Love that baby!

"A book about babies for new brothers, sisters, cousins and friends" - we have found a little gem in Love That Baby!

Benji just adores it and so do I. It is not a story, it's more of an instruction manual for little kids on how to handle a new baby. It is divided into chapters on topics such as feeding, baby talk, crying and sleeping and provides little tips for kids such as "If your baby grabs something of yours, the chances are it will go right in her mouth and come back to you all wet and yucky". Ha! So true... and this pearler "Babies wee in their nappies because they don't know or care about toilets...".

I found particularly insightful the tips on how to stop a baby from crying, like holding it up in front of a mirror or a running tap (maybe not so realistic with stage 3a water restrictions). Ben seems to like the page where various excuses are offered for why babies cry, such as "My tummy is sore", "I've done poos" and "I'm tired and want to go to sleep". He also likes the games page showing peekabo and This Little Piggy, offering his toes for a tickle.

As for the illustrations, Benji loves the baby on the rug, which - if you will permit me to show off something I learnt at library school - is on the verso of the title page. And he breaks into a huge smile when we get to the series of peekabo pictures. We've read this book countless times already and it's even done a trip to IKEA.

Books have become an integral part of our daily routine now. We read a few books in the morning, a couple before Ben's afternoon sleep on stay-at-home days and then we read lots at night. He reminds me about them where we're getting his pyjamas on even. In the last few weeks he's been sitting down by himself reading one when I've picked him up from childcare. Good work Benji!

Love that baby! is by Kathryn Lasky and illustrated by Jennifer Plecas

Bedtime storytime at Hawthorn Library

For something completely different, Benji and I went to bedtime storytime at Hawthorn Library tonight, along with around 30 other kids, mums and dads. All the kids were in their pyjamas and carrying teddies, snuggled up with their parents on big leather beanbags and listening intently to the stories Rita the librarian was reading.

Meanwhile Benji was roaring around the Australian history section, through the folios, to the old photocopier room and back again. Thankfully Ian turned up 10 minutes later and calmed him down so that we could join the other families and listen to the last story which was about penguins.

Storytime was capped off with everyone making a circle and holding hands, singing a song that I'd never heard before, a la the Hokey Pokey. Benji was in the middle of the circle doing some kind of Cossack dancing.

Afterwards we, as in Ian and I, did an activity which was colouring in a whale, cutting it out and taping a straw for a blowhole which you could fill with water to spurt out. We did a sensational job of our whale as you can see, with Ben contributing about 2 minutes out of his busy schedule to colour in the spots at the bottom and add a few stripes.

Bedtime storytime is a monthly event at each of the Boroondara libraries and despite Ben's less than impressive performance, we will take him again. He loved being amongst other kids, who were all older, and proudly showed off his stuffed toy puffin to them. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Insofar as yesterday's borrowings go, the big hit so far has been the Ahlbergesque Love That Baby! More about it next time...

Fun visit to the library

I had every intention last night of posting what we had just read but fell asleep about 5 seconds after putting down the last book. So Benji and I had a lovely 10 hour sleep together and consequently we've been in top form today!


Last night's repetoire comprised a Spot book, My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes and The Wonky Donkey. Since our ebay purchasing junket we have been playing the My Cat Likes to Hide in Bokez game which goes something like:

Kate: "The cat from Spain flew an aeroplane but my cat liks to hide in..."

Benji: "BOKEZ!!!"


And so on and on and on, through France and Norway then via Berlin to Greece and way across to Japan and then crossing the equator down to Brazil.

The star of the night was The Wonky Donkey. Erin and Edward gave it to Benji for his 2nd birthday, which is funny because they gave him My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes for his 1st birthday. It's a doozy although Benji doesn't quite get it. It starts with "I was walking down the road and I saw a donkey, HEE HAW! and he only had three legs! He was a wonky donkey". Then it is revealed the donkey has one eye and likes country music, which makes him a honky-tonky winky wonky donkey. Then we find out he's tall and slim, so he's a lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey. I never realised that there are so many nky-ending words in the english language.

