This is obv not a children's book; however I thoughtfully shared lots of the random pieces of information from it with A, and she at least pretended vague interest in some of it. I definitely think I would have found it interesting as a teen, but then the things I found interesting as a teen are not generally your common or garden teen pursuits. Whilst others were experimenting with strange chemicals and artfully arranging their hair to look like they'd just got out of bed, I was french plaiting mine, and had a subscription to The World of Cross Stitching.
I love Bill Bryson. I've looked at some of the reviews of this book on Amazon and there are many snipy borers: "On page 134 Bryson says that Reverend Archibald Huntley was born in 1813, when it is patently obvious to anyone with a modicum of historical knowledge knows that he was born in 1812." I am a great fan of pedantry, but there's a time and a place, people, surely. The nature of history is that there are bound to be some inaccuracies, and yes these need pointing out. But to throw away the baby of an amazingly interesting historical tome with the bathwater of one or two mistakes is surely foolish. Bryson is a very rare storyteller, than can make virtually anything interesting when it is woven into his tale. Essentially he wrote a book based on wandering around his house, and it is brilliant. I now have a great deal more random knowledge in my random knowledge store, which I am hoping will benefit me at the next Scout Quiz night at the Hawk and Buckle. As you can tell, things have changed since my teens, and I am now quite the party animal.
Friday, 30 December 2011
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Something I have spectacularly failed to grasp about The Book People
If you buy two or three books from them, they are really cheap. However if you buy approximately 100 books a month, then they are not really all that cheap at all. If you spend more on books one month than you spend on the mortgage for your house, all with The Book People, then that is a little bit silly.
I have a very dear friend who comes and does cleaning for me. She is the sort of friend who sorts piles of washing when she comes over for a cuppa anyway, so it seemed to fit nicely for both of us when I went back to work full-time, that I should pay her to do what she does anyway! The other day when she was cleaning the erstwhile parcel delivery man came with a package from The Book People (ah red and white box of joy - how I do love thee!) She said "I'll sign, but I don't actually live here." He said "I know - I've seen the lady that lives here. The Book Lady, I call her. I don't understand how she fits all the books in this house!" My friend says that she had to permit herself a wry smile. There is an ongoing and unspoken war between us, where I create a pile of books by my bed, she puts them away on a shelf or similar, and then the following week there is a different pile of books in the self-same place as the week before. I would imagine that she inwardly despairs of me, but she loves me so puts up with it, but I would think that she agreed with the parcel delivery man, as does my poor-long suffering husband, who likes books the normal amount.
Anyway, I was minded to write this, because today the Book People sale catalogue came through in the post. If there's one thing I definitely do not need at this time of the year it is more books. So why have I bought the catalogue upstairs with me to peruse with a cuppa in bed in the morning? Because I'm an addict that's why. And, obviously, now I *need* the books. For my kids, and my job, and my blog and that. Yes. Need.
I have a very dear friend who comes and does cleaning for me. She is the sort of friend who sorts piles of washing when she comes over for a cuppa anyway, so it seemed to fit nicely for both of us when I went back to work full-time, that I should pay her to do what she does anyway! The other day when she was cleaning the erstwhile parcel delivery man came with a package from The Book People (ah red and white box of joy - how I do love thee!) She said "I'll sign, but I don't actually live here." He said "I know - I've seen the lady that lives here. The Book Lady, I call her. I don't understand how she fits all the books in this house!" My friend says that she had to permit herself a wry smile. There is an ongoing and unspoken war between us, where I create a pile of books by my bed, she puts them away on a shelf or similar, and then the following week there is a different pile of books in the self-same place as the week before. I would imagine that she inwardly despairs of me, but she loves me so puts up with it, but I would think that she agreed with the parcel delivery man, as does my poor-long suffering husband, who likes books the normal amount.
Anyway, I was minded to write this, because today the Book People sale catalogue came through in the post. If there's one thing I definitely do not need at this time of the year it is more books. So why have I bought the catalogue upstairs with me to peruse with a cuppa in bed in the morning? Because I'm an addict that's why. And, obviously, now I *need* the books. For my kids, and my job, and my blog and that. Yes. Need.
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
The Christmas Eve Ghost by Shirley Hughes
I was a master (or perhaps mistress) or organisation this year, and started buying Christmas gifts when the first nip of Autumn was barely in the air. However, unfortunately, my organisational skills were used up before I made a note of where I had actually put the presents which I squirelled away in anticipation.
