I am Otter by Sam Garton …
… Day 9 #AtoZfavbooks challenge.
I first encountered the fantastic I am Otter by Sam Garton on facebook in the days before the book was picked up and published by Harper Collins.
The illustrations are delightful and the funny logic of Otter and his sidekick Teddy makes for a great children’s book. I mean, who can fault Otter for opening a toast restaurant because he’s bored while otter-keeper is at work?
If you join Sam Garton’s mailing list, he regularly sends fun newsletters with the latest exploits of Otter, Teddy and the long-suffering otter-keeper which always make me smile.
I bought a hardback copy. This is going to become a classic.
Suzie x
P.S. Read this book? Let me know in the comments below.
P.P.S. Don’t forget to share your favourite book title starting with the letter I in the comments below or post them on facebook or twitter with the hashtag #AtoZfavbooks so I can find them.
Hairy Maclary by Lynley Dodd …
… Day 3 May #AtoZfavbooks challenge.
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy is the first book in a series of twelve books by Lynley Dodd about this lovable dog and his friends whose names are as gorgeous as their fantastic illustrations.
“Schnitzel von Krumm with a very low tum,
Bitzer Maloney all skinny and bony,
Muffin McClay like a bundle of hay,
Bottomley Potts covered in spots,
Hercules Morse as big as a horse
and Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy”
My grandson is scared of dogs and I hoped showing these lovable doggy characters would take away some of that fear. Not sure this strategy was successful but we had fun reading the lovely rhyming text.
Suzie x
P.S. Read this book? Let me know in the comments below.
P.P.S. Don’t forget to share your favourite book title starting with the letter H in the comments below or post them on facebook or twitter with the hashtag #AtoZfavbooks so I can find them.
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss …
… Day 7 May #AtoZfavbooks challenge.
OK, I admit it, Dr Seuss writes some my favourite books for children. I love his wacky sense of humour and the silliness of his stories. Green Eggs and Ham is one of my favourite favourites.
The book is centred around Sam-I-am (you have to laugh at just the name) who is trying to get rather strange and grumpy troll-like character to eat green eggs and ham. Why? We’ll never know but it makes for a funny story.
This Dr Seuss classic is the fourth best-selling English-language children’s book of all time and a must-have for your children’s book shelf which isn’t bad considering it started out as a challenge to the author to write a book using only 50 different words.
Love this animation that is voiced by the same actor who played Tigger.
Read and enjoy.
Suzie x
P.S. Read this book? Let me know in the comments below.
P.P.S. Don’t forget to share your favourite book title starting with the letter G in the comments below or post them on facebook or twitter with the hashtag #AtoZfavbooks so I can find them.
Five Minutes Peace by Jill Murphy …
… Day 6 May #AtoZfavbooks challenge.
I have to admit, I had no idea for a book title starting with ‘F’. Luckily the library had Five Minutes Peace by Jill Murphy on it’s shelves … problem solved.
Mothers everywhere will appreciate the efforts of poor Mrs Large in her attempts to get a break from her family. Her relaxing bath is interrupted, first by her son playing the recorder, then her daughter reading a book, and finally all three children decide to join her in the bath. You’ve got to feel sorry for her.
The illustrations in this book are gorgeous with so much detail for your little one to look at and talk about.
I found a video of the story, if you’d like to check it out before you buy.
Happy Reading.
Suzie x
P.S. Read this book? Let me know in the comments below.
P.P.S. Don’t forget to share your favourite book title starting with the letter F in the comments below or post them on facebook or twitter with the hashtag #AtoZfavbooks so I can find them.
Even Firefighters go to the Potty by Wendy Wax …
… Day 5 May #AtoZfavbooks challenge.
Even Firefighters go to the Potty by Wendy Wax is a lift the flap book that makes potty training cool!
It’s not strictly about Firefighters, rather it features different professions that children tend to like, such as police officers, astronauts and construction workers. But the concept is simple. Every page has a different scenario where a critical person is missing. You lift the flap and find them sat on the toilet because … even firefighters to to the potty.
Did that make you laugh? Believe me, it works on a two year old.
