Book of the week: One

Let's reintroduce this section with a very nice book that P received for his birthday recently.

One, by Kathryn Otoshi is a great book for young children. It has simple but really nice pictures and it's a simple story. It teaches them about colors, counting but also, in a very subtle way, to respect other people differences.

Thanks Fernanda for the great gift!

Book of the week: Where the wild things are.

I couldn't talk of any other book today, for the author and illustrator of this children's best-seller, Maurice Sendak, has died today at 83 years-old. He started as an illustrator in the early fifties and afterwards he soon started to write his own children's book. Mr. Sendak's stories, characters and illustrations are not the typical ones found in children literature. The stories are kind of nightmarish, the characters are not necessarily nice and cute and the illustrations have gloomy colors. But the books never stopped selling and Mr. Sendak's was considered one of the most important children's book artist of the 20th century.

His most famous book "Where the wild things are" has been a best-seller for almost 50 years. We obviously have one copy here at home and we also have a DVD with some of the stories that became animations. 

Also, here's a good article from the New York Times, that was published today about Maurice Sendak. 

Books of the week: Peter and the Wolf

Unfortunately, we missed the Lollipop Concert this weekend. I wasn't organized enough and when I called all the shows were sold out. However, we didn't stay without listening to Sergei Prokofiev. As soon as I found out that we wouldn't be able to go to the concert, I remembered that a couple of years ago I had bought this version, of the classic tale of Peter and the wolf, adapted by Janet Schulman that came with a CD, in which the story is narrated along with the original music composed by S. Prokoviev. 

Each instrument or family of instruments of the orchestra represent a character of the story. This is all explained at the beginning of the book and the CD, so it makes it really easy for the children to follow the story and pay attention to the music. F liked it so much that we ended up having breakfast both Saturday and Sunday listening to Peter and the Wolf.

Books of the week: I want my hat back

I almost bought the book I want my hat back, by Jon Klassen the first time I saw it, around six months ago. It was already considered a bestseller and was on display in almost every bookstores around town. I really liked the illustrations, I thought the story was funny and different, but I wasn't sure my kids were going to like it. 

Last week, when I saw it was still on display at a bookstore I finally decided to give it a go. The book is a success. Both my kids like it and we have read it several times already. The illustrations are very nice, the dialogues are simple but smart and the twisted ending is both amusing and ironic - very different from the perfect-ending-books we usually read. 

Books of the week - Three white books

Three white books: one for F, one for P and one for me

Remember my neighbor? So, my husband and I are going away for a few days. A short trip, just the two of us. The kids are happily staying with their grandparents who are happier than the kids to take care of them; and we are the happiest of all. Thus it's the perfect arrangement.

The other day I saw this box of three white books (I'm sorry I can't remember the name of the brand) and I thought it would be a good idea if each one of us uses the books to tell, mostly through drawings, our little adventures during those days that we weren't together. We decorated the covers of the books this morning and I entitled them our "Carnets de voyage". I don't think that we will fill them all during the next three days and I hope that we will have more occasions to use them.

I haven't left yet, but I'm already dying to read my kids' books (and crossing my fingers hoping that they'll play the game).

Books of the day - Valentine's books

Do you read Valentine related books on Valentine's day to your kids? We don't particularly. But we do have some that talk about love. Therefore, since love is in the air today, here are some books to celebrate Valentine's day.

P.S: After writing the paragraph above, I went to the kids' room to pick-up our "love stories" and to my surprise I just found 2 books (very obvious ones, sorry). I guess we are short on this subject...

I love this book, because I have already found myself in the same situation. F likes to test me a lot, in every way. Even when it is on the subject of how much I love him. We have already had very similar conversations as the one presented in this story. And it is always very cute to see his happy face when he's convinced that I'll love him no matter what.

A classic one for babies and toddlers. 

Storytime

Story Time at a country school, by Norman Rockwell

Storytimes are a great activity to do with the kids. They (as well as you) can just sit down and enjoy a quiet and relaxing time hearing some nice stories. What I like about that is that. first of all, the person reading is usually a great reader and story teller (sometimes it can even be the author). But, also, the person may choose some books that you would have never chosen because you either didn't see them or you thought they wouldn't interest your kids. Until you see them with their mouths opened, static, barely blinking their eyes, listening to the story.

On Saturday we went to McNally Jackson Books bookstore for a story time and crafts. Although a little bit crowded, it was very nice. And, more importantly, the kids loved the program. I wrote here about this bookstore and it has definitely became one of my favorites here in New York. They have a lot of events going on during the week, for both adults and kids. So make sure to check out their calendar. Every Saturday they host this story time at 11:30am, which is usually followed by some crafts activities. They announce on their website what will be the books read and the theme of the craft. 

