Recommended Xmas books and a CD
by Corinne Lamoral, freelance writer and media consultant, practicing part time corporate communications. She lives with her husband and three children on a koppie in Johannesburg where she pretends the distant hum of traffic is the ocean.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the amount of plastic pushed at children over Christmas, head to the refuge of a bookshop and stock up on some of these favourites.
FANTASTICAL FLYING MACHINES
By Simon Wild and Timothy Knapman (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Wildly original and entertaining, this pop up book tells a rhyming tale of Sally and Jack’s great race and little fight against Baron Von Bang Bang’s dirty tricks.
Age: 2 – 6
THE PIG’S KNICKERS
By Jonathan Emmett (Walker Books)
When pig finds a pair of knickers he puts them on and feels special, making him sing and dance for all his friends. What happens when he loses them teaches about how the person, not the clothes make you special. The sight of a pig wearing polka dot panties had my 4 year old in fits of giggles and the punch line even more so.
Age: 2-6
THE TROLL - book and CD
By Julia Donaldson and David Roberts (Macmillan Children’s books)
The latest book from the bestselling author of The Gruffalo was an instant hit in our house. Loosely based on the story of the troll who calls out “Who’s that trip trapping across my bridge?” this story features hungry pirates and clever creatures that manage to outwit the troll. The CD inspires you to read with great gusto and pirate pizzazz.
Age: 2 -10
MY FIRST BOOK OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN CREEPY CRAWLIES
By Charmaine Uys (Struik)
A new release from Struik’s excellent range of children’s nature books, this is a well-illustrated introduction to some of the 58 spiders, scorpions, snails, millipedes and other creepy crawlies (not insects) that your children are likely to encounter in their environment. All text is in English, Afrikaans, Xhosa and Zulu.
Age: 2 – 10
BINK AND GOLLIE
By Kate Di Camillo and Alison McGhee (Walker Books)
Welcome to the adventures of Bink – who is tiny, impulsive and filled with enthusiasm and Gollie – who is tall, cool and uses big words. A charming friendship story with a really humorous storyline, the illustrations by Tony Fucile, who designed The Incredibles, add to the book’s originality.
Age: 6 -8
CHRISTMAS CAROLS
Macmillan Children’s Books
With words and music for 25 classic carols including Once in Royal David’s City,Little Drummer Boy and We Three Kings, this is a great buy for the whole family.
Age: 6 and up.
A FAMILY CHRISTMAS – music CD
Putumayo World Music CD
Give your festive season a bluesy folk and jazz inspired feel with Putumayo’s roundup of Christmas classics like Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Jolly Old St Nick. My kids were initially unsure of these less recognisable versions of Christmas songs but once we put it on in the background while making dinner, it gave a fun holiday vibe. Good for grown up parties too.
Dandylion and Here comes Frankie: children’s books reviewed
Corinne Lamoral is a freelance writer and media consultant and mother of three children 3-9yrs. She reviews books and movies for a living which has sharpened her eye to spot out the must see’s and must reads out there.
1. DANDYLION
by Lizzie Findlay (Random House)
This is a gem of a book – beautifully written and illustrated and sharing a message that will make your soul sing. It’s OK to be different! Dandylion is the new kid in class and right from the start he stands out. With his fun attitude to life and zany way of doing things, he spills paint in his eagerness, brings sweet sandwiches to school and finally gets the whole class in trouble by going wild with a Koki pen… Dandylion learns a big lesson but so do his classmates when they ask him to stop being so wild and he decides to stay at home. This is great for provoking discussion about how everyone does things differently and how we can all learn from each other.
Age: Good for children aged 3 up to around 8. Older children will find it too simplistic.
2. HERE COMES FRANKIE
by Tim Hopgood (Macmillan Children’s Books)
With a burst of sound and colour Frankie finds his true calling in this gorgeous book by the award-winning author of books like Our Big Blue Sofa and A Dog Called Rod. The cover illustration of a little boy playing the trumpet grabbed my attention as I fished it out from behind the other books on the Exclusives shelf. What a find. My nearly four-year old son Joseph loves trumpets and the delight on his face as he watched Frankie making colours with his sounds was wonderful. The story follows Frankie and his very quiet librarian parents who read books and do the crossword everyday until Frankie announces LOUDLY that he wants to learn to play the trumpet. The story introduces the concept of Synaesthesia –the mixing of the senses that allows some people, like jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, to perceive colours, shapes and smells in music.
Age: 3 to 10yrs. Older children will get the concept more, but Hopgood’s illustrations will talk to everyone.2