Cut to Christmas morning. C has finished opening his presents and seems very happy with his haul. I can't help wondering where his bag of Lego Star Wars books from The Book People had gone to. I looked all around "The Christmas Room" aka the spare room aka Grandad's room and there were no more presents to be found. I have been looking on and off since then. This morning I was looking under our bed for escaped gift wrapping to recycle, and happened upon the Lego Star Wars books. Success! I also found The Lego Ideas Book which A, C and I plan to look at later, to learn how to make the ice cream van on the front cover. Mrs Organisation had totally forgotten she'd bought this! We also found Shirley Hughes's The Christmas Eve Ghost, which I had planned to read on Christmas Eve. That would have been nice, had I not completely forgotten about it!
So we read it this morning. The depiction of 1930s Liverpool seemed so completely real. It was a brilliant book for starting discussion; A and I had a long chat about how different washing would have been back then. The family are Mam, Bronwen and Dylan, who move to Liverpool from Wales after Da is killed in a mining accident. Mam takes in washing from the rich part of town, which she transports around in a pram, often leaving the children alone in the house as she does this.
Next door live the O'Riley family. Mam says "Good morning" to the O'Rileys, but no more - the children are forbidden from talking to them. They don't go to Chapel, but to a different church, which Bronwen is forbidden from looking in. This was a great discussion starter too. A managed to work out eventually that the Welsh family were Chapel- attending low church Christians, and that the O'Leary family are Irish Catholics. A doesn't understand the distinction too well, since going to any kind of church these days is a rarity. She had to be questioned for quite some time before she remembered that she was a Catholic, and then was very confused as to why "all the people just didn't get on with each other". Well, quite.
In the end Mrs O'Leary comes to the rescue when the children are left alone and frightened, and from then on offers to help out when Mam has to leave the children in future. They share a Christmas cuppa and have a nice chat. I blubbed shamelessly at the end, as the children ask Mam to remember the O'Learys in their prayers, and she does so. It's an absolutely wonderful tale of goodwill to all men. Definitely the best new story I've read for a long while, but then Shirley Hughes is a genius. It's a great investment - good for toddlers as the pictures are both comforting and detailed, and great for historical discussion with older kids.
Cut to Christmas morning. C has finished opening his presents and seems very happy with his haul. I can't help wondering where his bag of Lego Star Wars books from The Book People had gone to. I looked all around "The Christmas Room" aka the spare room aka Grandad's room and there were no more presents to be found. I have been looking on and off since then. This morning I was looking under our bed for escaped gift wrapping to recycle, and happened upon the Lego Star Wars books. Success! I also found The Lego Ideas Book which A, C and I plan to look at later, to learn how to make the ice cream van on the front cover. Mrs Organisation had totally forgotten she'd bought this! We also found Shirley Hughes's The Christmas Eve Ghost, which I had planned to read on Christmas Eve. That would have been nice, had I not completely forgotten about it!
So we read it this morning. The depiction of 1930s Liverpool seemed so completely real. It was a brilliant book for starting discussion; A and I had a long chat about how different washing would have been back then. The family are Mam, Bronwen and Dylan, who move to Liverpool from Wales after Da is killed in a mining accident. Mam takes in washing from the rich part of town, which she transports around in a pram, often leaving the children alone in the house as she does this.
Next door live the O'Riley family. Mam says "Good morning" to the O'Rileys, but no more - the children are forbidden from talking to them. They don't go to Chapel, but to a different church, which Bronwen is forbidden from looking in. This was a great discussion starter too. A managed to work out eventually that the Welsh family were Chapel- attending low church Christians, and that the O'Leary family are Irish Catholics. A doesn't understand the distinction too well, since going to any kind of church these days is a rarity. She had to be questioned for quite some time before she remembered that she was a Catholic, and then was very confused as to why "all the people just didn't get on with each other". Well, quite.
In the end Mrs O'Leary comes to the rescue when the children are left alone and frightened, and from then on offers to help out when Mam has to leave the children in future. They share a Christmas cuppa and have a nice chat. I blubbed shamelessly at the end, as the children ask Mam to remember the O'Learys in their prayers, and she does so. It's an absolutely wonderful tale of goodwill to all men. Definitely the best new story I've read for a long while, but then Shirley Hughes is a genius. It's a great investment - good for toddlers as the pictures are both comforting and detailed, and great for historical discussion with older kids.