I love reading this tongue-twister of a book. It rhymes, I get to express myself with a tremendous HEE HAW! on every page and - Benji will love this one day - it has a fart joke in it. The illustrations are great too.

Our 10 hour sleep resulted in a lovely trip to the library this morning. Benji spent quite a while jumping on the beanbags in the children's area before settling down to read a few stories. We stayed for about an hour and have made a list on the right side of the page of what we borrowed. You cant go wrong when 3 out of your 10 books' titles end with an exclamation mark. I am especially looking forward to Crusher is Coming! and Mister Magnolia, while Benji has his sights on Wibbly Pig Likes Bananas. Which is fine, so long as it gives us break from the omnipresent Spot. His cutesy puppy dog antics are beginning to get on my nerves...

On the receiving end of Spot

On both Saturday and Sunday nights I had the pleasure of Ben reading Spot to me. It was interesting to see which things he had picked up along the way - the most emphatically read page was from Spot Goes on Holiday where Spot tries to swipe a towel from the hippopotamus getting changed in the bathing box. I was pretty impressed with his intonation.

This evening we went to the park after dinner and then had to go and pick up an ebay purchase past Springvale Rd. Benji was getting a bit restless in the back of the car so I promised him some stories when we got home and then we then recited My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes which passed the time rather well.

Tonight we had 3 stories, oldies but goodies: Who Sank the Boat, My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes and Grandpa and Thomas and the Green Umbrella. The next 2 days are home days (carless, panel beater, oops) so we will walk to the library and borrow a big stack of picture books. Which reminds me, I'm going to go to the library's website now to check the catalogue to see that Avocado Baby and The Elephant and the Bad Baby are on the shelf. Oh yes and how could I forget, Crusher is Coming! - now that is a top read!

I was a children's librarian at Hawthorn Library before I was a lawyer. It was such fun, especially preschool storytime on Fridays at 11am with Bec. How can I ever forget us being halfway through a story when 4 year old Sally called out to Bec and I "I'll show you my bum later if you want". None of the kids got it but the mums up the back had a good laugh. I wonder what she's doing now, 12 years later? Hopefully not showing people her bum...

I will have to change my work days once Benji is capable of sitting still for 3 stories in a row just so that we can go to preschool storytime. He would love it.

Avocado Baby is by John Burningham

The Elephant and the Bad Baby is by Elfrida Vipont and illustrated by Raymond Briggs

Crusher is Coming! is by Bob Graham

A counting book: take 2

I got out of the shower this morning and heard noises from the bedroom. "Banana... banana... BANANA!!!", Ian was reading BANANA! to Benji who had planted himself in the middle of the following (clockwise from top left corner):

1. The 12 Days of Christmas

2. Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo

3. BANANA!

4. Spot Visits his Grandparents

5. Who Sank the Boat?

6. Grandpa and Thomas and the Green Umbrella

7. Spot Goes on Holiday

The two 'books' in the foreground are a sticker book and a colouring book and despite protestations, they are not for reading. Minutes later we were out the door and off to work/childcare.

This evening Benji chose Spot Goes on Holiday (it's wearing a bit thin B). I chose some newbies, Sometimes... and The Waterhole. Benji got Sometimes... for his 1st birthday and it is a sweet book, particularly the wonderful illustrations which look like lino cuts mixed with collage. It serves perfectly as a bedtime story with its short and simple storyline being a mum elephant telling her baby that she loves him whether he's happy or sad, good or bad, scared or brave, not knowing how to behave, dirty or clean, kind or mean. Wow now that I look through this book again, the illustrations are amazing. Wonder if they come in framed prints? I had a flashback to The Elephant and the Bad Baby while I was reading this book - that is definitely one to go in search for an add to Benji's bookshelf.

