book-reviews

What We Read This Week (25/01/2026)

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This has been an emotional week. It started with the big, big emotions of when will this holiday ever end will I ever get back to school and the nerves of E as she faces a big wall of unknown that is actually fairly recognisable and familiar but it still carries the weight of new and different. Not to mention that there were a couple of things that we had said we would do but could not do due to illness. I was screamed at a lot for that. As I suspected, though, a lot of E’s big emotions were from the unknown and it being a long time since prep transition days. Thursday, we had a big day of playing at the park then having hair cuts (E has a fringe now!) and buying proper school shoes then dropping off C’s school supplies and showing daddy E’s classroom. E’s teacher spotted her and we had a chat and then there was more park play where we met a classmate of E’s and then S pickup and E actually fell asleep at a normal sort of time without getting physically violent with me. Phew.

There have been a few books that have helped with all this emotional weight. The usuals. Children’s Bible Stories. Ruby Red Shoes. A new frequent pick for E is Maisy Goes to the Cinema, which I find ok but it is not my favourite. It feels like what is probably a Peppa Pig episode but with different animals. One that is very flat and two-dimensional and has the underlying purpose of “Let’s tell children what to expect when they go to the cinema”. Nothing at all like the Bluey episode called Movies with all its humour and relatability and parenting.

A recent library pick for E was two Claris in Paris books. I had pointed these out to at least one girl while book shopping in Kmart a while ago and was met with glazed eyes. I did not press it. Now, though, these are up there with favourite books. They have even been placed on our bookshelves instead of in the library book pile so I see a furtive library trip in my future. One of the books borrowed is a hide and seek book, as my girls call them. As it turns out, my girls love this style of book, which is a fantastic calming tool for them. The other is more of a mystery book with a missing Fabergé egg. And beautiful colours. And acts of selfless kindness. Beautiful.

C has been reading her way through the library’s animal chapter books. Anything by Holly Webb is snaffled by her, as well as a series called Zoe’s Rescue Zoo. All girls have still been enjoying Miss Rita, Mystery Reader and C is still devouring Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. That one has prompted many conversations about all sorts of things. Cue random questions at random times resulting in me swallowing a few times and wondering what is actually age-appropriate for dealing with topics like totalitarian regimes and occupations of a military kind and how do people recover from diarrhoea and how long does it take to recover from any sickness and how to stop wars forever. Goodness.

What We Read This Week (18/01/2026)

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Whenever I slack off in the reading report, a little part of me worries that whoever reads this (Hi!) maybe suspects that we haven’t been reading. Rest assured, we have been reading.

So much reading.

Nearly nightly Bible stories from the My First Children’s Bible Story Book that my little brother had as a kid in the 80s. It is well-worn and adorned with Bible verse stickers and has a not-quite-intact spine. E has been asking for a Bible story nearly every night for [checks book] nearly six weeks now. Religion is not something I want to be too religious about as I have seen too many times what that can do to people. On the other hand, these stories are important. They are a part of us. They are a part of our story. And, much bigger picture, it is good to have this knowledge. Glenn and I first met at a trivia game. General knowledge is important.

Ruby Red Shoes and her world have been in high demand lately, too. They are such calming books. We were delighted in a spontaneous library visit to find the Ruby Alphabet Book. The original, and feelings, and London and Paris have all been on high rotation. I know this for sure as whenever we are in the ohmygoodnessme will this child ever sleep but no she’s just asked for another story and how on earth are you still awake child – you know, that stage of the evening, I can put my hand out in any direction and find a Ruby book. They are the best.

Speaking of library visits. On a recent trip, I found Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls and showed it to C. She was entirely underwhelmed. That said, I borrowed it anyway. I do, after all, have three girls to raise. In an eye-rolling fit of boredom a few days later, C started reading it and I kind of regret borrowing it. “Time to put your shoes on. We’re about to go”. Said three times before I realise she’s reading this book and just wants to read just another story and yes she totally wants to go but she wants to read the book more. Insert all the life situations you can think of here, and we are delayed by C reading this book. 

Whenever I let E loose in the library, I am glad I am not a restrictive parent. I am glad of libraries! It frightens me when I hear of reading being restricted. Ideas are – well. I could write a whole post on it. A whole series of posts. Back to the point here, though, which is that E will find all sorts of books. Some parents would discourage a child from reading some of these. For example, we’re Anglican Christians, so when E wanted to borrow a book celebrating Eid, I know some parents would say no. We’re Anglo for the most part, so books about Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and how the culture is woven into Aboriginal lives could be accidentally-on-purpose not borrowed. 