There are many bookstores around New York (and certainly near you, wherever you live) with story times and activities for the kids. They are usually for free. So take advantage of that!

Here are other bookstores that you may want to check out for their events (I'm sure there are plenty more):

• Books of Wonder
• Barnes & Noble
• Barefoot Books store at FAO Schwarz

Books of the week - Tickle Monster

One of the funniest book we have at home. The story is about an extraterrestrial monster, who comes from Planet Tickle, to bring laughter and joy on planet Earth, by tickling. While you read the story, you are invited to tickle your child wherever the monster says he's going to tickle the kids in the story. 

Lots of laughters guarantee! 

Book of the week and a nice bookstore

Our latest purchase was The High Street, written and illustrated by Alice Melvin. The story is about a little girl, Sally, who has a big list of things to buy. Each page is a different store and when you open the flaps, you are actually entering the stores. The illustrations are beautiful and full of details. A fun book to read, but also just to look at the pictures.

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Photos by Yvonne Brooks from McNally Jackson Boostore website

On another note, last Friday afternoon as we were waiting to pick-up F from a play date, P and I went to a bookstore in Soho that I had never been before - McNally Jackson Bookstore. It's the typical neighborhood kind of bookstores that I like. Not big, so you don't get lost in the aisle looking for a book, but not too small either. It's well organized and very complete. The children section is also very good and cozy. The bookstore organizes quite a number of events every week that include book clubs, author signing, talks, workshops, story time for babies and kids and a new puppet show. You can even self-publish your book there!

I'm very happy to have a Barnes & Noble at the corner of my street and I go often with the kids, but I wish I had a more personalized and charming bookstore like NcNally Jackson Bookstore instead. I guess I might just need to commute from time to time.

Books of the week - Suzy Lee

1- Mirror; 2- Shadow; 3- Wave

I just love this series of wordless books. The rich illustrations tell you all.

Books of the week - winter literature

Since winter has finally decided to show its face (and what a cold and scary face it is), I thought I could write a post about winter books. Given that F is very disappointed that it hasn't snowed yet (apart from the out-of-season snow we had back in October), reading about it helps a little bit. Poor F, he remembers the big snow storms we had last year and since the temperatures have been dropping he's been dreaming of going out and play in the snow. So I noticed that he gets very excited about the description of all the things that the characters usually do in the stories and it's almost as if he's been able to touch some snow through the books.

The list is small, but they are all very nice.  Right now our favorite is: The Snowy Day. It is so well written, that you can actually hear the little boy walking in the snow.

I recently purchased this very cute book for P, who's a train lover.

Books of the week - children's magazines

Magazines from Bayard Press and Magia de Ler

Going back to the subject I've posted last week on raising multicultural children, I think that reading to them in our mother tongue helps a lot. Given that it's not always easy to find books in a foreign language, a nice way that I found to diversify our readings and to keep up with French and Portuguese is to subscribe the children to some magazines. We currently receive French magazines from Bayard Jeunesse and Brazilian magazines from Magia de Ler.

Bayard Jeunesse which is part of the big French publishing group Bayard Press - maybe the biggest one in France, also with offices spread around the world - is specialized in publishing high quality magazines for young readers of all ages. They've been around for some time now. In fact, as a child and then as a teenager, I was subscribed to their magazines, some of which were the same my children receive now. They are very nice and well thought out. Each issue comes with a story, nice illustrations, games, craft ideas, cartoons, short stories and some current subjects. It actually varies a lot depending on the age of the child (P's magazine is much smaller and vocabulary focused than F's magazines, which are already more story telling oriented), but they are all educational driven and usually add-free.

Magia de Ler is a Brazilian editorial group specialized only in children's magazines. They currently publish Toca (for ages 1 to 5), Peteca (5 years-old and up) and Joca, which is a newspaper for the young ones. The format and organization of these magazines is very similar to the French ones, because they were inspired on them. The quality of their design, illustrations and content is excellent.

What I like about receiving the magazines is, first of all, the excitement of the children when they see them in the mailbox with their names and address on them (just like mom's and dad's) but then, and most importantly, is the fact that is a monthly link to our countries (the Brazilian ones are actually bi-monthly publications). Moreover they come full of current subjects from those countries and new vocabulary or expressions that sometimes they would never learn with me.

I personally think it's a great way to keep up with our culture and not so expensive if you were to compare on how much it would cost to buy new books imported from those countries.