My only reservation about this book is that the police officers, firefighters etc are sitting on a toilet and not what most young children consider to be a potty. This resulted in my grandson wanting to use the ‘big toilet’ – which was no bad thing but could be slightly confusing. (I feel this could be the result of an Americanism that didn’t cross over to the UK very well).
Wendy Wax also has a similar book Even Princesses go to the Potty, if that’s more your child’s thing.
Suzie x
P.S. Read this book? Let me know in the comments below.
P.P.S. Don’t forget to share your favourite book title starting with the letter E in the comments below or post them on facebook or twitter with the hashtag #AtoZfavbooks so I can find them.
Crispin the Pig who had it All by Ted Dewan …
… Day 3 May #AtoZfavbooks challenge.
If you’ve ever said children enjoy the boxes their Christmas presents are wrapped in more than the presents themselves, then Crispin The Pig who had it All by Ted Dewan is the book for you.
Crispin is a very spoiled pig who has every toy you could imagine. Consequently, he doesn’t look after them or care for them much at all. Then one Christmas his only present is an empty box. Angry, Crispin throws it outside and that’s when he learns some very important lessons about friendship and consumerism.
The illustrations in this book are brilliant and detailed and give you lots to talk about with your children, while the text is very funny and told in a way that children understand. Adults will appreciate the story on a whole other level (which is always great when you have to read a book to your child several thousand times).
Suzie x
P.S. Read this book? Let me know in the comments below.
P.P.S. Don’t forget to share your favourite book title starting with the letter C in the comments below or post them on facebook or twitter with the hashtag #AtoZfavbooks so I can find them.
The #AtoZfavbooks challenge…
… 26 letters, 26 books, 26 days.
Starting May 1st, I’m doing the #AtoZfavbooks challenge and I invite you join my in sharing a book title you love for every letter of the alphabet?
The Rules:
The rules are easy:
- start with titles beginning with A on 1st May, B on the 2nd May and so on.
- any genre goes. I’ll be focusing on Kids fiction but you could choose crime, romance, horror or mix them up as you please.
- share your top picks on twitter, facebook, pinterest or any other social media.
- use the hashtag #AtoZfavbooks so we can find your posts.
- titles starting with ‘The’ or ‘A’ should have use the next word in the title. eg The Hunger Games would go under ‘H’ for Hunger Games, not ‘T’ for The.
Make sense?
Are you up for the AtoZfavbooks challenge?
Suzie x
Babies are born ready to learn and their early brain development is phenomenal. Ninety days after birth their brains have increased by 64% to reach half their adult size. That’s an awful lot of neural connections being formed in a short space of time.
There have been many studies showing that babies who are read to regularly by their caregivers have increases in these connections. The increase is particularly notable in the left-hand region of their brain which is the area used in the extraction of meaning from language.
[bctt tweet=”Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body. Joseph Addison.” username=”suziewauthor”]
Children whose parents read aloud to them show an increased vocabulary and their understanding of these words is better. Sharing a regular story time is also a predictor of how easily a child may to learn to read.
Studies using mri imagining show that when people read words such as ‘lavender’ or ‘coffee’ it activates areas of the brain concerned with our sense of smell. Other research had participants read the chapter of Harry Potter where Harry learns to fly on the broomstick which resulted in activity in the part of the brain we use to process actions and intentions. All these complicated connections come from listening to a lot of stories.
[bctt tweet=”The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. Dr Seuss.” username=”suziewauthor”]
Of course, books tell stories, and humans are born programmed to listen. A scary story will flood the body with the stress hormone cortisol, just as though the threat was real and happening to us in real life. A soothing story promotes oxytocin release, to give you that warm and fuzzy feeling … just what your little one needs at bedtime.
Some books about brain development.
Some great books to read with your baby.
There’s such a lot going on inside your baby when you read him a story and it all adds up to lots of fun. So, open a book and get reading today.
Suzie x
Better Buckle Up book cover has arrived.
Pleased to report I’ve been working super hard and the book cover for Better Buckle Up has been finalized.
Phew!
I am so pleased with the gorgeous, bright illustrations from PlainSightVFX and hope you’re going to like them too.
More pages coming soon.
Let me know what you think.
Suzie x
