We Are Wearing Out the Naughty Step by Mick Inkpen has just been released in the UK to great reviews, unfortunately it doesn’t look like it will be released in Australia until November. You could order it in through your local independent bookshop or pop it on your list for later this year.

This is the gorgeous description of the book from the UK Hodder Children’s Publishing website….

‘We are wearing out the Naughty Step - I lost the school hamster, and Josh fed the elephant the wrong way and we made the dog into a panda… Mummy is not happy… but the day she makes Kevin a chocolate birthday cake is the day that ALL of us, including Mummy, end up on the Naughty Step!’

This reminds me of a 30 degree day earlier this year when I made four batches of Nigella’s Cupcakes before one turned out edible! I really needed a spell on the naughty step when I literally had a meltdown over blue and yellow cupcakes. So I definitely know how ‘Mummy’ in the book feels.

This gorgeous new book points out one of the great hypocrisies of childhood, should mummies and daddies be banished to the naughty step too? Because we can all lose our temper can’t we?

Mick Inkpen is one of the most popular picture book writers and illustrators in the world. His Kipper and Wibbly Pig stories have sold millions of copies worldwide. Kipper alone has sold over 6 million books and is this year turning 18 years old. Like Nick Butterworth, Mick Inkpen has a graphic design background so he also places his characters in the middle of crisp white pages which makes the books really enjoyable for toddlers because they can really focus on the character. All of Mick’s characters are irresistible and later this year he will launch a new series based on the enthusiastic Zebra that features in Kipper’s A to Z.

Katie and I have been meaning to post on this amazing book for a while now.

Gallop! is not your usual animal picture book. It has been in the independent booksellers’ top 10 lists for months which is unusual for a children’s book that’s not a Harry Potter.

The author of Gallop!, Rufus Butler Seder has created a technique called ‘Scanimation’ which gives the illustrations in the book motion. Although it is hard to describe it is delightfully intriguing and utterly mesmerising to look at. I have opened it over and over again, amazed at how it works and at how fluidly the animals seemingly move. I say seemingly because the cleverness of ‘Scanimation’ is that it uses a trick of the eye called ‘persistence of vision‘ and the overlayed striped acetate pages create the illusion of movement in the illustrations. As the title of the book suggests the horse gallops across the page and on each new page a different animal moves too.

Katie and I both have a copy of Gallop! and although the concept of the animation in the book is too old for our boys, Ned still loves watching the movement on each page. The book has rhyming text which makes the age range of the book for between 3- and 5-year-olds however much older children will appreciate the complexity of the animation and will enjoy the exploration of finding out how it works. This is a book that will grow with children and is a very exciting development in the world of children’s publishing - what wonderful things will be coming next?

Click on the above image and you will see the horse move as it does in the book.

Like Sarah I also have Alison Lester as one of my favourite author/illustrators.

Her stunning art as well as her very personal, funny and warm stories are pure magic. Before Ned was even born (he was in my tummy) I went to see Alison at a signing at Readings and she signed a copy of Are We There Yet? for him.

It says, “For Ned, happy travels and best wishes, from Alison Lester”. I’m sure that he is going to love Are We There Yet? when he is old enough and I really hope that one day he and his dad and I can take a trip around Australia just like in the story.

Books Illustrated in Middle Park have beautiful limited edition prints of Alison’s art for sale that would be perfect for a child’s room or a family room.

Ned’s dad and I are loving the Sir David Attenborough/BBC production Tiger - Spy in the Jungle. It is so wonderfully filmed using the most incredible technology of trunk cams, in which elephants are used to place cameras disguised as tree trunks in strategic positions to get the most amazingly close footage of the elusive tigers.

This documentary is intimately following the lives of four tiger cubs as they grow up with their mother in the jungle of India. They really are the most beautiful and majestic animals!

While on holidays recently we found a copy of Nick Butterworth’s Tiger in hardcover and after having watched the first episode of Spy in the Jungle we just had to have it. Ned’s dad thinks it is very cute and it has become one of his favorites. I have always loved Butterworth for his beautiful clean, crisp illustration style that has developed from his graphic design background.

