sensory books

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 (26/1/25)

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Friday this week was hot. I mean, it was HOT. Our place is not air conditioned at all. It is usually a few degrees warmer inside than out. Girls are normally prone to bickering regardless of the weather. Thankfully, my husband reminded me that the nearest large shopping centre has air conditioning, and I remembered that my oldest brother had given the girls book vouchers. Off we went.

The girls had a blast choosing their books. I said absolutely no to any Peppa Pig books. Choosing between all the Bluey books was tough, but the girls fought so much over the Magic Xylophone book that it was easily ruled out. (I know. It’s like they haven’t even seen that episode, like, ever. Eye roll).

C had her eyes peeled for the next in the Penny Draws a Best Friend series. We didn’t find the next but a next next, as well as another in the Pearl the Flying Unicorn series. All girls were very keen for the I Love My Family book from Bluey, as well as Let’s Go Home, Baby Bee, which has a little creature to slide around the pages with a finger. I have read the Bluey book maybe five or six times in three days so that was a definite good buy, and the Baby Bee book is just mesmerising, reminding me of calm-down methods used by psychologists and the like.

We are all huge fans of Julia Donaldson so I looked for some more to add to our collection. Tiddler was top of the wish list but not found in the store. Zog and the Flying Doctors, and Tabby McTat, however, were so are now residing on the living room table and being looked through and read by all girls whenever they wish. 

So Friday’s excursion was fruitful. Aside from the book shopping, girls played in the play areas for hours before we came home. And when we eventually did, the inevitable “Can I watch something?” could be met with, “We *just* bought books. How about you read some of them?” And they did. Score.

What We Read This Week (19/1/25)

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There was not as much reading at home this week as there was last week. It was one of those weeks where a few books were read, and a few bedtimes included a story request or 3, but it was not a book-heavy week. 

Actually, this is the sort of week that Old Me used to worry about. “Read to your child every day” can carry a lot of guilt with it if, say, your child thinks it’s hilarious to run as fast as she can away from you, or if you try to start reading them the story that they have picked out and *asked you to read to them* but about three words into the first sentence you are told, quite firmly, to shush. No. No reading. The Old Me used to stress about this until I realised that they actually get a fair bit of reading exposure without me sitting them down after a bath to do Story Time. There is reading throughout the day. They have reading at daycare. More and more, the younger two are seeing C and me doing reading. The New Me has realised that forcing things on toddlers and preschoolers is a futile and frustrating course of action that has the opposite effect than that which is intended.

So this week there was not much, and that’s ok.  C read this chapter book today, which she seemed to enjoy.  “Pearl the Flying Unicorn” by Sally Dodgers and Adele K Thomas. E’s favourite book this week has been “The Moon Book”. Yeah, not its real name. “Goodnight Baby Moon” is NOT it, but the book she borrowed last weekend about Eid is. What a find. All the girls have also been loving a Japanese lift-the-flap type of book, about hatching animals. It makes me want to revise my Japanese characters!

S now has a bookcase next to her bed, with books she can access, so she has gone a little wild. She often falls asleep with a book under her cheek or pushing into her tummy, or being ruffled by her feet. Currently in her cot are the following: Hammerbarn (Bluey); Never Touch a Grumpy Unicorn; Where is Baby’s Belly Button; and an Ella at Eden chapter book. I am not allowed to read her any.