Fast and very bearable family game - Quallop

We're not really a game-ish family. Vital pieces in our Mousetrap were lost before it was ever played, our Monopoly is used mainly by our four year old for some kind of money/skateboard/burger game that thankfully is a solo thing, and Twister lasted about eight minutes before I felt very much like snapping the arrow/board thingy in half. Which would have been very easy, it was so flimsy.

Anyhoo, in a way I want us to be a game-ish family. It just seems like a very good thing to sit down with our kids at a table and play something. (They will sometimes play together but more often than not, the main attraction of the whole thing is that one of us is involved.)

Which brings me to Quallop. It's great. Doesn't take too long, easy to understand (really - very easy. It's noughts and crosses with a few twists) and compact. (That's a folding board in the picture above. Its about two handspans wide and one high.)No cumbersome boards and big boxes. No tiny, vital pieces to lose. So far, it has made nobody cry and I have never felt like sneaking it into a charity bag.

Suitable from ages five or six to adult.
P.s. This isn't a sponsored post - I chose and paid for the game.

Gerry Hunt - Blood Upon The Rose, At War With The Empire and 1913 Larkin's Labour War

I've  no idea why I haven't blogged about Gerry Hunts historical graphic novels before. We've had Blood Upon The Rose, the story of Easter 1916, since it was published in 2009. That was such a success that when At War With The Empire, the follow up came out, I ordered it straightaway. It was a no-brainer - my eldest son loved graphic novels and flew through them. And these books explained (in colourful detail) Irish history that he needed to know about, for school and for life.

This latest one, 1913 Larkin's Labour War which I found in the library last week is his favourite of the lot. He's thirteen now and not exactly chatty, so I couldn't find out exactly why he liked it so much. "Really, really good." was as much as I could get out of him.

Last minute Minecraft party

My nine year old had his birthday during the school holidays in August and I promised then that we would take a few friends to the Ninja Turtles movie when it came out. Anyways, I noticed that it was showing yesterday and today for previews, whatever they are and thought we may as well go for it. There were three friends free and with brothers, that filled the car. Then he reminded me that I also promised a Minecraft cake. I think the picture explains how we put it together. Those are Tesco fizzy water bottles (7up ones are green too) and that's a sponge cake made in two brown bread tins. My oldest boys did the creeper faces on the bottles with the sharpie and I did the one on the cake (using the Betty Crocker incredibly sweet icing as glue) with the mint aero balls which VERY handily are both green and brown. And tasty.

I Am David by Anne Holm

We are in the middle of the first series of The Sopranos on boxset at the moment, so I'm itching to get down onto the couch in the evenings and as a result am not spending ages on nighttime stories. However, last night I got delayed, as my eleven year old was listening to this in bed.

Oh my goodness, its brilliant. I read it thirty odd years ago and with this reminder, would happily read it again. This audio version is very, very well read. Totally gripping.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again by Frank Cottrell Boyce

This was on our kitchen table this morning, ready to be brought back to the school library. It only came home on Friday, so suffice to say, it was enjoyed. We're now on the look out for the next one by Cottrell Boyce and have already got the first, by Ian Fleming. (When you think about it, he always thought of "unusual" names for his female characters, from the sublime Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to the ridiculous Pussy Galore in Goldfinger!)

For ages nine and up.

P.s. I've just had a look on Book Depository and Cottrell Boyce has written a third in the series too!

The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Again.

I mentioned a while ago that I had splashed out on the Taschen collection of Grimms Fairy Tales. Well, it was money well spent. We all love it. But especially my nine year and eleven year olds. This post is just to share a few more of the illustrations (all from various editions of the tales, from the 1820's to the 1950's). They are AMAZING.

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

This is a great book. I don't think I mentioned it before - maybe I have - but this is a must buy for any eight to twelve year old who has just visited or is heading for the English capital.

