a bookI loved on holidays even though it was falling apart. Euphoria by Lily King

Theres a fifteenth century building (at least part of it is fifteenth century) on the campsite we stay at, and it houses an old television and a few bookshelves where, back in the day, people would leave books they had finished with. My kids used it as a place to escape the heat while they charged up phones and I used it to leave my books for anyone who might not have a kindle with them. Which was no one as far as I could see. In fact, by the end of the holiday I was wishing I had one myself. Running out of stuff to read is a disaster. Especially if all I could find on the shelves were Ken Follett in Dutch and books I had left there last year!
Anyways, when I started Euphoria, I had a week to go, so I had to make it last. The minute I started I know I would love it so forced myself to put it aside for a few days. Sadly, I put it aside outside, just before a thunderstorm and it got SOAKED. I spent a few hours peeling the pages apart before giving up and leaving it in the sun to dry, hoping for the best. It recovered and I spent my last few days really enjoying it.

The Happy Lion by Louise Fatio, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin

I saw a copy of this in the library after I ordered it and was kicking myself. It used to be hard to get American published books in our local branch, but all of a sudden, theres loads of them! Anyway, now that I've seen it, I'm very glad we have our own one - its a read-over-and-over-again-book. About a Lion who lives in a Zoo, in a little village in France (beautiful illustrations of beautiful buildings), who wanders out of his cage one day. Worth getting in hard-cover actually, as a special present. For ages four to adult.

Pippi Moves In by Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Ingrid Vang-Nyman

Presents for my five year old. (He's a bit young for Sushi Go, but he'll get it, and yes, those sweets are called Very Bad Kids - very good name, right?) Pippi Moves In is over sixty pages of little comicy stories about Pippi. Its very easy to read aloud and on top of that, is a really cool, beautiful looking book. Its his little pals birthday party today and I wish I had a copy for her. Its the perfect, special present for a five to seven year old.

Books my kids fought over on holidays

We are just back from a few weeks camping in France. Actual camping with a tent, air mattresses, wind-up torches and no xbox. There was a wifi area on the campsite but not at our tent, and we had no electricity so my kids had to find an outlet in an old communal t.v room and sit there watching French cartoons to charge up any devices they wanted to use. They didn't mind this but it did mean that there was a little effort involved in getting online, which was really great. It just kept them off screens as much as humanly possible. So when I say they were fighting over books it is not because they are saintly geniuses, it is because their options were limited and of course, because I picked great books.

Weird but True! is ideal for any journey with kids of seven up (or when they can read quite well). Its just a daft fact per page with nice pictures and was what my kids looked through while their Dad put up the tent and I found the stuff we needed for the pool. 

Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Library is about a library that is FULL of the latest, coveted computery, touch-screen gizmo's. It reminded me of when my kids used to say "What should I dream about?" and I would say, "Imagine going to a house by a beach with a massive home cinema that was also an xbox and a computer, where everything is touchscreen." I didn't approve at first but its a very clever book and they LOVED it. It's perfect for reluctant readers. Really perfect. For ages eight and up.

We gave The Tapper Twins Go To War (with each other) to my ten year old for his birthday (along with the card game Dutch Blitz(really great) and lots of other less photogenic stuff.) Everyone was dying to get their hands on it, including me. Here he is reading it without letting anyone look over his shoulder.

And here is his brother(on the left) reading it after paying ten peach loops...

These Plants Vs Zombies graphic novels were high on his birthday list,

and so, so coveted by his brothers. Again they were rented out for half hour loans and are in his bedside drawer as I type, only to be perused by the owner. Again, great for screeny kids. They're only available in hardcover so far and not cheap,(around ten euros each) but they are nicely produced and I know will be read many,  many times.

Thats not all we read, it really is just what they bickered over. I'll post on the rest later in the week.

Watery books for the ferry: Captain Cat by Inga Moore and Jacques Cousteau by Dan Yaccarino

 I bought these for the Ferry to France, but had to take them out last week. There will be plenty of distractions in our cabin (porthole! Kettle! (placed scarily close the the foot of the bunk!) Sachets of hot chocolate! Oh dear, I feel exhausted just thinking about it.) and we badly needed one on a long, cold, cloudy July day. We knew Inga Moore from our many readings of Six Dinner Sid, so I had pretty high hopes for this one. Which were easily met. Another important plus is that it is a big book, so would be perfectly presentable as a birthday present on its own. I'd say its just right for three to five year olds.

 Captain Cat had lots of cats. People think he's crazy, but he loves them.

 They set off on journey on their ship The Carlotta and come across a tiny island. There is the Queen, spotting them through her spyglass.

 She is delighted to have visitors and has never seen a cat before!

 Neither had all the rats who were stealing her food! That's their dead bodies above. Needless to say that page was a particular favourite.

The adventure continues but I'm not giving any of it away - its really a great story.

Another Watery One.  This is for the older picture book audience. Seven to ten would be perfect. As the title suggests, its the story, from soup to nuts, of Jacques Cousteau. Some illustrations look just pretty but you need to look closer - there's a lot in them. They're great!

As a little boy, he was swam a LOT. Having suffered bad injuries in a car accident - he was told he would have to wear arm braces forever - but his persistent swimming put paid to that. And by then he was hooked. (sorry, unintentional pun!)

He wanted to move around underwater though and it was difficult in the massive suits. So he and a friend designed the Aqua Lung. They could swim and breath and look around.

 They took photos and eventually, he started filming.

 Who doesn't think of Bill Murray when they see this picture?

 Look again, he's there! On the right, filming.

 Once he and his divers found some wine. It was over 2,000 years old, but they tried it. Sadly, it was quite bitter. Great book, we really liked it.

Laurie Graham and book clubs

A good friend of mine started a book club not too long ago. When I asked her about the first meeting she said "I hate it. Everyone is fighting and they all want to do books where they learn something. I'm not going anymore."
"But you're the founder!" I said "Don't you have to go?" But there was no persuading her. "I just want to read good books." she said, "not listen to nonsense."

Their best option as far as I could see, would be to pick a Laurie Graham book. Good (so good!) with the side effect (particularly with her historical fiction) of learning something. I'm rereading The Liars Daughter at the moment and it is so interesting and crucially, a really enjoyable read.

Brilliant audiobook - Mr Gum and the Goblins, written and read by Andy Stanton

Most evenings these days, find me watching Episodes, accompanied by my husband and a glass of cold, white wine. However, my nine and twelve year old have decided they like "comedy" and if they hear the theme music to Modern Family, Arrested Development, Veep or Episodes, I hear footsteps on the stairs. Anyone who has watched this very funny series, will also know that as it progresses, there are quite a few scenes that are not great for kids. So, I needed something to keep theose nosy little beggars upstairs. Also, dare I say it, its the Summer holidays and after spending days spirographing, baking cakes, making treaty lunches and generally spending every waking hour with my kids, I want them to stay out of sight in the evenings. Not mooching around on the couch beside me, almost knocking over my wine and saying "Whats a cock?"
So, on my last trip to the library, I saw this audio book. Mr Gum and the Goblins. I knew they had heard it before and liked it and well, it worked. We watched two whole episodes of Episodes undisturbed. Even my four year old loved it. We're burning it onto the computer and then onto a phone for our holidays too - its that good. Highly recommended.

There it is on the cd player. Remember those? I know they're old fashioned but really, they are very handy..