But. But. But. Before I had kids, I did go through a big “I really want kids. Why am I being so selfish? Kids drain the earth’s resources. Think of the future. Think of all the other kids”. But I wanted my kids to make a difference in the world, to be kids who grew up to change the world for good. That’s not going to happen after age 15 if it hasn’t started age early. Books open doors to other worlds as well as explaining our world and creating pathways for processing. 

So E’s latest choice from the library, which has been quite popular with all my girls, is about a child and a dad, and the dad is … sparkly. Miss Rita, Mystery Reader (Sam Donovan and Kristen Wixted, illustrated by Violet Tobacco), is a lovely exposure to blokes who wear fancy sparkly glittery garb. Simply explained. Simply put. That’s it.

Isn’t it nice to just let them be. Kids, I mean, but also just the rest of the world. 

What We Read This Week (27/09/2025)

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You know when kids just get on a roll with a book? That’s all they want to read or have read to them. For three days. Or for a week. Or for, you know, 3 months. Not that I minded reading Ruby Red Shoes every night for 3 months when C was 2, but it is a memorable part of my ‘reading to children’ history. 

I feel we are in the same situation here now. Possibly. Frozen (aka “The Big Elsa Book”) has been going strong now for well over a month. The push-pull Snow White book (aka “E’s Snow White Book”) is enjoying a similar level of popularity. In fact, we went away for a couple of days this week and when I asked girls to pack one book each, those were the choices from S and E. C picked a Dragon Girls book. I don’t think she read any of hers, but the other two had a bit of Frozen while traveling, and E and S both had quiet moment of resetting with their favourite books.

S has also been asking a lot for We’re Going On A Bear Hunt. We will sometimes even be suddenly in a game of this while on the way to daycare. I will notice that her walk changes from just walking or just running or being Elsa to the pantomime of hunting and obstacles and I’ll hear her sweet voice in a sing-song of “We’re going on a bear hunt, I got my rinoculass”. Very cute. And when we join in, she is over the moon.

Another book that has found new favour is The Princess and the Wizard (Princess Eliza), a Julia Donaldson book but not illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Rather, Lydia Monks has done the illustrations and so it feels like it’s in a different world. C will read this one to the younger two, as well, doing all the voices to squeals of laughter. It has to be managed, shall we say, at bedtime. I might start a collection of Books That Are Only Allowed To Be Read Once, Maximum Twice, At Bedtime. So far: Princess Eliza, Pig the Fibber. On the Never At All At Bedtime Under Any Circumstances: The Book Without Words.

I am loving reading Anne of Green Gables to C. It was one of my favourite books when I was young. Admittedly, I was much older than C when I read it but I was reading it myself. I hadn’t realised what a slow start it was, but that is proving useful for setting up a scene for C. I see many similarities between my C and Anne. I think C has realised this, too, and loves having a character similar to herself but also is very thankful that she is not at all in the same situation in which Anne started. Side note, this particular copy is riddled with typos. I am not a book-mangler or noter, but I think I will be going through and correcting this one for future. I don’t know much about how publishing works, but come on. This is a classic. Anyway, two nights in a row now I have read a bit (or a lot) and C has been asleep within 5 minutes. Rare but welcome.

What We Have Been Reading (13/09/2025)

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The eagle-eyed among you, or the regular readers, may note a different title than usual. But you may have noticed I haven’t posted much for a little while, either, so that explains the former. Life has been busy – good busy, which really means I have had lots of work to do when children are sleeping, which cuts down on my writing time. (I have noticed, though, what a difference this writing makes to my life. The combination of alone-time without 15 ‘mummy’s a second, a cup of sanity tea, and the process of expressing myself and often working through problems as I write, just helps life.)

Books have featured heavily in our lives lately. There was Book Week. Which meant there was a lead-up to Book Week, too, with lots of reading. Last week had a pupil-free day and so my parents came down to see the girls and took them book shopping. C has been off school all this week and one of her screen-free activities was reading. Another was helping to tidy the girls’ room. C is a kid who needs very precise instructions, as well as a different take on things. “Tidying” doesn’t go down so well. I get the rolled eyes and body flop of “This is the worst, most boring thing in the world that you have asked me to do and I protest”. Ask her to make an area look nice, though, and she excels. If there are too many things in that – like, put the books away AND fold the blankets AND stack the cushions AND put all the little things that accumulate and drive me nuts and why do we even have them – those things in the pouches on the door, well, that’s just too much. Stick to one thing at a time and it works.

