Category Archives: Books

Maths for Martians

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This post is written by Owl.

 

Today I read this book: Galaxy Getaway.  The theme is space, and the main character is called Zeno.  The main part of the story is Zeno travelling on a long space journey to meet her cyberpal, Zormella, in Myria City on planet Numis.  (A cyberpal is a bit like a space penpal.)  There are Maths puzzles throughout the book. My favourite puzzle is called Underground rescue.  You have to find the missing numbers to complete several sequences to open the door to a mine.  Then you have to find the missing number in this sum:

17 x ? =34

(You have to work out the answer yourself.  I am not going to tell you.)

I would give this book 10 out of 10.  If you want to read it, you can buy it here.

Funny

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If Tiddler could write and I asked him to blog his favourite bedtime story, this would be it.  He can’t just yet (home ed kids may be advanced, but he has only just turned two) so I’ll have to do it for him.

Tiddler was given this book as a birthday present by his Godparents and he loved it so much that it has been essential bedtime reading ever since, and sometimes before his afternoon nap too.  His word for bunny is “funny” which can be a little confusing.  If you forget to read him the book at bedtime, he can be seen with his best cross face on shouting “Funny! Funny!” in a tone of voice which implies that forgetting his book is anything but.

The book has appealing illustrations and simple rhyming text, both of which are somewhat upstaged by the star of the show, a wonderfully soft and very cute bunny rabbit puppet, which toddlers will love to cuddle as they listen to the soothing story.

Owl

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Owl is 7, very nearly 8, my first baby… and the book I have chosen for him is Owl Babies.  I have read it to all my babies, and still do.  Though they are not babies any more, not even Tiddler really, they still love this book.

Written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Patrick Benson, Owl Babies is the story of three baby owls and their mother who live in a hole in the trunk of a tree.  One night the babies wake up and find that their mother has gone.  They edge out of their hole, sit on the tree and wait for her for what feels like a very long time.  “And the baby owls closed their owl eyes and wished their Owl Mother would come… AND SHE CAME.”  The baby owls jump around and flap with excitement.  ” ‘WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS?’ their Owl Mother asked .  ‘You knew I’d come back.’ ”  In some ways it’s an unsettling book to read; the feelings of anxiety so clearly drawn will resonate with anyone who has experienced them as a child or recognises them in their own children.  However, the reassurance of the Mother who always comes back brings a happy and comforting ending to the story.

Monkey

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I said I would write a post about a children’s book linked to the nickname we have chosen for each child.  Next up is monkey.  Our monkey is six, and it wasn’t hard to choose a book to write about for this one.  We have been reading Monkey Puzzle to our two oldest boys since they were very small, and now the younger ones love it too.  Another creation of the brilliant Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, it is a delightful combination of a simple and satisfying story, wonderful rhyming prose and detailed and funny illustrations.

The story starts with a monkey who has lost his mum, and a butterfly tries to help him find her, but she keeps on getting it wrong.  After she has suggested many different animals to the monkey, he replies in frustration: “Butterfly, butterfly, can’t you see? None of these creatures looks like me!” Butterfly explains that she didn’t know the monkey’s mum would look like him, because “…None of my babies looks like me.”  After this misunderstanding is cleared up, she leads him to his dad who takes him home to his mum.

Rabbit

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Yesterday I wrote a post about Tiddler, the book which inspired the nickname of our smallest one.  After much discussion with the three older children, I have chosen a nickname for each of them, and I thought it would be fun to link them to some of our favourite children’s books as well.

Rabbit is our four-year old and our only girl.  There are no shortage of children’s books with rabbit in the title, but The Velveteen Rabbit is one I particularly like.  When I was thinking about writing this post, I realised that I hadn’t read it to any of the children for quite a while and when I showed it to my daughter she didn’t recognise it!  This is possibly the downside of having a houseful of books – we have so many that special ones can sometimes disappear for a while.  In fact, it’s gone missing again in the last two days…

The Velveteen Rabbit is a classic children’s book, written by Margery Williams and illustrated by William Nicholson.  It is the story of a toy rabbit who becomes real through the love of a small boy.  “Real isn’t how you are made…It’s a thing that happens to you.  When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become real.”  Beautifully written and illustrated, it is as relevant to children today as when it was first published in 1922.  It is an ideal bedtime story for little ones, and also an enjoyable read for older children.  Now I just need to find my copy…

Tiddler

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Tiddler is our two-year old, and it is also the name of a book that we love.  Written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, Tiddler is a wonderfully rhythmic, rhyming story, perfect for reading aloud.  Tiddler is a little fish who is always telling stories.  No-one believes him, but one day when he is in trouble his trail of stories helps him find his way home.  The detailed illustrations of so many different sea creatures are very appealing, and for those who are already familiar with The Gruffalo, also by Donaldson and Scheffler, there is a Gruffalo fish to look out for as well.

Tiddler, The Story-Telling Fish. Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, 2007.