Books and Babies

I have babies on the brain at the moment becoming an Auntie once again. Firstly, three weeks ago came my first gorgeous little niece, Myla and just four days ago an as yet unnamed but very cute little nephew. With this in mind I have been planning which bocks to give them to start them off on their lifetime of reading and I am quite honestly spoilt for choice. This has been compounded (in a wonderful way) after having spent a lovely evening at Walker books in the company of John Burningham and Helen Oxenbury talking about their collaboration on There's Going to be a Baby and also feasting my eyes on some brilliant new books coming later this year (plus let us not forget the wonderful spread of nibbles provided by Walker's fantastic in-house chef!)

So to the books...

There's Going to be a Baby has been at least ten years in the planning not least because both John and Helen are very busy people but also because they could not quite decide on the respective story and pictures either. The result of such a long term collaboration is a book that has huge appeal to readers of all ages, is incredibly important for its contribution to both picture books and graphic novels with its traditional story and picture pages as well as pages concentrating solely on pictures of the baby and its possible antics! It is subtle in presentation yet captures the imagination with its life and vibrancy, a funny, warm and moving story, with a subtle edge to it. Certainly one to share with the whole family and one that has been well worth the wait.

Other books that were mentioned during the course of the evening will find their way into Armadillo very soon but just to whet your appetites there is an exciting collaboration with Cannogate bringing some of the best young adult fiction to a new audience with Yann Martel, Matt Haig and Niccolo Ammanti for starters. Fun family romps in The Great Space Race by Joshua Mowll, games to play with the Laureate in Play the Shape Game and even family tress to investigate with Be A Genealogy Detective. This and much more are to come from Walker Books in 2010 so be sure to watch this space for more news...

Retro Book Fun

Today I took myself and my somewhat reluctant husband to a second hand book fair. Whilst the draw for me was the books it was also the records, I love my old fashioned vinyl and in the same way I love my old books. New books to are quite a draw so I has a very happily occupied browsing, picking up lots of books for a good look and it was great to see lots of families and children there too – also picking up and enjoying the touch and feel of the books as well as the stories and information that they were finding in them.

This brings me very nicely to the topic of today’s Blog which is touch and feel books. Once again I have been relearning the pleasure of books that provide the opportunity to interact and learn at the same time. Inparticular this week I have been looking at two titles in anew series from Lornea Siminovich. The series is Petitcollage and the two books are ‘I Like Fruit’ and ‘I Like Bugs’. They are specifically designed for sharing with babies, the first introduces not only fruit but also colours. Red, Green, Yellow, Orange and Blue are the fruits, each double page spread divides its first page into four squares, one with the colour and three with the fruit whilst its facing page features a collage picture of the fruit of which one section has been cut away to reveal a touch and feel patch. In the Bugs title children are encouraged to count as well as learn about bugs. They can count up to five, discover some fascinating looking bugs from a dragonfly to a beetle and some very fluffy bees. There are beautiful pictures made up of many colours and patterns to look at and certainly a lot to learn! The collage nature of the pictures provide different patterns and designs to look at in the Fruit titles whilst the Bugs titles does this and also gives children simple images of gardens and plants to pour over. The bright, vibrant and interactive feel of these books will be certain to charm and entertain little eyes, minds and hands for many hours!

Once children have learnt how much fun it is to have some interactive fun with books then why not think about introducing them to ‘Funny Felt Animals Faces’. I had great fun making up silly faces for Lion, Giraffe, Elephant, Monkey and Parrot! It felt very retro too for I remember having hours of fun playing with Fuzzy Felt as a child! You can follow the instructions built into the text of the simple story and make the faces fit or have fun and play around making up your own pictures. This book assures children that they can play with their books as well as read and learn from the text. It provides a wonderful opportunity to have fun and learn without perhaps realising it!

Now I must go and have some more fun, listening to audio books but I will leave you with the suggestion that you go out and find some fun books to interact with or share with some little ones, rekindle a love of books for fun as well as learning and then perhaps share with us all at Armadillo anything you have particularly enjoyed.