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Bad Dad (brought to you by Bad Dad)
La Serpiente has begun to enjoy chapter books, mostly about a mouse called Sophie, but noticing this development a few months ago, I bought her a copy of Bad Dad by David Walliams. It drew my attention while we were in a bookshop in Fremantle: the cover is bright green, the illustrations are reminiscent of […]
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Sammy and the Pecan Pie
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People had such effective sales that they launched a children’s edition, 7 Habits of Happy Kids, on the back of it. When I saw the fourth part of this on the shelf in the Toa Payoh Public Library, I figured it was time to upgrade my kids.
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Apes A-Go-Go
This evening I read the girls Apes A-Go-Go, a short story about unintended consequences. It is set in a provincial town, on the verge of winning the Tidiest Town competition for a third consecutive year. Except one flower is slightly out of place…
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The Tiger Who Came To Tea (reprise)
Next Wednesday my wife is going out carousing, but she got the dates muddled up and thought it was tonight, so she got dressed up and legged it with me supervising the children, until she realised when she was down at the shops buying wine that she’d got things wrong. Still, I need the practice […]
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Fish is Fish
Fish is Fish is the slightly melancholy, cautionary tale of what happens if you have too much confidence and curiousity, and friends from a different species. As such, I’m not sure of its suitability for bedtime stories. The book begins with two friends, a minnow and a tadpole, sadly driven apart as the tadpole begins […]
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Double Trouble In Walla Walla
Double Trouble In Walla Walla was first published in 1997, so it’s taken me almost 19 years to get around to it. I must admit that my selection of it was entirely opportune, borne out of the distraction that comes when your three-and-a-half-year-old is urinating over you in a public library, and you’re not consciously […]
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Made By Raffi
One of La Serpiente’s current favourite books is Made By Raffi, the story of a slight, quiet, longhaired boy who doesn’t like the rowdy activities of his classmates, and finds salvation in knitting scarves and making clothes.
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Mr Wayne’s Masterpiece
At long last, La Serpiente and I seem to have reached agreement on what a suitable book for bedtime is. No more arguments over whether we’ll read Fantastic Mr Fox or not. No more parents reduced to tears by Love You Forever. Instead, a thin hardback book that was chosen either by me or by […]
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Pony Scouts: At The Show
In addition to the vomit-inducing Backhoe Joe, La Serpiente has been making me read Pony Scouts: At The Show, a level 2 reading book ("High-interest stories for developing readers" according to the blurb.) While I’m allergic to horses, we can be fairly confident that the book isn’t making my daughter sick, as she made me […]
