not too much.
So sitting here on a cold afternoon dreaming of gingerbread I found this gorgeous clip on Youtube of an old Peter Pan Records book and record set. I adore the illustrations…
And more gingerbread men….
Very cute little singlet by aptly named Gingerbread…
And Cookie Cutie cards by draw pilgrim…
And Tall Tales gift cards from eight sparrows…
‘The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
‘O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!’
Printspace have teamed up with the Wall Sticker Company and so you can now get their gorgeous illustration of the Owl and the Pussycat from the Edward Lear poem to now transfer onto your wall. I think this photo of it is just stunning, what would be more perfect for the nursery or bedroom of a lit lover?
Printspace will be at Mathilda’s Market with us this weekend at Malvern Town Hall.
One of the most important and popular picture books of all time now comes in a pop up version to celebrate it’s 20th Anniversary. This is so exciting!
This pop up looks amazing because it has been created by one of the best paper engineers in the world, David A. Carter. We will have some stock in our store in a little over a week.
If you would like a copy reserved please let us know via email – info@weheartbooks.com
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 First published in 1944, the story is by no means out of date but still has that lovely innocence of books from that era.
Ned’s dad and I were watching At the Movies the other night when Margaret and David reviewed the new animated – Performance Capture animation - film version of A Christmas Carol. We both agreed that we thought the story was very dark and not really appropriate for little kids, although maybe many people will be drawn in by the fact that it is animated – so beautifully. I guess it is the same question about audience that has been debated with the Spike Jonze film version of Where the Wild Things Are.
A Christmas Carol is a dark and grim story that I have never really related to Christmas even though that is the theme of the novel. There have been countless film adaptations of Scrooge and his redemption and my main memory is of the Disney charcter version with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
Today I saw this book trailer for a version of A Christmas Carol illustrated by the amazing Brett Helquist.
I cannot think of a more appropriate illustrator for this classic story, his Scrooge reminds me a bit of Count Olaf! Having not ever owned a copy of the Dickens story (although this one is an adaptation) I think this will be the version I lash out and buy this Christmas because although it’s grim I think it’s one I should have.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is one of those books that I don’t recall having on my bookshelf as a child, but it nevertheless made a big impression on me and I remember it very fondly. It has been on my mental wishlist for ages, and when some colleagues gave me a bookstore gift voucher before I went on maternity leave last month, I used it to buy two picture books. One had to be a beautiful hardback edition of this book.
Rowan is into tigers in a big way at the moment – he is obsessed with David Attenborough documentaries – so we have both loved reading this book together.
A little girl called Sophie opens the door one day to find a big, furry, stripey tiger on her doorstep. When the tiger asks if he can join them for tea, Sophie’s mummy invites him in. But the tiger turns out to be very, very hungry – he not only eats all the food and drink on the tea table but proceeds to raid the kitchen, eating all the food on the stove, in the fridge, and even all the water from the taps.
Eventually the tiger leaves, and Sophie and her mummy are left to figure out what to do – there is nothing for supper and Sophie can’t even have a bath because all the water has been drunk from the taps…
First published in 1968, The Tiger Who Came to Tea is gloriously old-fashioned. Taking place in the days of the milkman and the grocery boy, it is a time when daddy’s supper was prepared in time for his arrival home and going out for dinner was practically unheard of. I love Sophie and her mummy’s outfits; Sophie’s purple pinafore and checkerboard tights are perfect!
I think one of the reasons I loved this book was the fact that it presented elements of fantasy as real. The scenario of a tiger appearing at the door appears perfectly reasonable, as is the idea that the water can be drunk from the taps. When Sophie and her mummy go to the supermarket to replenish supplies, they make sure that they buy a big tin of tiger food. What else do you buy in case a tiger were to stop by?!
The text is beautifully understated – I especially love the page showing the family walking down the High Street on their way out to supper. You can tell how special the outing is to Sophie, how rare it is for her to be out in the street after dark…
So they went out in the dark, and all the street lamps were lit, and all the cars had their lights on, and they walked down the road to a cafe.
Judith Kerr also wrote the series of picture books about Mog the cat, and I only realised tonight that she was author of a young adult novel that I dearly loved, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. If you are familiar with her books, you should definitely read this lovely interview with Judith published in the Telegraph.
The complete original text with pop up illustrations = lovely.
||Available at the We Heart Books store||
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