Thanks to Youtube and www.henryholtkids.com

One day, for example, we found ourselves in a fairly ‘down-market’ (for Japan) suburban shopping centre. (We were looking for a cheap stroller…) On the top floor was a food court and a sort of games parlour, which had as part of it a preschooler play centre. It cost about 800 yen ($8) to get in, which gave your toddler about half an hour of free play and three rides. Anyway… as part of this fairly run-of-the-mill games-parlour/play-centre thing, there was a gorgeous set of shelves, packed full of beautiful, pristine picture books.

Who woulda thunk it? In the context of all that consumerism and hub-bub, it was so nice to think of a space where parents and kids could pick up a book and read together. Pretty jolly nice kids’ bookshelves too!

And Rowan? Yeah, he had a ball…

Kidzania, subject of my previous post, also had some great children’s bookshelves and other storage in their kindergarten.

But probably my favourite example of a place that gives kids’ books their rightful priority was the Kyoto International Manga Museum. This is a new museum, which is a major centre for the study and appreciation of manga (Japanese comics). The Kyoto International Manga Museum is housed in a converted elementary school, and retains a lot of the charm of the old building and grounds. Approximately 300,000 manga volumes are held in the museum, and can be freely read by visitors, which means the halls and grounds are scattered with people intently reading. (It also has manga drawing demonstrations and exhibition of the history and culture of manga creators. There was even a workshop where kids could learn how to animate a short story using 3D objects.)

And for younger visitors, there is a dedicated children’s library. At the door of the library, there is a sign which reads:
“Children younger than elementary school with their parents only.”
I just love the way this is phrased. How important does it make a child feel? And I don’t think I’ve ever felt more welcome and accepted for the sole reason of having a small child in my days as a mum!
The room opened to a welcoming space of clean design. Tall square-shaped bookshelves contained hundreds and hundreds of picture books, many of them favourites of ours at WeHeartBooks: Olivia, Hungry Caterpillar, Happy Lion, and lots more. Cleverly conceived surfaces – including a sloped reading pit, steps, couches and a large cubby house space – allowed a variety of inviting spaces for children to read. And lots of kids and their parents relaxing and enjoying books together. Just the way you want a kids’ library to be.

Thanks to the Kyoto International Manga Museum for the interior shot of the children’s library.

One of the things I used to love about working in bookstores was when new boxes arrived from publishers. It was like Christmas every month, the anticipation and the joy of finding out what was inside.

Now I get that feeling when I walk into a bookshop to see what is new on the shelves and also when I’m browsing the internet, checking out other peoples blogs for new and exciting books.

A couple of days a go I came across Suzy Lee on Amazon. The book is Wave and it is wordless.

Suzy Lee is amazing and I must now have Wave on my bookshelf; have a look at her website here to learn more about this very gorgeous artist.

Wordless picture books are of course an art because the whole story must be conveyed convincingly in the illustrations. They are very important in education for prompting children to learn how to interpret stories and also to recognise a beginning, middle and end in story telling. Wordless books are great at home as well; younger children can enjoy explaining what is happening in the illustrations and older children can take it further by imagining alternate endings and additional plot lines. Wordless picture books are rewarding.

weheartbooks top 5 wordless picture books

1. Up and Up (Shirley Hughes)

I love Shirley Hughes and one of my favorite books as a child was Dogger, or David and the Dog as it is known in the USA (I’ll post about that one another time). She is one of the best known children’s author/illustrators in the world. Set out in comic strip style Up and Up consists of black line drawings against a sepia background. The story of a little girl who longs to fly, it is purely magical as you follow her journey: she gets her wish and off she goes up and up. Her personality is infectious and she always makes me smile as she drifts along until she is finally rescued by a man in a hot air balloon. There is so much to look at in this book which makes it a great tool for encouraging children to make up their own stories. It doesn’t even have to be about the main character, you could make up different stories for the others she meets along the way. Ages 3+

2. The Arrival (Shaun Tan)

Well I just think this award winning book is incredible, in fact Shaun Tan is incredible. The Arrival depicts the journey of a man who leaves home for a strange, fantastical land in order to support his family. The hundreds of drawings Tan worked on for this stunning book are partly a reflection of his own father’s journey to Australia and his struggle to fit into an alien culture. More than a book The Arrival is an awe-inspiring artwork; every time I pick it up I find new and amazing elements that I had missed before. Ages 8+

3. The Snowman (Raymond Briggs)

Regarded as a cult classic this picture book tells a story in pictures - 175 frames to be exact - of the one night friendship of a boy and his snowman. The boy lovingly creates the man out of snow and when he looks out of his window that night he discovers the snowman is alive. They take each other on a tour of their worlds, the boy of his house and the snowman of his wintery world. In the morning when the boy wakes up the snowman is gone, he has melted and all that is left are pieces of coal. This book is all about the joy of exploring and discovering new things, it is about new friendships and then the fond memories of those friendships. This book really does give children the opportunity to imagine their own ending to the story. 4+