At the bookstore with my parents, S got right into it. Like we were at a library with no limits on loans. The stroller very quickly had a stack of books in it, then she sat down and had my dad read Peppa Pig stories to her for the rest of our time there. Which meant, unfortunately, that I put all her choices back and we got home to “Where’s my fish book?” – oops. Mum bought her Mr Archimedes’ Bath by Pamela Allen, and she has listened to it but not asked for again. E quite enjoyed it, though. Mum had a particular book in mind for C, a chapter book by David Walliams. Mum worried that it was too big for her. I raised an eyebrow and told her that the Penny books (Penny Draws A Best Friend and that series) that mum gave her the first one of, you know those really thick chapter books, C will read one of them in a weekend. Sure enough, C started her new book that afternoon and read it at every opportunity, finishing it before we left for a birthday party at 8.45am Saturday. She loved it.

E’s choice in the bookstore was a Snow White book. We already have two Snow White stories, one in the Ultimate Princess book and one as an early reader. I said no. The one E wanted was a simple board book version. I said no. E refused all other suggestions. I figured this was not a battle I needed. I relented. Guess which book has been the most-read, most-loved, taken-to-daycare (and home again) book. Yup. All the girls love it. It’s one of those board books with push/pull/slide, and the story words rhyme, and I put in extra bits for the action parts. E can’t read yet but knows all the words, and when she or C read it, they put in all the action parts, too. S has had screaming tantrums at bedtime because she wants E’s Snow White book. I have read it while sitting next to her. I have read it while sitting next to E. I have read it while sitting next to E and holding it up so C can see it from her bunk. I think… I think it was a good choice of book.

E has lately started ‘needing’ a story so she can sleep. Wait, after two stories she’ll be able to sleep. Yes, two stories and then she will sleep. Wait, because she is four now… After four stories, she promises she will go to sleep. And apparently, reading Pig the Fibber (one of the Pig the Pug stories that has recently come back into the limelight and has my girls squealing with laughter) four times doesn’t count as four. Humph. 

S is still obsessed with The Big Frozen Book and because C put all the books away I haven’t been able to find (yet) The Small Elsa Book. The Bluey Summer Treasury has also been pored over lately, as has The Very Hungry Caterpillar. C has been reading Geronimo Stilton as well as all the Roald Dahl collection. Also, C and I finished Little Women – apparently the last two chapters were booorrriinnggggg but I get that that was boring for a 7-year-old who has little experience of the world. I loved that it had several elements pertinent to our family, though, like the part where the girls decided to have a break from their chores and then their mother let them have it and it was chaos. Rather pertinent to our weekend, actually, as we have an inspection on Monday so my days are spent picking up Disney coins and hair bows and tissues and pencils and no you can’t do painting today because nobody cleans up afterwards and also could you please just this weekend please leave your quilts and pillows on your beds and maybe somebody could help me make this place just a tiny bit nicer so I can actually clean it before we have a total stranger coming in to take photos of our mess to send to the owners and WHO EMPTIED THE ACTIVITY TUB and OH MY WORD WHO PAINTED THIS ON THE WALL. Humph. Fortunately, even though C is the leader of “Don’t give away our toys”, she also really appreciates and relishes a calm/uncluttered/clear space, so when I put everything on her bunk into two (that’s right, TWO) large garbage bags to be stored FOR NOW in the wardrobe, she was ecstatic. 

Bonus of clearing spaces – girls can stretch out on the floor to read and choose books. Love. C and I are now reading Anne of Green Gables, which we started a while back but didn’t get very far. We are loving it this time around, though. It was always a favourite of mine and it is really something special to share a much-loved book with the next generation of readers.

What We Read This Week (12/07/2025)

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E: Can you read me a story? Me: Okay, but it’s already really late, so see if you can just listen without asking lots of questions, okay? E: OKAY! Me: Right. Which story would you like? E: PrincessAuroraSleepingBOOOdy. Me: A long time ago, a king and queen held a party to celebrate the— E: What was the queen’s name? 

Yeah. That’s how well we do.