In The London Eye Mystery Ted and his sister Kat take decide their visiting cousin Salim on the London Eye. He ends up in a different capsule to them and then disappears. They watch his capsule the whole time and yet when it stops, he never gets off. Where did he go? What happened to Salim?

Ted tells the story. Also, he explains that he has Asperger's Syndrome. That's an aside and is not what this book is about. It just explains his fascination with the weather. And also, why he is so methodical and great at figuring out what happened to his cousin. He doesn't usually get on very well with his sister but working together on this mystery helps them see each other in a different, more positive light. A fantastic read.

The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay

I'm a bit wary sometimes of buying some my boys "classics" to read. Maybe its memories of trying to plough through Middlemarch in college (I never succeeded) but I think its understandable if they opt for something light and easy at bedtime rather than get stuck into something worthy. Actually a lot of the classics will work well read aloud, but my nine and eleven year sons share a room with their four year old brother, so it is still picture books only that I can read aloud there.

When I saw that The Magic Pudding was still on the shelf unread, since its appearance in a stocking last Christmas, I wrote it off as a loss. I'll get to it at some stage I thought. It was, after all, written in 1918. The language is different to what they are used to, to say the least. Then my eleven year old asked me to get him a Godzilla graphic novel. Hmmnn, not for nothing. Give this a go first, I asked him, if its too difficult, that's ok, but give it a try.

He read a slice or two a night. This book isn't divided into chapters, its in slices. With no complaining whatsoever. Really, it is not a chore to read this book. Its a pleasure.

Bunyip Bluegum is a Koala Bear. He lives with his uncle in cramped circumstances.

Tired of the lack of space, he asks around for advice and is told it would be good for him to head off on his own for a while. But he is not on his own for long. Soon its a gang of four; Bunyip, Bill Barnacle, a sailor, Sam Sawnoff, a penguin and The Magic Pudding.

They encounter crafty pudding thieves,

kind dogs carrying baskets of eggs, 

and  much, much more. 

An excellent read. For ages seven and up. Maybe I was wrong about children's classics? Maybe I should give Middlemarch another try.

A Barrel of Laughs A Vale of Tears by Jules Feiffer

This is on my nine year old's bedside table at the moment. He is taking his time with it, but when I ask (I ask my kids about their books WAY too much) if he has grown bored with it he tells me (insulted tone) "No! I really like it!"

It's got pretty big font and lots of illustrations so is a book that may well be a gateway for Wimpy Kid addicts to books with only text. (I love Wimpy Kid books but do think that its easy to get stuck at that reading level - the same applies to graphic novels in my house. They are fantastic but so often now I see my kids rereading them rather than tackling something slightly more taxing but great too. I suppose I was no different last week when I kept putting down A Tale of Two Cities to read about Brad and Angelina's wedding in Hello magazine.)

Anyway, look at these feet sticking out of the whales mouth..

And King Whatchamacallit..

So, so far, two thumbs up from a nine year old. And as for me, I finished both the Dickens and the magazine. The latter had the most exciting last one hundred pages of any book I have ever read, and can you believe Brad is 50?

P.s. Its easy to get any of Dickens works cheap, but the cheaper the edition, usually the smaller the font. The edition above is a nice size, perfectly readable for those of us over forty.

The Brixton Brothers by Mac Barnett

There are four Brixton Brothers book in the series so far, I just have three in the photo below because I didn't have time to find them all. No doubt it is under a bed upstairs but if I go up to get it I'll be waylaid by dust balls and old socks and every else that needs to be picked up. That's something that I'll face when I have finished my coffee and this post.

I got the first of these when my eldest son was ten. He gobbled it up. Then, for each birthday and Christmas stocking following, he got the next in the series. I moved the books to his brothers bedroom last year, assuming they were now outgrown but the other day saw them piled on his bedside table. He's thirteen now and started secondary school last week. He has to read The Outsiders and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas for his english class and was using the Brixton Brothers books as chasers. And, I think as something easy and relaxing to read before bed to take his mind off the challenges of the following day. I love those kinds of books. They're worth their weight in gold.