Next up was The Waterhole by Graeme Base which was given to Benji by none other than Katy the Children's Librarian. It's a counting book - 1 through to 10 - of animals who visit a waterhole to drink. The illustrations are also amazing yet completely different to Sometimes...'s in that they're really intricate and full of hidden surprises such as other animals and a gang of frogs. Benji loves the frogs and calls out "Frogs! Frogs!" as we turn each page.

But I get really sad when I read this book because as it progresses the water in the hole dwindles. By the last page, which shows 10 sad kangaroos standing around a dry waterhole, I am heartbroken. And that poor little frog with his suitcase in the bottom corner who turns his back on the waterhole... what will become of him?

Sometimes... is by Emma Dodd

The Waterhole is by Graeme Base

The 12 days of Christmas

Yes it's unseasonal and no, it doesn't have Santa in it, but I wanted to do a counting book and by complete coincidence Benji picked The 12 Days of Christmas to read tonight (amongst others). Sadly, we didn't get past the partridge as he took an instant dislike to it. He must have found out I bought it at The Reject Shop for $5.

We had back-up though in the form of: Who Sank the Boat? (again), Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo (again) and Spot Visits His Grandparents. I think the latter needs no elaboration as to the storyline, nor Benji's predictable enjoyment of if, particularly as it was a work day today and a taxing one at that.

I am however delighted to report that the hitting, and aggression in general, stopped a week ago. It's a belated Christmas miracle!

Big book day

Busy day but fitted in lots of books... Benji is now doing what he did as a 15 month old which is head for the books first when he is looking for something to do.

First thing this morning he brought me BANANA! to read. Then a couple of hours later we did a Spot trilogy: Spot Goes on Holiday, Spot's First Walk and Spot Stays Overnight. I love Spot Stays Overnight, especially "Time for bed boys!" and "Hi Mum what do you want?" which I always read in a really whiney voice - "Awwwww muuuuuuuuuuuum... ". Spot is getting a bit too young for Ben now but it gives him confidence because he can name everything on the page, like bike, bone, bee and so on.

This evening we went out and got home late so I suggested we go to bed without a book but that didn't go down too well. So we bundled into bed with: BANANA! (I reiterate, not bedtime reading), 2 of the Spots, My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes and lastly Grandpa and Thomas and the Green Umbrella. I read BANANA! quietly and got some lovely smiles at the end when the monkeys shared the banana. Then the Spots - Ben had no energy to lift what flaps remain. Next was My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes which is always a winner with clever repetitive rhymes and a tour through a variety of countries. Then Grandpa and Thomas and the Green Umbrella which should be in our Top 5.


I bought this book at the Hill of Content after spending a lovely weekend by the Great Ocean Road last December. I wanted to reinforce the whole beach experience for Benji with a book and this one was the only one about beaches there, and now I think even if I'd been presented with a huge range of kids' books I couldn't have picked a better one. It's got all your beach paraphernalia in it: spades, buckets, umbrellas, sand, sticks, suncream, swimming, bathers and lots of beach.

Benji loves his Grandpas so it's not surprising he loves this book where Grandpa and toddler Thomas go to the beach for a day out. The lunch scene is a particular favourite, although I haven't managed to convince Ben that Grandpa's thermos isn't an icypole. Admittedly I don't read the text to this book, I make up my own from the pictures which are beautiful: golden sand, clear water and when the weather turns, blustery grey winds and rain.

In the last 24 hours Beniji's counting has improved immensely so I will steer him towards a counting book tomorrow.


BANANA! is by Ed Vere
The Spots are by Eric Hill
My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes is by Eve Sutton and illustrated by Lynley Dodd
Grandpa and Thomas and the Green Umbrella is by Pamela Allen

Each peach pear plum quince and 2 monkey stories

We walked down to the park after dinner this evening. On the way there we passed what I thought was a pear tree hanging over the footpath. It had lots of fruit on it and Benji thought it was pretty special.