Now. I had a realisation this week. Wait, some history first. When I was a little kid, I loved princess stories and movies and outfits. I didn’t ever have those dresses or anything, and as I was #3 child with brothers all around, princess anything was usually overruled. When I was older, I shied away from the princess stuff. Waiting for your prince, having to have a prince come and save you from the dragon or the spell or whatever, was so at odds with the independent, feisty, women’s lib DIY person I was. I thought, if I ever have girls, they’re not getting to watch princess movies or read princess stories. No. Way. But then Frozen came along. Another “True love’s kiss” thing to save the poor princess – but wait! Sisterhood! Okay, Frozen is allowed. Then I watched Beauty and the Beast, and that was another without a damsel in distress being saved by the handsome prince. It’s allowed.

With this Ultimate Treasury of Princess Stories that is the current go-to book, there are five princess stories. I have been asked to read them A LOT over the last couple of months, and have come to a realisation. There is much in these stories that can prompt discussion, shall we say, about differences in how we live now, in this country, and also much to prompt relationship discussions. Now. Princess – or normal girl who marries a prince therefore becoming a princess – who lives her life true to herself and her values – tick. Princess who pines for her prince, wanting a man to come along and save her – babow. 

Let’s assess. Snow White. Victim of a psychopathic narcissist. Pines for a prince. Looks after the men. Kissed by a prince which breaks the spell and MARRIES HIM STRAIGHTAWAY. Not so keen on this one. 

The Little Mermaid. Controlling father. Always interested in humans. A bit of lovesick nonsense. She saves HIM. Victim of evil witch. Actually has different endings, depending on which version you read or see … it’s okay. 

Cinderella. Works hard. Finishes her work and still gets to go to the ball, where on her own merits she and the prince fall in love. Follows the rules and is home on time. Prince does some work to find her. Tick. 

Beauty and the Beast. Prince needs to get over himself. Belle loves reading and is firm on her morals. Sticks up for truth and justice. Prince and Belle spend time together and fall in love over time. Contrast with Gaston who doesn’t want Belle reading or doing things that make her who she is, just to be his wife. Beast does what’s right for Belle, not him. Belle sticks ups for the Beast in front of an angry village mob. Big tick. 

Sleeping Beauty. Arranged marriage. Set to be married as early as possible – I know times change and all that, but 16 is still super young, and when it’s arranged by the dads it just comes across as creepy. Keeping secrets from her about who she really is “for her own good”. Pines for a prince. A bit of teenage angst. Taken home to be married against her will. Goes off on her own anyway and nearly dies. Prince battles to get to her. Kisses her. She lives. They get married. Big no. (I’ve been thinking about this one a lot today. So many things could have changed to avoid this. Not impressed).

I still read them when requested, but I now add commentary – and just answer allllll the questions that are peppered throughout anyway – and the No’s score much, much more commentary. 

There have been other books this week, too. Yesterday, to be mischievous, C had them all taking every single book off the shelves in the living area and taking them to their bedroom. When I then couldn’t open the door, I told her to make sure all the books went back to the bookshelf. What she interpreted that as was to get all the clothes off E’s shelf in the wardrobe and throw them about the floor, too, then move the shelf to the hallway and put the books on that. I can see where she’s coming from aesthetically, despite the lack of practicality, but this turned into playing library, so as I was sorting washing I was hearing the quiet thud, thud, thud, of books being put on shelves, E reading quietly to herself and then saying, “Here you go. Next book please!”  – not at all quietly – and S reading picture books aloud before, “The end. Here you go. That one, please!” So for all that the room was diabolical and of course, no-one cleaned it up before bedtime so I had to do all of that before bathtime and then E got into bed later and wanted the elephant toy of all things and of course I didn’t know where it was… Hmph. Anyway – lots of books were “experienced”, as they say. 

S has also been having a few wake ups from the cold, and if she is having trouble getting back to sleep, I am asked to read her a story. The Magic Beach, The Tale of Mrs Tiggy Winkle, and Never Pop a Penguin have all been quietly read in the dark by a mum who is falling asleep after every three words or so.

C and I are reading little bits of Little Women every night. It actually made me cry the other night, with the note from Mr Laurence to Beth with the piano. But that was followed by the gales of laughter from both of us over the limes and the girls’ reactions to the limes.

Meanwhile, S turns 3 soon, in the same week as Book Week. Asking for character ideas is tricky because E keeps telling me what she wants to be at Halloween. I’ll work on it.