The Animal Family by Randall Jarrell.

I've made a few false starts on this blog post. The Animal Family is hard to describe without feeling I am not doing it justice. Its a different read. And its a definite read aloud. A story about a hunter, a mermaid, a bear, a lynx and a little boy, it is quite simply very, very beautiful. I know this isn't a word that tempts most kids to a book but I will say that when I read this aloud, over three night, my three youngest(four, nine, eleven) were silent. The book was on the shelf since last Christmas and none of them were tempted to try it themselves so I wasn't expecting that at all. And even though it does have great reviews, neither did I expect it to be so beautifully written. Often, when I read aloud, my voice gets tired, even with "good" books. But with this, it just didn't.

I was about thirty pages in when I read the reviews on the back dust cover and wasn't expecting to see one by P.L. Travers. I had assumed the book was written in the seventies or eighties but no, it was 1965 and the author of Mary Poppins must have worked at the New York Time Book Review at the time. She loved it too.

It has only "decorations" (by Maurice Sendak) rather than illustrations so the beauty is almost all in the story and language (and actually, the hardback cover. See below.)

But its a beauty that will lend a lovely glow to any bedtime. For ages four to adult.

Books from our camping trip

 In the days before making friends, reading X Men Misfits and American Born Chinese.

 I read this on the Cork to Roscoff ferry and can think of  no better way to pass a long day.

 We get one of these Drawn and Quarterly Moomin books every holiday. Small, light, easy to pack and read by everyone.

 I LOVED this. Pride and Predjudice from the servants point of view. Really brilliant. Remember how Elizabeth liked tramping through the mud without a care about  her appearance? Well in this book we hear from those who had to clean those boots. And didn't really think it was such a charming habit.

 I think this might have been the best kids book I bought with us. I think all three older boys(13, 11, 8) read it twice. Well, maybe joint first prize with The Great Brain, a lot of which I read aloud with a torch when everyone was tucked into their sleeping bags. Highly, highly recommended.

This was a nice poolside read, for those into American fiction. I had a few very enjoyable sunny days in its company as did another mum at the campsite. Its really nice when you pass a book along to then see it being read day after day on a sun lounger.

The Wheel on the School and The Winter Palace and a pretty good clock for teaching the time

I was trying to reduce my eleven year olds time on Youtube yesterday when I thought of this book.

The Wheel on the School by Meindert Dejong

I bought it last Christmas for his older brother and it has remained unloved on a shelf ever since. Two chapters, I said. Just read two chapters and if you hate it, I won't ask again. But there was absolutely no other way to gain access to my laptop. So off he went, with surprisingly little moaning. 

And as you can imagine, I wouldn't have even started writing this if he didn't like it. He did though. I was so pleased. Written in 1954 and based in the authors native Holland, its a lovely story about kids who don't have computers. For ages ten to twelve. 

Beside it on his bedside table is this wall clock (yet to be nailed to a wall.) 

Its part of Lidls' current 4th of July Special Offer, but its also a great clock if you have anyone in the house who isn't always quite sure of how to read the time. Plain, and all the numbers are there.  I should have put it beside the book in the photo to show its size, as its not huge (about the same height as a big paperback) and a nice colour for a boys bedroom. Anyways, who goes into Lidl without coming out with something? It was €6.99.

And this is what I got in the library today. The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak.

Chosen in a hurry, like everything when I have my three year old with me, its pretty good. So far I'd say if you like Tracy Chevalier and Phillipa Gregory, you'll like this. I do.

The Uses Of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim and Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

I've been reading this

 recently, which prompted me to get this

from the library. It wasn't available in the kids section, only the adult one. As you can see below there is the library version of a parental advisory sticker on the first page.

This edition is the complete tales, and its lovely - there are about thirty colour illustrations, like this one

And  loads of  black and white ones(all by Arthur Rackham).