Monday, 26 December 2011
A Street Through Time by Anne Millard
Every Christmas A and C have a bag of books as well as a stocking. My lovely friend Julie made them for the children - they have a felt Father Christmas appliqued on and their names sewn in running stitch in huge capitals above. The kind of thing you pay £30 for from The White Company or similar. C absolutely adores his, as there is never anything in the shops with his unusual name on. A's name used to be the same, but is now on pretty much everything. I thought I was being so original too, when she was named. Ah well.
Anyway, they always have a good few books so that if they get up before the crack of dawn (which, mercifully we have avoided thus far), they have something to do before we can entice Daddy out of his comfy bed.
This year A had A Street Through Time as one of her Christmas morning books. This book was published in 1998. I remember seeing it in Borders in Oxford, before the sad demise of said shop, and spending about half an hour looking at it. This was probably partly an attempt to avoid reading the interminable reading list or writing an essay, but it was also because the book is just one of my favourite books ever, and I was captivated by it from the outset.
I am very much a visual person. I don't learn particularly well through lectures or listening to someone else talk through their experiences, and I am not very good with my hands. However, give me a few pictures and some informative, but sparing words, and I am there. This book is an absolute visual treat. It tells the story of one street through time, and shows the change in use of the buildings, as well as the changes in architecture, and the shape of the landscape. For example I adore the way the fort changes to a castle, and then becomes castle ruins in various states of decay. This book teachers the reader about domestic history without resorting to elaborate description and boring verbal detail. It rewards visual attention to detail. If your child likes Where's Wally then this is well worth a try.
A spent rather a long time looking at it, which, given it was 6am on Christmas morning, is a good indicator of how absorbing it is. I am so glad I now have children, for many reasons, including that I had an excuse to buy it, and I probably got it for cheaper this year than I would have done in Borders in 1998 (perhaps part of the explanation for the sad demise?)
A is so not having this book when she leaves home.
Anyway, they always have a good few books so that if they get up before the crack of dawn (which, mercifully we have avoided thus far), they have something to do before we can entice Daddy out of his comfy bed.
This year A had A Street Through Time as one of her Christmas morning books. This book was published in 1998. I remember seeing it in Borders in Oxford, before the sad demise of said shop, and spending about half an hour looking at it. This was probably partly an attempt to avoid reading the interminable reading list or writing an essay, but it was also because the book is just one of my favourite books ever, and I was captivated by it from the outset.
I am very much a visual person. I don't learn particularly well through lectures or listening to someone else talk through their experiences, and I am not very good with my hands. However, give me a few pictures and some informative, but sparing words, and I am there. This book is an absolute visual treat. It tells the story of one street through time, and shows the change in use of the buildings, as well as the changes in architecture, and the shape of the landscape. For example I adore the way the fort changes to a castle, and then becomes castle ruins in various states of decay. This book teachers the reader about domestic history without resorting to elaborate description and boring verbal detail. It rewards visual attention to detail. If your child likes Where's Wally then this is well worth a try.
A spent rather a long time looking at it, which, given it was 6am on Christmas morning, is a good indicator of how absorbing it is. I am so glad I now have children, for many reasons, including that I had an excuse to buy it, and I probably got it for cheaper this year than I would have done in Borders in 1998 (perhaps part of the explanation for the sad demise?)
A is so not having this book when she leaves home.
The Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore
Mr M or I read this every Christmas Eve. However, up until this year we have read it on the computer via a PowerPoint, because I always forget I want the book until it is Christmas Eve night, and Amazon won't deliver it. This year, however, I remembered to buy it before Christmas Eve. I chose this version: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Before-Christmas-Clement-Moore/dp/0007133987/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1324929391&sr=8-5
It was a lot smaller than I was expecting, but the kids don't mind. The pictures are old-fashioned, in keeping with the gorgeous poem. I used to find the poem a little scary as a child, but I adore reading it, and so decided it was going to be incorporated into our family Christmas as one of our traditions. I think it is probably more for me than for them, but they don't argue, as it's Christmas Eve, and they're just too darn excited!
At the end of Mr M's wonderful rendition this December 24th A said "I've heard that poem loads of times." Yes, yes you have. And that's what Christmas is all about.