What We Read This Week (28/06/2025)

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Surprise! I suddenly had a braincell wake up last week and say, uh, the books post… you know it doesn’t have to be Sunday night…? Yeah. When I started this blog 4 years ago, C was 3 and E was a little tiny baby (S was “invisible”, or still a dream). There were piles of books that would form all over the place – sofa arms, coffee table, bedside tables – and I would aim to tidy them on Sunday evenings. A logical time to do a post about what books we had read that week was after I had tidied them all at the end of the week.

Fast forward to now, and for about a year now I have changed girls’ sheets and done a bedroom tidy and clean on Fridays. Fridays, because there had been too many occasions on Saturdays when I had gone in to change sheets and found a full-blown cubby in the making and if I needed to remove a quilt cover then that would mean full dismantling of the cubby and there would be tears so I wouldn’t change the sheets that day and so it became a Friday thing. E and S won’t build cubbies without C, who is at school on Fridays. So I have been cleaning and changing sheets and tidying away books and making notes of which books I am putting back on the bookshelf, but things can change. 

Yesterday, I did what I used to do. I took a photo of the books we had read, that were strewn across the floor, then put them on the bookshelf. Simple. Here they are.

Friends of the Unicorns, which came with the two main characters as toys. Ten Minutes to Bed: Where’s Father Christmas?, which is rather annoyingly missing its last flap with words. Goldilocks. Peppa Meets the Queen (groan – still). Where Did All The Dragons Go?, which is on an extended loan from neighbours who used to live in the house next door. I love this one. It definitely feels like an older book – think 80s or 90s, so “older” compared to this century – and has good rhyme and repetition that doesn’t go overboard or force the issue.

Then, Disney. The Misadventures of Heihei is one that was in an Advent calendar of books that the girls had a couple of years ago. Honestly, a wonderful buy. 24 books, all with substantial stories of what feels like outtakes of Disney movies. This one is a favourite of C, who will laugh so much she needs the toilet again. E chose it this week and her 4yo brain couldn’t follow and imagine quite so fully as C’s 7yo brain, so there were frequent fingers stopping the page turning and “Wait. Mummy. Go back”, followed by a question or 6. And the Ultimate Princess Treasury – see the benefits of a photo? Now I can tell the correct, actual title of “the big princess book” – has been a definite favourite this week. At least once a day – usually when I think she should be asleep but she has clearly missed a sleep train, but this has also happened at other times – I will find her on her bunk, leafing through the whole 250+ pages, intently checking illustrations. I have read each story to her at least once this week, too, and her questions are developing more into questions about character and reasons for doing things and personality.

C and I finished The Secret Garden on Monday night. This has been such a good book for us to read. Next book: Little Women. We are not far in, obviously, but already C has laughed and laughed and also been quite thoughtful as she takes in the situation. I am curious to see how she responds as the book develops. Not to mention, keen to reread this one as I think I was in early high school (or late primary school) when I read it. It’s been a while. Ahem.

What We Read This Week (15/06/2025)

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I have been wracking my brain trying to remember books I’ve read to girls this week. E and S have both been so fantastically ready for sleep by the time they are in bed that bedtime stories haven’t been an option. It’s been a case of getting S bathed and into bed; by the time E is out of the bath, S is asleep; E has just wanted quiet hand holding for a bit while she drifts off within minutes. I have been so relived by this, but there has really been not much by way of reading. There has been some Disney Princess Story reading in the mornings, though, usually when I am trying to get people dressed and ready to be presentable out in the world. Reading is preferable to clothing or brushing hair, apparently. 

Also, a note for illustrators. Consistency, please. If you put a princess on the cover in a ballgown that has a bejewelled collar, please have at least one illustration of said princess in that same exact ballgown in the story. E is entirely convinced that there should be a sixth princess story because that aspect hasn’t matched up. Thanks.

A week like this used to have me worried that they were not getting the benefits of books. But bedtime is not the only time for books! Daycare has books. Story time is part of each day. There is a book corner in each room, and I know my girls each spend some time in there independently each day, as well. Nearly every day that I pick them up, E is looking through a book. Then there are the occasions like today when I was sending them to the balcony. Nature play was happening and that was going to involve dirt and glue and just no, so out they went. As I was clearing some of the washing, E came out with a book my mum sent along with a birthday present, “A is for Aunty”, which is an Aboriginal alphabet book. C read it out loud while E, it turns out, pulled every leaf off one of the opportunistic succulent plants. Then Bluey’s Hammerbarn had a turn as well before a lot of glue was used as girls created nature pictures while I got on with weekend tasks. Of course, C being who she is, she also read the About The Author section and was suddenly asking me about the Stolen Generations. Not at all light, especially for a high anxiety 7-year-old. 

