A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Betty Fraser

A House Is a House for Me is one of those books that because its out a few years, the price has gone right down. This paperback was under six euros. Its one of those books that should be bought in bulk and stockpiled for birthdays. Its great for both boys and girls and a good read aloud from age two. I'd say five is the upper limit for it to give as a present but really, if you are reading it to a four year old, its a guarantee that six and seven year olds will listen too.

Written as one big rhyme - an excellent one, it has these wonderful illustrations that just ask to be examined and reexamined. I first saw it on Pen Pals and Picture Books.

This was our favourite page.

Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne, illustrated by H.A. Rey

We love Curious George, so Katy No-Pocket was always going to make an appearance in our house. Margret Rey wasn't involved, but H.A. Rey's illustrations and Emmy Payne's story is very sweet. Its about Katy, a kangaroo with no pocket for her son to ride in. Look at her crying and watching the other mothers prance by...

She decides to ask her animal friends without pockets, how they carry their young.

Some just let them walk themselves.

Some shove them out of the nest and let them learn to fly alone!

But none of these methods will work for Katy. So she asks a wise and grumpy owl what to do. He sends her to the city. Which is fantastic because it gives us another of H.A. Rey's cityscapes. Feast your eyes.

If you look closely, on the right(your right) is a man with an apron with lots of pockets. Who also happens to be very kind. He gives it to her! And she gets all the pockets she needs.

Look at all the tools! My four year old son loves this page.

A read again and again story. For ages three to seven.

Christina Katerina & THE BOX by Patricia Lee Gauch, illustrated by Doris Burns.

I saw this book years ago, but because it had a girls name in the title, thought for some daft reason, my boys wouldn't like it. I was so wrong! SO wrong.
Christina Katerina's mother gets a new fridge. And Christina Katerina gets the box. Look what she does with it. (I reviewed Doris Burns books Andrew Henry's Meadow here, and her illustrations in this book are just as detailed and lovely.)

Isn't it lovely? And every time her mother thinks Christina Katerina has stopped playing with the box, and tries to throw it away, the little girl finds another use for it. (I mean I know we all want our kids to be creative - but the mess does sometimes get irritating, right?) 

Until here, where her mother asks if she has finally finished. By now the box has disintegrated into mud. Christina Katerina runs by and says..

"Oh,you mean that old ragged box? Lets do throw it away."

As well as great illustrations, this book is beautifully written. I'm not surprised its been in print since 1971. Perfect for girls and boys ages three to seven.

Ideally, have an empty box in the house before you read it though, because you'll definitely need one.

Washi tape!

Washi tape. I only heard of it about a year ago and couldn't find it anywhere in Dublin. It seemed to be one of those things that you can get in America easily and cheaply but no one has heard of here. Which of course made me want it even more! Anyway, I was in BookStation last week and found these. Three rolls for €2!

Wow. Its very handy. My four year old spent ages cutting and sticking with it. For three days in a row, while I did homework with his brothers, he was occupied. Which made that painful afternoon hour, between half three and half four way more bearable than usual.

P.s. In Bookstation this isn't labelled washi tape - in the shop I found it tucked in with the crafty stuff - lollipop sticks and the like - have a look at all the rolls - there are loads of different patterns.

The Little Duck by Phoebe Dunn and Judy Dunn

Last week, I was browsing through Vintage Kids Books my Kid Loves and as usual, found something I had never seen before. This little series of books first printed in the 70's, photographed by Phoebe Dunn with words by her daughter, Judy.

Just look at The Little Duck.

When a little boy is fishing in the pond at his farm, he finds an egg.

and brings it home;

There's much more, all lovely. And it costs €3.15. 

And there's also The Little Lamb, The Little Rabbit, The Little Puppy and The Little Kitten.

Andrew Henry's Meadow by Doris Burn

I really thought I'd blogged about this one before. But I must just have thought about it, and never actually done it. Anyway Andrew Henry's Meadow is one of our most beautiful well, loved books. It's particularly popular at the moment as my youngest has recently got a bit more patient and I can read picture books with a bit more bite. And we can take some time to examine the detail in the illustrations. Which is one of the amazing things about this book. Look, here is one of Andrew Henry's inventions.

and here's a close-up. (And that's just a fraction of the whole thing. Its ALL beautiful.)