I'm not an expert on the subject and there are probably other magazines like these ones around the world. But the other two publishers of similar children's magazines that I happen to know by chance are the ones listed below. I've never read any of their magazines, but they seem very nice as well. If you know or have heard of others, please share them here with us.

• American magazines: http://www.cricketmag.com/ProductList.aspx?type=M
• Australian magazines: http://www.lottamagazine.com/Lotta/Lotta_magazine_for_kids.html (first Australian magazines solely dedicated to children and they have recently been launched).

I forgot to mention that Bayard Jeunesse also publishes magazines in other languages than French and Magia de Ler will start translating their magazines in English soon.

Books of the week: Babar the Elephant

From The New Yorker

Babar is one of the most charming characters I know in children's literature. You've probably heard about him. He's such a star that even The Morgan Library organized an exhibition in 2008 - Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors. Babar is a French fiction character and he's just turned 80 years-old . He's the king of the elephants and he lives in a city named after his wife Céleste, Celesteville, in the middle of the jungle. However, he dresses up and lives like a gentleman.

I've always liked Babar as a child and then as a grown-up I still find him charming, sweet and I enjoy reading his stories (I mean for me, not for the kids). When I went to the exhibition I learnt so many details, about the story of his creation and about his authors, that made him even more interesting to me. Besides I had never seen the first sketches, drawings and first editions. So I was captivated by everything I was seeing and reading that day.

Babar was originally called "Baby Elephant" and it was a story about an elephant who left the jungle after his mother was shot by a hunter. He fled to a big city where he was adopted by a lady - the Old Lady - who taught him how to dress, how to eat properly, and took him to school, among many other things. He then comes back to the jungle and brings "civilization" to his fellow elephants, becoming their king. For the youngsters is a nice story full of adventures with pretty illustrations and where the main characters are animals, which is always a big success among the young crowd. However under a more mature eye we can also find some traces of satire and criticism to the French colonisation, which make the books even more appealing and enjoyable at any age (here I'm referring more to the first ones of the series but almost all of them have a hidden moral message).

I have to confess, that more than the books, what I like the most about Babar is the story of his creation. He was invented by Cécile de Brunhoff for her sons during bedtime. The children liked the story so much that they asked their father, Jean de Brunhoff, who was an artist, to illustrate the "little elephant". Eventually, he ended up writing and illustrating the whole story and this is how Histoire de Babar (The Story of Babar) appeared and was first published in 1931. He then published six other stories before his death in 1937. But what is extraordinary is that Babar didn't die with him, because in 1946, when he was only 21 years-old, Laurent de Brunhoff, an artist as well, decided to take on his father's task and published Babar et ce coquin d'Arthur (Babar's cousin: That Rascal Arthur). He continued to write and illustrate more than 30 books and is still working. Now aged 86 he has just published Babar aux jeux Olympique de Celestevill (Babar's Celesteville games).

Isn't this a great story on how a character was created and maintained alive by a whole family for two generations?

I've just received my copy of Babar et le père Noël (Babar and Father Christmas) and reading it for the kids tonight was a pleasure. I actually read it this afternoon by myself and I could still remember the words, sentences, pictures from when I was young. I think that Babar is one of those characters that stays with you forever and is always a joy to revisit with or without the children. As Adam Gopnik so well puts it in this article that he wrote for The New Yorker "Once seen, Babar the Frenchified elephant is not forgotten".

I haven't read them all and, although I'd love to, I don't own the whole collection. But here are my favorite ones:

  



Because of this book, I still dream on visiting the Sequoia National Park

Books of the week - Christmas collection

Last year I decided to start a collection of books about Christmas for the kids. I wanted to find some classic stories but also some stories that they would remember as grown-ups. There is something magical about Christmas and the Santa Claus fantasy that makes you dream and wishing to be a child again. The good thing about having children is that you're given the opportunity to become one again in certain occasions.

My husband who's much more realistic and down to earth than me, don't like this whole Santa thing. He thinks the kids should know straight forward that Santa doesn't exist and that we are the ones buying all the toys. He blames me of not letting my children grow up (not sure if this accusation if valid when your children are only 4 and 2 year-old...) and being lying to them. But, he also knows that if he doesn't play the game, he would be in big trouble. Here at home, there is really no discussion on the subject. Because there is still a child inside of me longing for Santa to exist. And this is a gift that I'm passing on to my children. The gift of dreaming and hoping that our most cherished fantasies could one day come true.