We spent a lot of time outside today so by the time we got home Ben was pretty tired. I checked Google images to see what the fruit tree was - a quince - and we skipped bathtime and headed straight to bed, armed with Things I Like and Each Peach Pear Plum. I was going to pick only one book, being BANANA!, but thought it far better for daytime reading than bedtime reading, as it involves an argument between 2 monkeys over a banana which they ultimately share happily. It is a really fun book and I think it encourages empathy, because each time we read it Benji becomes quite forlorn when one of the monkeys doesn't get any banana after being promised some.

We read Each Peach Pear Plum first. We've had it for quite a while but have only read it once or twice, despite it rhyming. Tonight he listened quietly, making occasional observations as to what was going on (it wasn't easy explaining why there's a baby floating down the river in a bassinette).

The highlights were firstly, it had big juicy fruit trees in it - which we had just seen in real life an hour earlier! - and secondly, the page with the witch in the sky on a broomstick. Benji furrowed his brow when he looked at her so I explained she is just like Meg from Meg and Mog. To trigger his memory I recited that part of the book where Meg gets dressed and pointed out that this witch was wearing black socks, big black shoes, a long black cloak and a tall black hat. He got it, said "Flying" and then suddenly exclaimed "Careful!!" thinking she was going to fall out of the sky. It was a pretty cute moment.

We topped off a great day together with Things I Like, focussing on the birthday parties page and counting the cakes on the party table. The last page shows the monkey sleeping in his bed and saying that he likes dreaming. It reminded me of a conversation I had at work yesterday with Kate who has 3 children and who has learnt to only read bedtime books that end with someone going to bed (she mentioned Peepo! which is also by Janet and Allan Ahlberg and Where is the Green Sheep?). Not a bad idea...

Each Peach Pear Plum is by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Things I Like is by Anthony Browne

BANANA! is by Ed Vere

Meg and Mog is by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski

Where is the Green Sheep? is by Mem Fox and illustrated by Judy Horacek

Ernie and the 'doo

Today was a work day. When I got to childcare at around 10 to 6, Benji was sitting on the floor reading Spot's Birthday Party to himself. I perched myself on the teensiest chair ever and read it with him. And then we read it again - it was a true Spot experience given most of the flaps were missing.

We started off tonight with Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy. I bought it last Thursday thinking he'd like it because it is very similar to My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes which he really likes (and which I like reading even more). But by Schnitzel von Krum he'd had enough so I'll try it again in a few days' time. Then he picked Who Sank the Boat? from the pile, but quickly turned to the part where the pig climbs into the boat and started squealing "Pig butter! Pig butter!". I can't quite see the humour in pig butter... anyway, next up was Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo which we read 4 times.

Benji got Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo from Jessie for his birthday. She wrote a little inscription on the first page which I am commanded to read each time, probably because it contains the very popular words "Happy birthday".

Ernie moves to Arnhem Land because his parents are working at a hospital there. The story takes place over the course of a year and each double-page spread shows what Ernie and his new friends are doing as the seasons changes around them. The illustrations are dreamlike - lots of greens, blues, pinks and orange. The picture to the left is Benji's favourite. Tonight we paused on this page for a couple of minutes, pointing out the moon, the birds (which are bats), the house, the river, Ernie getting out of the car and his new friends sitting under the tree. My favourite illustrations are these 3 wet ones on the right below.

I was super-pleased that Benji referred to the kids under the tree as "friends" on the second read-through, as usually any person he encounters is called a boy. He also picked up the words "goanna" and "surfing" and as with previous reads was particularly excited by "Joseph does backflips off the coconut tree" as he fancies himself as a gymnast. And... ... ... look out for the special guest appearance by Santa riding in the back of a ute.

Spot's Birthday Party is by Eric Hill

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy is by Lynley Dodd

Who Sank the Boat? is by Pamela Allen

Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo is by Alison Lester.

Wow, by coincidence they're all author-illustrators tonight!

So stuck on Stick Man

Stick Man is currently our favourite book because it's funny and clever and actually makes you realise how useful sticks are.