4. Sunshine and Moonlight (Jan Omerod)

These are favorites of mine from childhood, I can remember borrowing them from the school library numerous times. In the last few years they have been re-published and are just as beautiful as I remember them way back in primary school. Sunshine follows the progression of a little girl’s day as she gets up out of bed and begins her daily routine. My favorite scenes are when she hops into bed with her parents while they read their morning papers; everyone in this house has a routine and they all fit into each other’s. Toddlers can compare their routine in the morning before childcare/preschool with this little girl’s. Jan includes so much detail that this is perfect for beginning discussion with children about their own routines. Sunshine won the Australian Children’s Book of the Year Award in 1982. Moonlight is similar to Sunshine but of course follows the routine on the other end of the day; cleaning teeth, bathtime and bed. Ages 2+

5. Tuesday (David Wiesner)

Reading Tuesday is like watching an M. Night Shyamalan film; it is weird, quirky, funny and enthralling. On this particular Tuesday around 8 in the evening a strange thing begins to happen, suddenly frogs/toads start to invade the town levitating on lily pads and seemingly having a great time. The frogs eventually return to their rightful homes BUT the big surprise is what is going to happen on the following Tuesday? Tuesday won the prestigious Caldecott Medal and Wiesner’s amazing speech is here. I love this quote from that speech

Fortunately, kids know funny when they see it. If, after reading Tuesday one evening before bed, they look out the window and see frogs flying by—well, we should all be so lucky.

Wiesner’s art is incredible and I can guarantee that parents will love this as much as their children. Ages 4+

Although we have used some very classic choices here there is also room for a special mention for the fantastic wordless books by wonderful Australian illustrator Gregory Rogers, The Boy, the Bear, the Baron and the Bard and sequel Midsummer Knight. Ages 6+

Kidzania is essentially a miniature city of make believe, where kids pretend to be adults for the day, choosing their jobs and take part in the world of commerce. On arrival you enter a streetscape of miniature buildings and vehicles (scaled to two-thirds the size of the real world equivalent), where kids can earn and spend ‘Kidzos’, and learn to be whatever they dream of: businessmen, builders, firemen, cooks, doctors, postmen.

What’s more, each of the 80 activites are dedicated adult-free zones.

It’s not always easy to remember what life was like as an eight- or ten-year-old but I reckon this would have pretty much been a form of heaven for me.

Putting on the uniform required for your dream job, and learning how to work on a radio station, run a police investigation, work on a building site, hire a car, be a travel agent or hairdresser or fashion model are just some of the activities on offer to kids at this amazing theme park. And for the bookworms there was even a publishing house!

With the involvement of major brands like Coca Cola (at the bottling plant), Johnson & Johnson (at the hospital) and Mitsubishi (at the caryard), the creators of this unique theme park have ensured an incredible attention to detail and level of quality.

Something about to overt sponsorship and the stereotyping of some of the roles in this world did make me a little bit uneasy, but nevertheless, I know I would have loved this make-believe world as a kid and I can’t help but think that it teaches some valuable lessons about careers, independence and finances.

Unfortunately going to Kidzania was a form of torture for Rowan. A bit too young to really participate, he had numerous tantrums revolving around a need to drive the fire engine. He did go for two rides on the Kidzania bus (while his Japanese cohorts learnt to be bus tour guides and politely convinced him that he shouldn’t be driving). Eventually we located the Kidzania kindergarten. Here, he was shown a train set and he was sold. Meanwhile, eager Japanese kids learnt to be his kindergarten teachers.

You can imagine the noise of hundreds of exited primary school kids in a confined space, even if it is 6000 square metres, but we nevertheless spent several hours in this amazing world for kids. And when it got too much, there was the ‘Parent Zone’ with free internet and coffee and newspapers…

I would have said ‘Only in Japan’ but Kidzania was a concept born in Mexico. Japan was the first country to adopt it outside Mexico, but other versions have opened or are planned in Indonesia and Dubai. A good article on the concept can be found here.

Kidzania is located in the also fairly gobsmacking Lalaport shopping centre at Toyosu. I didn’t realise it at the time, but have since learnt Lalaport is one of Tokyo’s biggest shopping malls, which makes it a good destination for a rainy day (which it was). While there, I stumbled upon a beautiful craft store called Mano Creare (and bought some treasures which I will have to reveal in a few weeks once my parcel arrives via surface mail…), a branch of the famous ‘Creative Life Store’, Tokyu Hands (a DIY department store with an amazing variety of the normal and bizarre for everyday life) and a branch of the beautiful cooking school, ABC Cooking Studio.