Created in 1965, Andrew Henry is inventive. The middle child of five, neither his siblings, or parents appreciate his creative nature.

And so he decides to take off for a while.

My photos have come out too dark for some reason but there are millions of details in these drawings; tools, toys and household objects which make them a joy to explore.

Anyway, Andrew Henry goes to a meadow he knows, and builds himself exactly the type of house he wants, where no one complains about him.

And, before long, other kids whose interests are not appreciated at home, appear.

First,  a little farmers daughter who loves birds.

Later, a musician who can now be as loud as she likes.

Then someone who wants to be Lady Jane, rather than plain Jane.

Before long, the meadow is full.

But, the children are missed and are eventually reunited with worried parents.

And Andrew Henry gets his own spot for his inventions, where his family finally appreciate them.

For ages four and up.

The Lone Ranger - a Little Golden Book Classic, I Am Pilgrim, To Kill a Mocking Bird and an Origami Yoda

I love this one. Such a welcome change from Transformers, Batman, Spiderman and all the other characters my boys have had a fixation on over the past decade.

It is exactly what you would expect. Young Tom Mason sits on a rock and waits to wave to his brother, who is due to pass by. He's Bill and he drives the stagecoach. But hang on a second, here it comes, but the drivers seat is empty!

Luckily, the Lone Ranger and Tonto are not too far away. "Listen Tonto!" the Lone Ranger cried. "That youngster's in trouble!" It transpires that a dastardly gang have stolen the stagecoach with its cargo of gold and seem to think they have got away scot free....

"That may not be their fire," the Lone Ranger said. "But if it is, those varmints are mighty sure of themselves. Let's check."

They do a whole lot more than check! They ambush and catch those filthy, no-good thieves! Excellent stuff. For ages four and up.

Elsewhere in the house is more edge of the seat material.

This is currently on sale in Tesco for under seven euros and I am looking forward to getting stuck in.  I've just finished my annual re read of this,

and am hoping it will be a move from the sublime to the ridiculously exciting.

And here we have an actual Origami Yoda...

Do you have kids aged eight and up who have not read this series? Well, you shouldn't. 

Curious George

I got The Complete Adventures of Curious George two years ago after a lot of deliberation. It's over €22 after all. (Although it looks like now there is an edition that's almost identical for a few euros cheaper.) But its a keeper. In this massive hardback there are seven Curious George stories all written by the original creators of the monkey. (the character lives on but is now written and drawn by others.)

The first draft of the first Curious George story, (he was originally called Fifi) was written in Paris and left the city strapped on the back of a bicycle just hours before the Nazis arrived in June 1940. Margret and H.A. Rey, both Jewish had been living in the French capital and made it to the States through Spain, Portugal and Brazil. In Autumn 1941 it was published in America and in 1942 it was published in England. Although in the U.K. it was titled Zozo because the King at the time was called George(the one in The Kings Speech whose brother had gone off with Wally Simpson) and "curious" then meant homosexual. Written when it was and read now, there are aspects of the stories (there are six in this volume) which aren't terribly politically correct - capturing George for one, and quite a bit of pipe smoking, but who cares, these are great stories. And the illustrations - well here they are, in all their wonderful colours. They are fantastic.

Here is George after curiosity about the sea got the better of him.

 Where did he go?

 Aha!

 And here he is arriving in America, delighted with himself.

 Here he is flying a kite,

 and getting a pet bunny,

 being searched for in the Zoo,

 heading off to space in a rocket,

 going fishing,

 and helping in a hospital.

At first, for my then two year old, I had to paraphrase the stories as there are six or so lines per page, but now at nearly four, I can read them as is. He loves the book and I'm reckoning we will have at least two more years reading it. This anniversary edition has all the information about the authors and a few background details about the stories. If your into all that, which clearly I am, its fascinating.