Amy and Ned gave it to Benji for his second birthday, along with Harry the Dirty Dog, which incidentally I vividly remember reading when I was a kid. Benji can only manage 2 pages of Harry before he gets distracted by something else (like Stick Man). My research to date indicates that active little 2 year old boys like rhyming and colour and movement in pictures (Harry has neither).

Stick Man's got everything: it rhymes, it has colourful pictures, it has the word "pooh" in it, it has a Dad in it (any book with a Dad in it is a hit with Benji) and last but not least Santa makes an appearance as do presents and a Christmas tree.

Stick Man lives with his stick family in a tree and goes out for a jog one day. He is picked up by a dog who plays fetch with him. Then a girl picks him up and throws him into a river. He floats downstream and is picked up by a swan who uses him to build a nest... and so on. At every turn Stick Man begs to go back to the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and stick children three. Things get a bit hairy when he ends up in a fireplace but fortunately for him, Santa saves the day by taking him by sleigh back to his family. The final illustration is Stick Man dancing around his lounge room with his family under the mistletoe and holly.

The thing I like the most about this book though is that Benji calls it "Sticker Man".

We read Stick Man tonight. The phone rang just as Santa was coming down the chimney, which Benji just had to go and investigate. We returned to Things I Like - a great book because it actually does list everything Benji likes, such as painting, acrobatics, swimming, parties and birthday cakes.

I have a voucher for $16.46 from Readers' Feast and it's a work day tomorrow so I may well go and buy a book at lunchtime. They've got one about penguins there which looks pretty good...

** Stick Man is by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

** Harry the Dirty Dog is by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham.

** Things I Like is by Anthony Browne.

Benji's bookshelf is reborn

My name is Kate and I am 37. I live in Hawthorn in a tiny old house with my beloved partner Ian and our son Benjamin, who is 2 years and 2 months old.

I work 3 days a week. Benji goes to childcare around the corner on the days I work. He's been going since February last year and seems to love it, although he still gets upset when I leave him there in the morning. As a consequence, I usually board the train in the morning with a heavy heart.

Lately more and more people say to me "You've got your hands full" or "He's a live wire!". Yes he is and I love it. That was until the lovely warm energy flowing through his veins ended up as a whack or a kick, mostly aimed at me. This all started 4 weeks before Christmas and escalated.

Then last Tuesday I lost it. He sunk his teeth into my wrist as I was holding his hand in a toy shop. I was so upset I put back what I'd picked up, left the shop and went to the car. I screamed at him, burst into tears, ranted for a couple of minutes and then gave him the silent treatment. He looked grief-stricken in the review mirror. I felt terrible.

Unprovoked, he said sorry as we neared home. I said "It's allright mate", reached back and stroked his hand and that was that. The next day I bought Toddler Taming and by the second page I had an epiphany - we had to get back into books.

Ben was born surrounded by books and by age 1 he had a formidable collection. We used to go to the library every few weeks. He adored Hooray for Fish, Where is the Green Sheep? and Spot. I made a The Very Hungry Caterpillar cake for his 1st birthday.

Then I went back to work and my time and enthusiasm for books - and the library - waned. TV crept into our daily lives and by the age of 2, our book-future wasn't bright. Muno from Yo Gabba Gabba featured on the 2nd birthday cake - sure he's a great guy but the Muno Cake inspired Muno Talk and lots of Muno TV Watching. And then more TV watching - even I was heavily into What's Your News, Chuggington, Superwhy! and Fresh Beat Band which are excellent programmes but TV nonetheless.

Books are the answer. Toddler Taming says toddlers crave 3 things: attention, time and love and affection. Reading books = my undivided attention for Benji. And I love kids' books - they're easy to read, funny and colourful. And we get to snuggle when we read them. And we laugh and we read them again and he learns new words and we're both blissfully happy.

So on Wednesday night we sank into the couch to read Who Sank the Boat - 5 times. The next night Benji used his new words "donkey" and "knitting" as we read it again. On Friday night he used more new words, "pier" and "butter". Tonight, laughs all round as "pig butter! pig butter!" is squealed in delight. I'm so happy we're back into books.