Another reason for it being a good day trip for kids (and big kids) is the mode of transport you can use to get there. From Toyosu you can take the Yurikomome line, which is an elevated and fully-automated type of train. Because the system is operated solely by computers, you can sit right up the front, which meant Rowan could pretend to ‘drive’ the train. (After his frustrations at Kidzania, this was a just reward…) Being elevated, the route also affords views across the bay to the city and past some amazing architecture. A ride on Yurikomome is well worth it as an activity in itself, and was one of my ‘Why-don’t-they-mention-this-in-the-Lonely-Planet?!’ moments!

Is it obvious how much I loved Tokyo?

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.

We are back in Melbourne after an amazing holiday in Japan.

What an incredible country! Almost everything surpassed our expectations. It is an amazing place to experience, especially for kids, or those who are a bit of a big kid themselves (like me).

This was our first big trip with Rowan, and we were prepared for the style of travelling we’d become accustomed to in the past to be seriously curtailed. It was good to go with this expectation, but I think in the end we were pleasantly surprised.

From my perspective, Japan is a country which really looks after children. I wonder if this stems from a mentality first expressed to me by Kenichi, the owner of our accomodation in Tokyo, Tokyo Ryokan. When I first saw our room and the thin screen walls separating us from our neighbours, I vocalised my concern that Rowan’s early wake-ups might disturb other guests. He replied quite simply, ‘But we were all Rowan’s age once.’

Virtually every restaurant we went to had a highchair and without fail, Rowan was provided an unbreakable bowl, a small knife and fork and a glass of water. Many restaurants offered children’s menus, which often included a toy. Children Rowan’s age were accommodated every place we went, and for free! Every public toilet had spotlessly clean change table. Some even had an ingenious invention of a type of highchair where you can prop your baby or toddler while you go to the toilet yourself.

Rowan was an oddity with his blonde hair. Brad and I thought about ‘charging’ for the attention that he got (100 yen for a stare, 200 yen for a comment, 1000 yen for a photo…) and we figured that we would have paid for our holiday if we had implemented it… But it was a great conversation starter to travel with a child, and we made contact with Japanese people that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

It wasn’t hard for me to unearth numerous treasures related to kids’ books while we were away, and I have many more photos and stories to share… Just got to get a chance to get them all down…

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.

A Melbourne business, Rebound Books make note books and journals out of vintage book covers that are then filled with 100% denim paper, made from denim fabric offcuts. They are completely hand made and absolutely gorgeous.

Recently written up in the Sunday Age M magazine, they are also stocked at one of my favorite shops Five Boroughs in East Brunswick, who have posted on their blog about them this week.

The children’s book covers they use are fabulously retro, some I’ve seen have been the original Ladybird books, Enid Blyton covers and at Five Boroughs they have one that is an old Romper Room book. Very cool.

You think you’ve had a cow of day, but have you really? Have you ever really thought what a cow might go through during the day? Nor had I until our most recent purchase. I know, yet another animal book to add to Oscar’s already furry and feathered bookshelf.

We were out last week with Grandma (country Grandma as opposed to city Nanna!) and visited our favourite local bookstore, Book Bonding. I saw two sets of big brown eyes looking from the book display and it was too much for me to resist so we purchased Cow by Malachy Doyle and illustrated by Angelo Rinaldi. The front cover in it’s own right hit the right cord with me. When we were at the counter ready to pay, Natasha showed me Malachy’s latest book as well, Horse. Needless to say Grandma reached into her purse and we walked out with another two animal books.

The illustrations in this book are amazing. It’s as if the cows are in your living room. I felt as if I could reach out and pat their fur or feel the steam coming out of their mouths on the cold morning as they made their way to the milking shed. I have included a couple of illustrations from the book so you can appreciate the expertise of Angelo Rinaldi. You can actually see veins on the udder of the cow and could only imagine the milk sloshing around inside and the pain she must be experiencing prior to milking.

It will be a great book as Oscar gets older so we can teach him that milk doesn’t come out of cartons and teach him the process of getting the milk from the cow to the dairy. He can also get an understanding of what it might be like to be a cow. For the first time in my life I sat back and thought too what it must be like in the paddocks at night, on a dewy morning or during the heat of a summer’s day.

“Slowly you rise from the sodden grass, your thick coat wet with morning dew. Big and heavy, you amble to the gate, full udder swinging between your legs”.

The journey is amazing although simplistic in its own right. I was totally encapsulated in the experience and even as I write this blog I am still touched by those big brown eyes.

The trip to the milking shed, the trip back to the paddock and what a cow would experience during the day. Watching the children leave for school and return on the school bus. How the children swim in the river as the cow sits on the banks watching.

“As the midday sun blazes, you rest in the shade of the oak tree, and close your deep dark eyes. Your ears twitch to clear the flies from your face. You swish them from your back with your long bushy tail……”

From now on I will choose my words carefully before I state that I’ve had a cow of day….

“You’re back in the field, the sun has gone, the files have flown and the long, hot day draws to an end. You graze. You chew. And you rest. It’s hard work being a cow……..”