The Tiger of this story is actually a kitten, called Tiger, who enjoys pretending to be the real thing with “great big tigery claws and a loud scary, tigery ROAR!” On the middle of one page we see the adorable little kitten, so soft and cute and then on the next page he transforms into a real tiger taking up the whole page with his enormity.

The text flows so nicely that this picture book makes for an excellent read aloud and toddlers can join in with the repetition “just like a real tiger“.

Tiger is a beautiful story about the joys of imagination and pretend. And as the book ends with Tiger in bed it is also a perfect bedtime story.

Nick Butterworth has also created a companion book called Tiger in the Snow.

We are back from our first real family holiday, ten glorious sunny days in Byron Bay, N.S.W. Ned had a fantastic time playing on the beach every day and even went into the surf with his dad on one particularly warm morning. Suddenly it seems our little baby is a big boy, babbling constantly and walking - ten steps is his record so far.

Of course books played a big part in our holiday as I successfully dragged Ned and his dad into every book shop we passed. And once again we have come home with many more books than we took with us, no wonder the baggage handlers placed a “Heavy! Bend Your Knees” tag on my suitcase.

More about what new treasures are now on the bookshelf later.

Although Byron Bay is lovely for a holiday and the weather spectacular I have to agree with Katie that I Heart Melbourne too.

When I did my post on my Owl Obsession fellow blogger Annie from anniesorganics mentioned that her son loves Owl Babies by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Patrick Benson.

Ned also loves Owl Babies especially when I read it aloud and do different voices for owl siblings Sarah, Percy and Bill. When the owlets awake to find their mummy gone, the two older owls decide that she is out hunting and will be back soon. But every time they come up with a reason as to why mum is not there, Bill gets more and more anxious, repeating “I want my mummy”. Bill is great fun to read aloud because you can put on a very sad voice. It really keeps Ned’s attention and he thinks it’s very funny.

Finally mummy arrives back at the nest, swooping through the night for cuddles with the babies. This is a particularly good concept for Ned at present as he is starting to fret a little when I leave him but I want him to know that I am always coming back to get him.

Patrick Benson’s illustrations for this book are amazing, his artwork makes it so you can almost reach out and stroke the tiny fluffy owlets. He gives each owl a personality and their wide little eyes are adorable. Toddlers like Ned can see themselves in the owls with their wonder of the big wide world but also feeling slightly scared of it.

Owl Babies makes a lovely bedtime story too as it explains to children that you will always be there for them, it’s very comforting. Simply written and with not too much text, Owl Babies is perfect for the very young and is even available in board book for them to look at and hold themselves.

Ned is on the Bing Bunny website this morning!

Ted Dewan the creator of Bing has posted Ned’s photo and part of my email to him appreciating the little bunny. The original Bing post is here.

Ned’s daddy and I actually sat down to watch a film together last night, something we haven’t done for ages. The film was beautiful and one of the best screen versions of a book I have seen in a long time. The film was Bridge to Terabithia based on the Katherine Paterson novel of the same name published long ago in 1977. I vividly remember studying this novel in about Year 7 (long ago!) and I also remember that it was the first book I had read that really made me cry so passionately for the characters. The film also made me cry but don’t think this is a sad film! It is also an amazing story of friendship, imagination and strength; the sadness is an integral part of the story but it is brilliantly handled. The performances of the children as 10 year olds Jess and Leslie are perfect and it also features one of my favorite actresses, the stunning Zooey Deschanel as the children’s arty music teacher. Before I saw the film I was concerned that the trailers contained too much computer generated imagery of the imaginary Terabithians, however this wasn’t so in the feature and I felt it was done very tastefully to give the film a currency without being too scary or bizarre. It was so lovely in fact that I would give it 5 out of 5 on The Movie Show and I’m definitely going to keep a copy for the time when Ned and I can sit and watch together.

