Introducing Oona's Picks

This is Oona my 19-month-old bundle of joy / bookworm. Oona and I are introducing a new feature to Little Kid Lit. Its called Oona's Picks and its a bi-weekly top-five list of whats currently in heavy rotation on our bookshelves.

I'm not sure if a toddler can compile a "bestseller" list but we're going to try. Here's how it works: Mommy (that's me) will attempt to track which books Oona picks and how many times she picks them within a two-week period. After careful observation and tabulation we'll publish the results. Please note: this is a 100% unscientific toddler experiment. Click here

to see Oona's first list.

Oona's Picks

 
1. Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales  Lucy Cousins at her very best, but be warned: fairy tales are never for the faint of heart.

2. Truck. A nearly wordless wonder from the incomparable Donald Crews. Follow a truck as it carries very important cargo across the country.

3. The Carrot Seed Ruth Krauss' classic story of faith and perseverance. Plus a great way to introduce the joys of gardening to small children.

    4. Dark Night A little boy and his rabbit friend trick some scary critters into leaving them alone. A fun bedtime read with the coolest illustration of a tiger that I have ever seen. Written and illustrated by France's Dorothee de Monfreid.

5. Little Fur Family Deluxe Edition Margaret Wise Brown and Garth Williams, enough said. This classic has been a constant with us since the day we brought it home.

C is For Canada Day, M is For Moose

Happy 143rd Birthday Canada! Oona and I will be celebrating today book-style by reviewing M Is For Moose: A Charles Pachter Alphabet.

In case you're wondering this isn't one of those place-specific alphabet books that are sold at tourist trap shops. Charles Pachter is one of Canada's preeminent visual artists. The full span of his work (from landscapes to contemporary pop-art type collages) is all here including new artwork and images from some of Pachter's most well-known pieces. My personal favourite is Joy Ride (Queen Elizabeth II riding a moose side-saddle) from the playful QUEEN AND MOOSE series.

Back to the alphabet bit. The usual suspects of Canadiana here: B is for Beaver, H is for Hockey, M is for Mountie etc., but Pachter ups the cool quotient by mixing in some less pedestrian references. W is for Writer  (Margaret Lawrence); P is for Poet (Margaret Atwood) and T is for Trudeau and his (bright red) tie.

If you are feeling very Canadian or especially ambitious the book includes a recipe for that most Canadian of delicacies, the butter tart. Mmmmmmm butter tarts.

Today is the 110th birthday of Antoine de Saint-Exupery and Google is celebrating with a Google doodle featuring The Little Prince. For some reason it is not being included on Google.com but english-speaking Saint-Exupery fans can hop over to Google UK where the charming little doodle can be seen all day.

Why not knit one?

When I was pregnant with Oona my partner and I had all sorts of plans to make handmade picture books for our budding bookworm. Alas, the best laid plans were soon put to rest once our sleepless wonder arrived. Time passed and the plans were forgotten. Until last week when the folks at Cool Mom Picks wrote about some very cool handmade wooden baby books (check out their post here). 


I can't work wood, but I can knit and long ago I ordered the yarn to make a little picture book I found in Kat Coyle's book of baby patterns,  Boho Baby Knits: Groovy Patterns for Cool Tots. This book is probably a bit young for Oona (19-months) but what the heck, I'm going to make it. If it works out (i.e. I actually finish a project) I'm going to design a knitted alphabet book that will serve Oona for the next few years.  For those of you who have the time or inclination you could design your very own knitted books using some simple math skills and graph paper for knitters.

Below: Kat Coyle's most excellent book as pictured in Boho Baby Knits (cute baby not included with pattern).

Puffin Handbook

To celebrate its 70th birthday Puffin has put together the "Puffin Handbook". Its a free booklet that includes articles about child literacy, essays by writers including Eric Carle, and a list of the 70 best children's books from Puffin's extensive catalogue. This handy-dandy reference list is divided into categories by age and has recommendations for babies through to teens. My favourite from their books for baby list: Janet and Allan Ahlberg's  Each Peach Pear Plum. You can download the Puffin Handbook here.