Wednesday 1 March 2017

Day 42 (Week 6, Day 7) - Saturday 11th February 2017

Day 42 (Week 6, Day 7) - Saturday 11th February 2017


We're staying at Catherine's mum and step-dad's house this weekend, so the kids enjoyed getting read to by their other grandma (Noni)! As I've said several times before, I love that we have so many people who enjoy reading with Josh and Xander, and it must be nice for them to not have my voice doing it all the time too!

Though I do make sure that I read all the books afterwards myself so I don't miss out on any new classics!

1) Open Very Carefully - Nicola O'Byrne (Illustrator) & Nick Bromley (Author)
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Well, what an ingenius way to begin tonight's stories! Honestly, this is ridiculously inventive in the way it involves the reader, very similar to Richard Byrne's stories that we've read for the Picture Book Challenge previously. Josh and Xander laughed all the way through it as Noni read it to them, particularly when the crocodile was eating letters (making them disappear from subsequent words), or drawing on the crocodile to make it less scary, or when the crocodile effected an escape from the book itself. It's such a clever way of making the story seem more real, and just the sort of thing to get children thinking that books can be more than just a collection of words and pictures, and more like an exciting event that they get to experience each time they read one.

I love when a book tries to be a bit different, and this is a fantastic example. Couldn't recommend it more highly!


Noni says: I hope my grandchildren don't cut characters out of others books! I like how it begins as a simply story (The Ugly Duckling), but quickly becomes another with the sudden appearance of the crocodile. Excellent fun to read!

Josh says: I like the holes where the crocodile ate the book.

Xander says: Crocodile, yes!

2) Boris Gets Spots - Carrie Weston (Author) & Tim Warner (Illustrator)
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I love a book that does something a bit different, and when a book decides to put a genuine recipe for making biscuits within the text as a plot point then it's going to get a big thumbs up from the children and I! It's a very nice book in general, with all the animals coming together to look after Boris when he develops chickenpox, though they all soon get the illness themselves of course. It's a great message to get across to children, to make sure that you do everything you can to cheer up a friend when they're feeling poorly, so it's a story I approve of heartily! The illustrations are perfect for it too, giving off a proper warm feel about the friendship in the school, and I particularly love how adorable all the expressions on the animals are.

Once again, this book literally has a biscuit recipe woven into its plotline - there's no excuse not to read it!

Noni says: I think it's a great thing when a book contains a recipe for biscuits! I look forward to reading more books that give us tasty recipes.

Josh says: I like the bits with honey.

Xander says: Honey like Winnie the Pooh!

3) Three Blind Mice Team Up with the Three Little Pigs - Paul Harriso (Author) & Mariano Epelbaum (Illustrator)
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It's great to see someone doing things a little differently and combining two well-known stories - kind of like when a TV show does an 'alternate universe' episode or the like! This particularly tale combines the fairy tales/nursery rhymes of the Three Blind Mice and the Three Little Pigs very well, using the simple idea of swapping houses to defeat each little groups' enemy. The kids both thought that combining the two was a great idea, and so it's obviously an idea to get children excited to read - I think a lot of us like to see new twists on classic stories so hopefully there'll be more in the series!

Noni says: I liked the fact that they used a clever idea like swapping homes and it worked out very well indeed - I like my grandchildren to see good ideas brought to fruition!

Josh says: It was funny when the mice dressed up as the pigs.

Xander says: Blow your house down!

So, to summarise Day 42...


A lot of inventive ways of telling a story tonight! From the way Open Very Carefully played with the idea that the pictures on the page can be manipulated, to a biscuit recipe in the middle of Boris Gets Spots, and the combining of two classic nursery rhymes in Three Blind Mice Team Up With Three Little Pigs, it's always great to see authors and illustrators making books a little bit different from the norm. What fantastic imagination and creativity!


Books Read: 95/1000 (9.5%)

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