***

You've probably already heard about this story, but here's a book that will make you and your children dream (if you like the Christmas fantasy of course):

I bought the 25th Anniversary Edition that comes with an audio CD with the story narrated by Liam Neeson. The kids have been loving to have dinner while listening to the story lately.

There are so many Christmas books that sometimes it can be really hard to choose which ones we'd like to buy (I usually have to control myself not to buy all the books I like). I've ordered some new ones, but since I haven't received them yet I can't make any comments on them (I hope they'll ship them soon). In case you are interested and would like some references to start your own Christmas collection, I'm posting the new additions (beside The Polar Express and The Elf on the Shelf: a Christmas Tradition, mentioned in my previous post) to our collection. The list is short, but the idea is to add each year new books to it.

Book recommended by the same friend who recommended "The Polar Express"

Do you know Babar? Oh, this charming elephant. He deserves a post only for him (to come!). I bought the French version because I'm used to read Babar in French, but you can find it in English or many other languages as well.

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What about you? Do you already have a collection? What other books would you recommend to us?

Books of the week - the importance of reading to children

Last Sunday, I read this article on the NY Times written by Thomas L. Friedman. He explains how we, parents, can improve our children's education, instead of leaving the whole responsibility to the teachers. And one of the main point of the discussion is the importance of reading to our children. His arguments are backed up by some very interesting statistical data that show the correlation between the involvement of parents in their children's school life (as little as asking how their day was at school or what they are learning) with their children's future success not only as students but as individuals.

I read to my children since they were babies. Mainly because I enjoy it but also because I firmly believe that reading habits have to be introduced at an early age. I've always been surrounded by books myself and I want to teach my children to look at them as a source of pleasure and not as a burden or obligation. We read every night before bedtime and to my happiness, I see them sometimes sitting in their room (even my 2 year old) "reading" by themselves.

I don't read as much as I used to and certainly not as much as I should. However, I always carry a book with me. When I really like one, I usually can't stop reading it. But when I'm about to reach the end, I always feel very sad, because it means I'll have to say goodbye to the people (the characters) that had become my companions even for a short period of time. I can even find myself, days later, still thinking about them and even missing them. Weird, I know. But I love when this happens. The last book that really moved me this way was Never Let me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro.

I'm very possessive with my books. I don't really like to borrow them and certainly not giving them away. Once I've read them , they are part of me. I like to see them in my bookshelf, even if the edition is not the best, because they always bring back some memories. They not only carry their story inside, but they also carry a moment of my life. A trip, a bad day, a success... Books can make you dream, reflect, feel sad, happy, angry. They affect you one way or another. You can love a book or hate it, but the minute you've decided to read it, you'll never feel indifferent about it. I've already read books in which I hated the main character, others that bored me to death, others that made me travel to distant lands or times. I still remember the excitment when I read "The Three Musketeers", by Alexandre Dumas, when I was young. This is what I want to pass on to my children.

I'm not a big fan of the e-readers. I don't own one right now, but I know that I'm running against the flow. I'm not against technology, I just want to resist to this specific one as long as I can. There is something about holding a book that you can't feel when holding your e-reader. Books are not all the same. Some are thicker, some are big, some are small, some have big characters, the texture of the pages may feel different, etc. They smell different too (I love to smell new books) and their are designed in different ways. All this is lost when you read an electronic version. Your e-reader is always the same. Suddenly the books all look the same. Of course, the content is more important than the cover and it is well known that you shouldn't be influenced by the cover of a book. But for me this is just impossible. I like pretty things and I like nice designs in everything. One thing comes with the other.

This is even more true when referring to children's book.

I was once taught that when reading to very yound kids, you don't need to stick on the wording or the order of the story. Talk about the pictures, ask them questions, make them guess what the story is about. In other words, keep them interested on the book by making them participate in the reading and helping them free their imagination.

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 Here's a book that is kind of related to the subject: 

 Here's the version for the little ones:

 And this is the book that P. just chose to read before his naptime. It's hilarious.

Books of the week - "This is" series

I was a little bit reluctant about starting a blog. I didn't really know what to talk about, I didn't want to expose my life to strangers, I didn't know if I would have the time and willingness to write frequently and so on. Nonetheless, I decided to give it a try; mainly because I thought that it could bring me some kind of satisfaction. Well, so far, it has been an extremely pleasant activity. I enjoy writing, taking pictures, visiting new places and sharing all this here.

Once I've decided to start something, I always try to give my best at it and with this blog it hasn't been different (unfortunately the result is not always at the same level as the effort to accomplish the goal). Therefore, so far, while preparing my posts, I usually need to do some research. Some posts require more than others but almost all of them have had some background work.