C and I are making great progress with The Secret Garden. I think it will be finished within a week. This is partly due to me reading to her while she is in her bed. It’s dim in there because by this time of the night, E and S are already asleep. “That’s okay, mummy. I’ll read it to myself”. Just to the end of the chapter… next morning, “I’m in chapter 21!” Ah. I see I will have to do some independent reading of my own to remind myself of what is in the rest of chapter 18, plus chapters 19 and 20 and the start of 21. 

I am not at all sad about this. 

What We Read This Week (25/05/2025)

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Those bedtimes. Those bedtimes I go into as a fool, with the thought, “Well, she’s so tired she’s sure to sleep soon”. HA. Never. Ever. Happens. And you would think I would know this now, as I have been doing this mum-doing-bedtime-with-at-least-one-child thing for over seven years. But apparently I just don’t learn. The only time I have that thought and the child DOES fall asleep quickly is when I get the child to the bed and have to leave for some small thing and when I return, they are in dreamland already.

But that is rare. And not a guarantee, so I’m unlikely to change up the bedtime patterns for that. I digress. This week has seen a lot of the initial above thought. She’s so tired… She’s not that well so even though she napped at daycare, it was the ideal nap – early and short – so that shouldn’t affect things, should it? It does, of course. E and C have needed all of the help to get to sleep this week, and after the initial phase – into bed, do you need this, do you want that, okay off to sleep now – one of them has asked or insisted on a story. 

S is still into “my piggy book” – Pig Out – with it’s cut-out middle and squishy snout and funny-coloured animals and a hairdryer. It seems to have overtaken the Never Pop a Penguin contender for now. Yesterday she also found the “Baa baa book” – another sensory book with fluffy animals in it, the name of which escapes me and she has taken it somewhere special, I see, because it is not where I thought.

E has been really loving – again – The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In fact, loving it so much that on Friday, she put it into her “supercase” (suitcase) with her most treasured possessions – her new chew necklaces and three of daddy’s bandannas. Little Red Riding Hood has also been a favourite, and she will give tremendous spoilers on every page, as well as describe the wolf in great detail every time he is in a picture, and give running commentary on how Little Red Riding Hood’s mother must feel after various events. Honestly, it’s like she’s been to a combination pantomime audience class and spoiler academy. Her other choice this week has been Ruby Red Shoes, which is one of the best choices for bedtime for my girls. It calms them AND me. Today, as I was baking and girls were keeping themselves occupied, I heard her ask C to read it to her. C did not (cubby building was underway) so E did her best to read the story, based on her memory of it and the pictures. Absolutely delightful.

C has been independently reading everything she can, it seems, as the Premier’s Reading Cup challenge is on again. Plus, she is taking this opportunity to read all of the books we have, it seems, to her big ted, Gus. She and I are still reading The Secret Garden. This week C really started to be invested in the story, and if I dare to end a chapter and say that’s it for the night, she gets really upset to the point of a tantrum. She has definitely moved on from the stage of listening with curiosity to this story set in a strange time in a strange world, to being very much in that world and making predictions of what might be coming next and dreaming about what it is like in the garden. 

What We Read This Week (18/05/2025)

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In a big cleaning up effort this week, all the books that were strewn around the floor in the girls’ bedroom were put away. Every time I think about it, I let out some tension. I have never been good at tidying, and that is carrying over to my girls. But when we (I, mostly) can do something to make the place nicer, then I feel the benefits so strongly. So. All the books back onto the bookshelf. Next I will work on teaching them to have the books upright if possible, and spines facing out. Baby steps. (Side note, I had to explain the phrase “baby steps” to C the other day as she was hugely offended that I had apparently called her a baby.)

Books will still be sought, and I love it when there is a book that they know they want. Love it, until I can’t find it. Shoving way under the cot seems to be the new “put it away” solution but I will work on that. Thankfully, the piggy book (“Pig Out) was requested just after dawn and not in the middle of the night. It has been quite popular this week. S will point out the crazy colours of the animals, or how crazy it is that an animal is using a hairdryer. Never Pop a Penguin has continued to keep its place at the top of the popular books list. I have read it in the dark. I have read it standing up. I have read it very slow. I have read it very fast. It might be time for some Dr Seuss again soon, I think. 

