Saturday Post

Turns out I'm taking an extended leave.

I've been left alone to take care of two children.  It was supposed to be very temporary and turned out to be not-so temporary.  So I won't have time to do anything for another month or so.

I also broke my phone, and I don't really have time to do anything about that, either.

Needless to say my life is in limbo until one of these things is resolved.

I'll probably do another month of kids books and then I'd like to archive my music book collection as I pack it away to go in storage.  I figure it would be a nice way for me to access the archive but also share information on the web that otherwise doesn't seem to be available.

I'll aim for August.  We'll see how it goes.

Holiday part 2

Well, my camera's broken, now.  So I'll wait and post next week.

Holiday

Things are so insane that I'm taking this week off.
I'll come back next week for sure.

All I have to do is make it through to July and I've met my goal.

Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of SPACE

 By Dominic Newman
Illustrated by Ben Newman

Look at this book!  It's so 1950's!  But modern, too!  The cover has a lovely fabric texture with silver bits.  Some of the printed colours look like they dyed the fabric whereas others look like they're decals.  It's delightfully tactile and visually pleasing.

The facts inside are wonderfully up-to-date and thorough!  It's a real textbook laid out so that a kid could read and understand it.  It's so accessible that I read it to my 3 year old (but skip as many details as possible)

 This is one of our favourite graphics.  There's a full solar system on this page, plus a representation of the planets using round food items.  Every page relays the information in such a clear and accessible way.  My daughter often stands up on the couch and excitedly yells the facts back at us as we read it with her.  She really has a limited understanding of the information, but it'll come.  In the meantime, she still love, love, loves this book.

The pictures I've supplied do not do the book justice.  The graphic design throughout the book is astounding.  It's so well organized, especially considering the amount of information they cram in here.

The only problematic thing is that they really do include all facts, like animals sacrificed for science and the fact that the sun will explode one day and how if you get sucked into a black hole you'll turn into spaghetti.

I'm glad that they didn't skirt around these subjects, but it means that this might not be a good book for a very young, very anxious child.  Or you can just skip pages; that's what we do.

Four on the Shore

 By Edward Marshall

Sometimes these books are under James Marshall.  Because they are both the same person.

Lolly Sam and Spider make up stories on the lake to scare Willy.  They are terrible stories.  None of them are scary in the least.

 Each story is tacked onto the last to try and up the anti.  They're poorly written with simplistic explanations for things.  They're written exactly the way a story would be if it was told off the cuff by an 8 year old.

And it's hilarious, of course.  These books are just as good as anything else.  They're engaging for anyone over the age of four, but they're laugh out loud funny for anyone over 6.

Tim and Charlotte

 By Edward Ardizzone

This book is epic.  My daughter makes me read it repeatedly and is on the edge of her seat every time.  A girl washes up on shore unconscious.  She awakes to find her memory lost.  When she finally remembers who she is, she must leave her newfound friends forever to return to her former life.

It's a real fairy tale, with the main character, Charlotte, an orphaned heiress, and Tim a rough and tumble lower class boy who lives on the seaside.

 A lot of the story is predictable, but still a thrilling read.  There is very real danger, something very rarely found in children's books.

There is a fight.  Tim fights for his and Charlotte's honour and is nearly beaten.  They describe him as being very noble.

It's an old book, and this kind of passage wouldn't fly these days.  But I don't mind.  It's not like I can't talk to my kids about these passages after we've read the book.

Mommy! Mommy!

 By Taro Gomi

I really like this author.  These baby books are visually appealing and really simple.

 This story in particular is so easy for a baby to understand.  Look, there's Mama!  Oh, no, where is she?  There she is!

Over and over again.

My son goes around the house saying, "MAMA MAMA!  NO!  NO MAMA!"

He would make me read this book all day if I was willing.