However, the sheer amount of stories made me think that a "Best Of" edition might be a better idea. There is a reason Snow White and Rapunzel are still such popular stories and others are relatively unknown. So if I buy, and I probably will, it will be the nicest most beautifully illustration "Grimms' Greatest Hits" edition I can find. 

I will buy because firstly, it makes so much sense when Bettelheim explains what children learn from the undiluted Folk and Fairy Tales. Being oneself, using your head to figure things out, that in the world unpleasant things will happen at some time or other are all good things to know. And the earlier the better. 

Having said that, I read these stories to my eight year old, who loved them, but I just can't say if he would have been scared to hear them at five or six. My three year old could sit for about half of each one but their length was too much for him. I wouldn't hesitate to read them to him in a year though, if he cooperated. And secondly, I must admit there is a certain pleasure in reading about witches being burnt in ovens, wolves getting their stomachs cut open and so on. It just makes a nice change. And it was funny to see the horror and delight on my sons face when he looked at me to see if it was ok to read this. I think it definitely is.

Here's To You, Rachel Robinson by Judy Bloom and Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

We were on our way to the dentists yesterday when I noticed my older son (he's twelve - a fantastic reader, until we got an Xbox) was half way through this.

Seeing him reading something that wasn't a gaming magazine made me giddy with pleasure. The journey continued in silence as he read, as did our time in the waiting room. And this morning, when he emerged from his bedroom, bug-eyed from looking at god-knows-what on his netbook(actually I do know- special offers on the new version of the Xbox One), he said "Did you get me any other books from the library?" I hadn't. But, this morning, its Saturday and our local library is open until one. "They've loads of Judy Blooms up there." I said, "Why don't you go up and get a few?" Believe it or not he said....."Ok." I mean, its twenty five to one and he's not dressed yet, so I can't say if he will actually go, but it was nice not to get a look of scorn when I suggested it. Judy Bloom eh? Isn't she amazing?

Also, in the back of the same car on the way to the same dentist, my eight year old was reading this.

He hasn't finished it yet but I'm pretty sure judging by the silent concentration, that he will. I have and sighed with pleasure when I did. Its BEAUTIFUL in every way. Beautifully written with matching illustrations.

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins by R.A. Spratt, illustrated by Dan Santat

I spotted this when I was buying Sidekicks, which was both illustrated and written by Santat. I had never heard of R.A. Spratt and thought the name sounded pretty pseudonym-ish, but I was wrong. She lives in Bowral, Australia and has written nine Nanny Piggins books. She also has a new series on the way, Friday Barnes, Girl Detective the first of which is due out in July. I'd say its definitely worth a look.

My eleven year old loved The Adventures of Nanny Piggins. Once he saw it was a series, he immediately requested the second one, but I delayed. I know its always nice to have the complete set of anything, but this time he had to actually finish the first book before we thought about getting the second. That was no problem at all and within three days I was clicking on The Book Depository and ordering Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan.

As you can see, there are some illustrations, and the text is a nice size. I think this another good one for weaning on from Wimpy Kids. And its funny which in my view is the most important thing at all. Is there a nicer sound than a child chuckling quietly, absorbed in a book?

D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths

For the past week I have been asking my eleven year to give me a little review of D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths. He always says, "But its not mine!" and I remember that when I was evening things out under the tree one Christmas Eve, I moved it from his pile to his brothers. Oh dear, I keep forgetting that. Because this book is most definitely for a child who is into myths and monsters, and he is our one of those.

I do know his brother read it, he just didn't reread it, so for those who aren't mythology nuts, it might be a good one to read aloud together. It is both fascinating and beautiful. Here are just a few of the illustrations. I got my expert to interpret them.

Three brothers defeating an Ice Giant whose body parts then became Earth. I think those rocks are his teeth.

The first people, who used to be trees.

 These guys ate a special apple that made them younger. Before is above and after is below.

  

Highly recommended. This is one that will eventually be a family heirloom. For ages seven or eight and up.