It was a lot smaller than I was expecting, but the kids don't mind. The pictures are old-fashioned, in keeping with the gorgeous poem. I used to find the poem a little scary as a child, but I adore reading it, and so decided it was going to be incorporated into our family Christmas as one of our traditions. I think it is probably more for me than for them, but they don't argue, as it's Christmas Eve, and they're just too darn excited!
At the end of Mr M's wonderful rendition this December 24th A said "I've heard that poem loads of times." Yes, yes you have. And that's what Christmas is all about.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
The Killer Cat's Christmas by Anne Fine
I have just looked up Anne Fine on Wikipedia, as it seems as though she's been around forever, and I was wondering if she was secretly immortal and had in fact been alive for many centuries. Turns out she is 64. So, almost many centuries.
I find her novels quite dark, always have done. I am a sensitive soul, and sometimes find that I spend books or TV programmes in a state of perpetual unrest as to what misery might befall the characters. I am no longer physically capable of watching Casualty, because I imagine all sorts of horrendous possibilities for horrific injury and death to all of the characters at all times.
The Killer Cat series is very funny, but is a catalogue of disastrous events. A is much like me, and does tend to close her eyes when she can sense that the cat is about to do severe damage to somebody or something.
We have the box set of the first four novels, but saw the Christmas version in the library. I have read the first two chapters to the kids tonight, and it really is very funny. The Killer Cat (or Tuffy to his family) regularly makes quips along the lines of "so shoot me if I accidentally ripped the paper to shreds". However they are often very imaginative. Our favourite tonight was "So boil me in bubble bath".
It's a nice short book, so am hoping to get it finished for the big day on Sunday :)
I find her novels quite dark, always have done. I am a sensitive soul, and sometimes find that I spend books or TV programmes in a state of perpetual unrest as to what misery might befall the characters. I am no longer physically capable of watching Casualty, because I imagine all sorts of horrendous possibilities for horrific injury and death to all of the characters at all times.
The Killer Cat series is very funny, but is a catalogue of disastrous events. A is much like me, and does tend to close her eyes when she can sense that the cat is about to do severe damage to somebody or something.
We have the box set of the first four novels, but saw the Christmas version in the library. I have read the first two chapters to the kids tonight, and it really is very funny. The Killer Cat (or Tuffy to his family) regularly makes quips along the lines of "so shoot me if I accidentally ripped the paper to shreds". However they are often very imaginative. Our favourite tonight was "So boil me in bubble bath".
It's a nice short book, so am hoping to get it finished for the big day on Sunday :)
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs
C and I snuggled up earlier to read Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs, which I plucked from our amply-stacked Random Christmas Books I Don't Remember Buying But Clearly Did shelf. He was in a bit of a grump with the red-suited bearded one, as we'd been to a National Trust property to meet him, and FC had had the audacity to give C a present which we already have. Disaster!
However this meant that C's grumpiness was matched in a very fitting way with FC's grumpiness. He loved the dream sequence where FC tries to dream his holiday dream again but it is broken and ruined. He enjoyed the fact that there were very few words, and that he could read the story through the pictures.
A joined us half-way through, so we went through it again, and C was able to recall all of the story without looking through the pictures again. Briggs always produces such clear visual images. I particularly love the 1930s semis, and the way the fronts of all the houses are cut-away, doll's house style.
The Amazon reviews contain a lot of indignation about how grumpy FC is. A and C found this hilarious! C said that you can tell he's a nice man, because he's nice to his animals. Neither of them commented that FC had no human contact, and eats his Christmas dinner alone, which always strikes me as a little bit sad.
However this meant that C's grumpiness was matched in a very fitting way with FC's grumpiness. He loved the dream sequence where FC tries to dream his holiday dream again but it is broken and ruined. He enjoyed the fact that there were very few words, and that he could read the story through the pictures.
A joined us half-way through, so we went through it again, and C was able to recall all of the story without looking through the pictures again. Briggs always produces such clear visual images. I particularly love the 1930s semis, and the way the fronts of all the houses are cut-away, doll's house style.
The Amazon reviews contain a lot of indignation about how grumpy FC is. A and C found this hilarious! C said that you can tell he's a nice man, because he's nice to his animals. Neither of them commented that FC had no human contact, and eats his Christmas dinner alone, which always strikes me as a little bit sad.
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