Skimming Stones | Sula's Blog | Sula1968 A South African poet, potter and mother
I don’t know how it happened but we have not visited the library for a long long time, certainly not this year. I guess homework is largely to blame, Fjord has a ridiculous amount of homework in Gr 1 and the afternoons fly by. He has been nagging me to return to the library, yesterday we rushed to get homework done and made a trip. He was so excited, as we walked in he said to Acacia “Do you remember this place? Do you remember these stairs?” In under 10 mins they had selected 8 books. We took our haul home and I read 4 to them immediately. I thought I would share a bit about them.
Togg and Leftover by Mike Ratnett and June Goulding – This one is an old favourite which Fjord remembered from the days when we frequented the library more often. It is a fun read.
The Flower from Outer Space by Saviour Pirotta and Sarah-Jane Stewart – This was the first time we have read this book. The story is good and a bit different, I’m sure that we will get it out again.
I want my Potty by Tony Ross – I love the illustrations of Tony Ross books, Acacia chose this one. Presently I am trying to potty train her so it was a perfect choice. Let’s hope it motivates her to get on with the move from nappies
Super Dooper Zezebel by Tony Ross – This one was my favourite. It’s about a little girl who is painfully perfect at everything. She is eaten by a crocodile. I loved it because the trend seems to be so oversensitive about what our little angels ingest to the point of boring. I also loved it because we all know someone who we would just love to see converted to croc fodder. It reminded me of this poem
“Mary had a crocodile that ate a child each day.
Til interfering people came and took her pet away.
Sarah the Spider by Hilary Robinson and Jane Abbot – This is a sweet story about a spider who loves her boots and loves to dance, when her red boot goes missing her friends comfort and help her. What I like most about this one is that it could steer children away from arachnophobia. The illustrations are lovely.
The Butter Battle Book – by Dr Seuss – Oddly I have never seen or heard of this Dr Seuss book before. This story is as clever as always. Before getting to the end I guessed that he must have been referring to the Cold War and the end confirmed this. A brilliant slant on the message of the futility and stupidity of war.
The Garden of One by Shawn Rice – This one is ok but nothing special, the basic message is around the subject of over population.
Torty The Tortoise by Joe Zimmelman – This is a South African publication. When we first took it from the library Fjord was about 3 and he loved it. This surprised me as the illustrations are low-key and the text to illustration ratio weighs more on the text side. At that age I expect the illustrations to be what grabs the child’s attention but this story proves the point that if a story is good it can stand on its own even for a 3-year-old. I read it to Acacia this morning and she has only just turned 3, once again it kept her attention.
Since the digital publication of my book ‘Snuffles and the Cloud People‘ I have a finer appreciation of the work which goes into a children’s Picture Book and am fascinated by which books hold children’s attention.
We have shelves of books for the Children and they have at least one story every night, the library is a wonderful way to discover new authors and to add variety to Children’s reading.