The other top request for girls – mostly E – this week has been Bard’s Rhyme Time. I find this to be a very annoying book. The “story” words rhyme, but the lines don’t scan very well, so putting some rhythm into it is always an effort and just not always possible. For a book that is from a brain development company (I assume – the name suggests that) one would think that this would have been ironed out before printing. And asked EVERY time the flap is lifted, is WHY IS THERE A STAR NEXT TO THE CAR that makes absolutely no sense what’s it doing there?

When E has been in one of her can’t go to sleep so asks for a story episodes this week, I have reached for the nearest book. Then tried again to make it the nearest that wasn’t a chapter book. Little Red Riding Hood (the First Readers edition) has been the closest to hand. The first time I read it, I omitted to do the wolf trying on a granny voice. I was informed of my error and given a second chance. I’m not forgetting that one again. And every time we hear the mother giving instructions, E notes that the wolf is a stranger AND that Little Red Riding Hood is going to talk to him. I never miss an opportunity to dig in with “Just look what happens when you don’t listen to your mother”, or words along those lines. Ahem. Further in the lesson of illustrations are important, this one has a page with three rather surprised-looking creatures. One of these is an owl. Why is the owl awake? Aren’t owls nocturnal? Why is the owl awake during the day when it is nocturnal and therefore should be sleeping during the day? Why does it look so surprised?

Speaking of surprised, E has also been asking for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which was her absolute favourite book as a baby. Tonight she insisted on “eating” her way through the book, and reading all the food on the Saturday page. And tonight she also wanted to know (again) why the butterfly looks SO surprised?! Well wouldn’t you if you went to sleep as a caterpillar and woke up as a butterfly!

C and I are still reading The Secret Garden, another classic that I remember reading as a child. We have therefore also learned a bit about different accents, and cholera, and moors, and grand houses, and the class system in England in earlier times. I will find some time to watch a bit of Pride and Prejudice with her. The good one, thank you very much. Girl’s got to get an education somehow.

What We Read This Week (04/05/2025)

/ annamurray / Leave a comment

Christmas in May is a thing, isn’t it? I’m all for seasons of the year, and keeping some things to that season, but then girls will find a book and want it read on repeat and it just happens to be a Christmas book so what am I to do? Like, not read it or something? Crazy talk. (Same with Christmas clothing, honestly. If they want to wear the Christmas overalls I made C when she was two and has been worn randomly throughout the years and still going strong then who am I to complain??)

So. Bluey’s Twelve Days of Christmas has been flavour of the week. S and E have tried to get me to sing it every night which has its fun but really we get to the end and my tired voice mostly just says, “And a fruit bat in a mango tree” go to sleep now okay please sleep now goodnight! Which unfortunately just adds to the hilarity and they, crazily, don’t just go to sleep then and there. Weird. S then insists that the book goes to her, and she reads it backwards, usually. Nearly always like this:

S: Two! Mummy, I two!

Me: You sure are.

S: [counts to twelve] twelve guitars! So many!

Me: [clicking] Ah yes. Twelve guitars, and you saw the number two?

S: Yes, because I two! [turns pages, backwards and forwards] ribbit. Ribbit. Hehehe. [random page turning] mummy, what’s that?

Me: [knowing by now what she is looking at] yabbies.

S: snap snap. [more random page turns with the occasional ooh or aah or giggle] BLUEY/BIN CHICKEN. Mummy what’s that?

Me: [checking out which page she’s on] that’s a fruit bat. Bluey’s hanging like a fruit bat.

S: [closes book, places it about halfway along the side of the cot, stands her water bottle on it. Tries to lie down which makes the bottle fall over] Oh MAN. Not again. [repeats the bottle stand up/lying down attempt a few times before remembering to put the bottle into the rails a bit more. Lies down. Sleeps.]

E’s bonus Christmas book has been We’re Going on an Elf Chase. Lift the flaps. Trace the path. Very E things. Like also finding her engrossed in the Pop-Up Punctuation book. She is so careful, and loves them so much. Not Christmassy, but her other choice with me this week has been Thelma the Unicorn. I so love all the questions E asks, revealing her consideration of the story and the pictures and the characters. 

Speaking of questions, C and I finished What Katy Did. This wasn’t Finished until I had asked her the questions that were in the back of the book and she had added her own. We have now started on The Secret Garden which meant discussions about cholera and death and transmission of diseases. What a fun end to my day.