Three great holiday kids books: ‘The Girl Who Speaks Bear’, ‘The Enormous Crocodile’ and ‘The Boy and the Tree’.
As an editor, reviewing books has become one of my favourite perks of the job.
One of the nicest aspects of being a mom is my designation as ‘official reader of books’.
The title is right up there with ‘master of plasters’ and ‘kisser of einas’.
My audience never tires of me and there is always a request for ‘one more story, mommy?’.
Daniël (5) is learning his letters and cannot wait to read for himself.
Ruben (3) wants the same book so often he knows the words by heart and ‘reads’ them to me.
The previous favourite – ‘My first book of farm animals’ (the title carrying the sickening implication that there may be a second edition) – we ‘lost’ because I couldn’t handle it any more.
So ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle (a must for every bookshelf) is a huge improvement.
Now that Daniël is a little older we can read meatier books, ones I enjoy almost more than he does.
The likes of Roald Dalhl, Enid Blyton and A A Milne are the things that childhoods are made of.
Of course there are a lot of new authors out there and it’s been quite thrilling to discover some new favourites.
As an editor, reviewing books has become one of my favourite perks of the job.
I received a whole stack of children’s books from Penguin Random House last week.
Right now I am curled up every evening with ‘The Girl Who Speaks Bear’ by Sophie Anderson.
A magical Russian fairytale that is storytelling at its finest.
Daniël is not quite ready for it but I will keep it on the top shelf until he is.
Until then, I can lose myself in The Snow Forest with 12-year-old Yanka, who is on a journey to find herself.
Discovered in a bear cave as a baby, Yaka was raised in a small village on the edge of a wild forest.
The forest calls to her but she has never been brave enough to follow its call.
When she wakes up one day with bear legs she must delay no more.
Sophie Anderson is a gifted writer who has created a compelling character in Yanka, who’s own story is interwoven with magical tales of the forest.
Are they just stories, or clues to her past?
She is aided by her animal guides, including lovable Mousetrap, the weasel; Ivan the wolf; Yuri, a young elk and Blakiston the fish owl.
Suitable for ages 8 to 88.
Next on my list was the picture book ‘The Boy and the Tree’.
I get excited and so proud when I discover a gem like this written and illustrated by South Africans, in this case the talented Marleen Lammers and Anja Stoeckigt.
This one spoke directly to my heart.
I remember having a favourite tree in our garden (it’s still there).
I would carry up armfuls of toys and pretend to be in Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree with Silky and Moonface.
One year it fell over in a storm and I was devastated.
My parents saved it and today my boys love to climb it.
At only 5 and 3 my heart flutters a little but I try hard not to hold them back.
It’s hard not to laugh at myself as I cannot seem to stop myself saying ‘hold tight’ and ‘not so high’.
The story goes that a young boy is sad because he does not have a great many toys.
The tree overhears his complaint and shows him all the adventures to be had playing in its boughs.
Beautifully written in verse and with quirky illustrations that will make it a firm favourite.
Last but not least, I have to mention that in my pile of new books the publishers also sent a classic.
It might be from 1978 but you can quickly see why Roald Dahl is considered the master of children’s lit.
‘The Enormous Crocodile’ is by far Daniël’s favourite of the stack.
My husband started reading it to him last night and I could hear him shrieking with laughter from the other room.
Lying together in the dark later (after much begging to have the story completed) he recounted the story to me in vivid detail, including what he thought would happen next (based on a sneaky peek at the illustrations).
Fair to say, this one is a keeper.
I hope to raise readers. So far it’s looking promising.
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“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” – Groucho Marx