Having said that, today, I discovered a new feature about this blog that got me even more motivated to continue. I can actually learn from it. When I discovered this I was thrilled. I always thought that blogs were a one-way communication tool that we could use to share something (an idea, an experience, a book, a restaurant, etc) with people that we may or may not know. But I never thought I would learn anything new from my own blog.

The subject of this post today is about the series of books "This is (and here usually comes the name of a city or region)", written by Miroslav Sasek. As the title points out, the books are about important cities/regions around the world. I love these books, because even if they are somewhat outdated (they were all written between 1959 and 1974), they still describe very well, with humor and beautiful illustrations the characteristics of all the places that are part of the collection.

The first book of the series I bought, when F was still a baby, was the one about New York. Then I decided to collect all of them. And the way I do it is that whenever we visit one of the places with the kids, I buy the book. Preferably before going, so that we can prepare for the trip and take it with us.

And this is what I learned today: while searching for some covers to illustrate this post, I discovered that there are almost 20 books in this series. I already have 3 and I always thought that there were around 5 or 6 or maybe 10 at most. Okay, you may think, this is not necessarily an extremely relevant information or you probably were already aware of it and you are thinking right now that I'm a complete ignorant. Nonetheless it's new information for me and I wouldn't have known it unless I would have checked Mr. Sasek's website (that I googled and found out, because I had no idea that there was actually a website about him) to write this post. Which brings me to the beginning of this post when I stated that I could learn new things through my blog.

The other important information that I became aware of today is that I need to travel a lot with my children in order to complete our collection. Not a bad problem to have, right?

Books of the week - Barbapapa

Do you know Barbapapa?
This was a question that would have never occurred to me to ask before I had children. I grew up reading Barbapapa and watching the cartoons, so for me it was obvious that EVERYBODY knew the whole family. Until F. got his first book and my husband took a look and asked what this ridiculous pink thing was. I was shocked. How could anybody not know Barbapapa, one of the sweetest character in children literature?! Especially my husband! Oh, what a disappointment and I thought I knew him when I got married...

So, now that I know that not everybody is familiar with Barbapapa (cotton candy in French), let me introduce him to you. He's this sweet, pink, shapeless character that was first introduced in 1970 by french writers Annette Tison and Talus Tyler. He was born in a garden (like a flower), he later on married Barbamama and they had seven babies - the Barbabébés. Each book is a new adventure. And what is fantastic about them is that they can change their shape into whatever they want to (a plane, a bridge, a ladder, an animal, etc) and by doing so they can help solve any problem!

Here at home, we have, of course, several books of the series. My kids love them and there isn't a week that goes by without reading at least one "Barbapapa" (with P is actually everyday before his nap time).

First book of the Barbapapa series published in 1970

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Here are my latest purchases:

• Along a Long Road, by Frank Viva - The illustrations are beautiful, but my children are too young to really appreciate the book;

• My Taxi Ride, by Jennifer Swender - Fun book for someone living in New York like us and who take cabs all the time with the kids;
  
  
  
• 10 Little Penguins, by Joelle Jolivet and Jean-Luc Fromental - My kids loved this book. It is a good counting book.

Books of the week

We love books! I have lots of them and my kids already have a respectable library as well. I'm a compulsive book buyer and I have to confess that I spoil my children with them. I just can't help myself, whenever I see a nice book for them, I just have to buy it.

Right before bedtime, F., P. and I cuddle in F's bed and we read some books together. At the beginning it would only be one or maybe two stories each night. But, now they keep asking me to read more and more books, so I let them choose two books each (sometimes more). In addition, F comes back from school each week with five books in his special "library bag" that we alse need to read and comment. If you do the math that is quite a lot of reading. It is, however, one of the best moment of the day.

So, I've decided to post weekly some of our recent readings or some of my recent purchases. Hope you'll enjoy them and that my little list will help you start your own children's library or add to the existing one.

By the way, have I told that we speak french at home and my kids also speak portuguese because of their father? This is quite an important detail, because our library is composed of French, Portuguese and English books.

Lately, P is in love with this book: Go away, Big Green Monster!. We have to read it every single night, otherwise he can't go to sleep.
F is into the creation of the world, the big bang theory, dinosaurs and so on. The story of everything gives you a fun and quick summary on that subject.

Here are my latest purchases:

• A zeal of zebras: a book about the alphabet with beautiful illustrations;
• Goldilocks and the three bears: a tale modern - different version of the classic story, with a lot of modern design elements (funnier for the adults than for the kids, but the story is still good);