Paterson’s original novel won the 1978 Newbery Medal, an award given by the American Library Association for outstanding children’s literature. What I didn’t know is that the book was actually on the challenged books list in the US because people took offence to the fact that Jess says “Lord” sometimes outside of prayer and also because they believed that the book encouraged satanic magic. How far have we come when very recently people have objected to the Harry Potter books for the same reason. Although Bridge to Terabithia is 30 years old as a novel its concepts have not dated and this wonderful movie has successfully given it a new life.

There are many more movies based on children’s books that just have been and are just about to be released. Of course there is Horton Hears A Who based on probably the nicest character created by Dr. Seuss. Horton is a lovable elephant who discovers the city of Whoville on a microscopic speck of dust attached to a flower. Horton is the only one who can hear the Whos of Whoville and so sets about protecting them from their enemies. The trouble is that in Horton’s world there are laws that prevent anyone believing in anything they cannot see or hear. The reviews for this animated version of the Seuss picture book have been fantastic, which is great considering the other films of his books have been flops - although I did like The Grinch. The Age/SMH gave it a tremendous review. I love the similarities between original Horton and 2008 Horton in the pictures below…

The film I really want to see, desperately, is The Spiderwick Chronicles. Based on the 5 book series by Holly Black and illustrated by the amazing Tony DiTerlizzi in which Jarod, Simon and Mallory Grace find a mysterious old book which allows them entry into a world filled with Goblins, Pixies, Trolls and other fantastical creatures. The trailers for this film look incredible and it is also getting wonderful reviews from sources like Variety. Actor Freddie Highmore (Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) plays both Jarod and Simon Grace as they are identical twins; I can’t wait to see how they have managed that.

About to be released is Nim’s Island based on the lovely intermediate novel by Australian author Wendy Orr, first published in 1999 and illustrated by Kerry Millard. The film was shot on the Gold Coast and on Hinchenbrook Island, North Queensland. I loved reading Nim because she is such a strong female character, living on a deserted island with all her animal friends; she is like a more modern Pippi Longstocking. The father of Nim (Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine) is missing and she is alone until by fate her favorite author (Jodie Foster) a recluse from New York is washed up on the island. Together they must find the courage to prevail over their fears and track down Nim’s dad.

Relating to this post and about the Where the Wild Things Are movie there is a great article from The Age today written by Thornton McCamish about children’s love of scary stories in both literature and film.

I have just discovered a beautiful, gorgeous, amazing blog on children’s books called Kids Literati. Kara is obviously a very passionate reader and sharer of good children’s literature.

One of Kara’s reviews is of the incredible Could You? Would You?: A Book To Tickle Your Imagination by Australian author Trudy White. This little book is like a meditation, open it at any page and you have a question to which the answers are endless, only bound by your imagination.

I can’t wait to the day when I can sit with Ned and talk about all the possibilities this book’s questions can conjure up. What an amazing thing imagination is and what a beautiful book this is to nurture it.

What makes you smile?

This book!

I wish I could have a copy of this…

This is one of five copies in existence of a book hand penned by J.K. Rowling called Beedle the Bard. Auctioned at Sotheby’s for £1,950,000 it is now owned by Amazon.com. There are extracts and reviews on their site. It’s an amazing looking book.

Rowling is donating all the proceeds to her charity The Children’s Voice Campaign to help institutionalised children in Europe.

Ned and I spent a lot less today at Alice’s Second Hand Bookshop in Rathdowne Street. It is such a beautiful little shop and probably one of the best second hand bookshops in Melbourne. They only have a little section of Children’s books but it is all in great condition and they have shelf upon shelf on any other subject you can imagine. We bought a copy of The Whistle Stop Party by Nan Hunt (illustrated by Craig Smith) for $5.50 - what a bargain. No longer in print I can remember reading these books to my little brother in the 80’s. There are three in the series; Whistle Up the Chimney, An Eye Full of Soot and Ear Full of Steam and The Whistle Stop Party; all really worth looking out for in Op Shops or Second hand book shops. All three are so much fun especially for train lovers with jaunty rhymes and great train noises throughout - Clicketty Clack Clicketty Clack.