:: Quick Lit May ::

While I had the project to work on a book blog in my mother tongue, I don’t seem able to really commit, mainly because it’s hard to find the time and the inner peace needed for some uninterrupted reading. I don’t have problems with reading small chunks, but larger blocks of time help a lot to make some progress.
The last few weeks were all about short chapters and a few pages here and there. I didn’t finish many books, but I have been reading quite often. Let me show you:

On my e-reader I downloaded Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne. I’m still reading it, and while I think it will be very hard to implement much of it into my daily life, it gave me a lot to ponder. I’m only three chapters in and I finally had the urge to clean out the room of our toddler girl. I did the same thing for the preschooler in the house and I already see great improvement: he goes to his room more often for some independent play. I’m highlighting while reading and I’m sure to come back to give a more in-depth review of this book and the lessons I took from it, once finished. If you can’t wait and are interested: Meagan from Whole Family Rhythms has a series in which she discusses the book chapter by chapter.

 

I finished two novels this month. One is actually a secret – an author asked to read it and give my honest opinion (I still have to make time to give my feedback) . While I was hesitant at first and thought his story could use some decent editing, his use of short chapters pulled me into his narrative and I ended up finding it an enjoyable read (it’s a heavy subject though).

 

The second one is The Truth by Michael Palin. I randomly picked it up from a library shelf and I am glad I did. It was maybe slightly predictable but I appreciated this story about a man, plain midlife crisis, trying to live up to his once big ideals, hoping there is still enough left of them to make the right decisions.

 

I still have De Ommegang, the newest one of Jan Van Aken on my bedside table. He’s a Dutch historical fiction writer (as far as I know his work has not been translated). There is some reading progress but it is a slow read and I’m not sure yet if I will finish it.
A book I abandoned although I was really eager to read it, is Over oude wegen (on ancient roads, also untranslated) by Mathijs Deen. I was expecting more fictional storytelling on a historical canvas, but got a bit disappointed. I guess it’s not a bad book, it’s just not what I was hoping it would be.

Lately I’ve been enjoying rereading one of my own favorites as a child with my boy: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. I sometimes have to adapt the vocabulary a little while reading and some of the stereotypes make me shiver now. We both love it as a bedtime story book and I’m proud to tell that my son requested it himself!

Our current favorite picture book is also a reread: Guess how much I love you by Sam Mc Bratney and Anita Jeram. My boy read it at school for Mother’s Day and all children got a copy as a present. Even if it’s everywhere and completely commercialized now, I still love the beautiful heartwarming story about the little rabbit and his father.

 

 

The youngest kid in the house is loving her books lately. I’ve drastically reduced the pile of books in the living room and now she has a few favorites left that she loves to bring us (that includes me, my husband and her big brother, who takes his job very seriously!). Because she knows them well, she starts using some of the words in it herself and my heart always swells with pride. I love it, those first steps in verbal communication! She’s really fond of the story of Max and his pacifier by Barbro Lindgren and Eva Eriksson (I can’t find that one in English though, but it is a series and I think in English the main character is called Sam), but also a word book with her favorite clown (Bumba, a rather loud and annoying television character here in Belgium. It’s supposed to be educational but it uses made-up words all the time. The thing is: the kids love it. Adore it. *sigh*) and a lovely little book by Fleur van der Weel that tells the day of the cute cat Piep.

 

What have you been reading lately?

Little Boy reads

Even if Little Boy is really very tired when I pick him up from daycare, we still like to read at least one book before going to bed. I made sure to pick some books that had a few sentences of text – a nice rhythm, or a hint of a story I could tell. While he loves books with separate words and name giving, in my experience the bedtime books need to have a story, so he can just watch.

For many readers, these will be maybe less usable, a lot of the books is only published in Dutch and therefore maybe a little less interesting in the other end of the world. I’ll give a brief description anyway, because well, you just never know…

 

All of the books together and the translated version of ‘Das gross Buch der Bilder und Wörter’ by Ole Könneke. It’s the least favorite right now, because the images aren’t fully recognizable yet for Little Boy and there are a lot of things that aren’t yet part of his world.

 

Two bedtime books! The first one belongs to our favorite series, Noodles: Noodle loves bedtime, by Marion Billet. He likes the one with the cars and trains better, but this one is nice also. The second one is Het grote slaap-boek, by Guido van Genechten. Only in Dutch as far as I can find. It shows different animals and how they sleep, with a little sentence as a comment. Very funny.

The one below is from the same illustrator/author, Kijk je mee? We have another one in this series with wildlife in our own collection, this one is about domestic and farm animals. Little Boy likes them and the peacock is his new favorite!

 

 

He’s very into animals anyway. What I like (and Little Boy agrees) about the next one, is the mix of (shutter stock) pictures and drawings. It’s just called Huisdieren, by Mack, and every page has a comment, that I often play around with.

 

 

 

 

But the absolute winner lately must be the last one, it’s a recent buy and it’s a watch- and- look- book. Originally in German (Was machen air auf dem Land/in der Stadt?, by Lila L. Leiber, it once were separate books, but my copy unites both parts), it’s interesting for chidden of very young ages but for older ones too because of the things to look for (like in: why is the woman panicking, who doesn’t like cows, how many ducks can you see,…). I handed the book over on a very busy morning where Little Boy was whining, his dad was still in the bathroom and I had to leave for work. He hasn’t even looked at me anymore, that book was an instant success!

 

 

 

 

Sharing with 
Kristen @ Yes Works For Me Wednesday

Little Boy reads

Little Boy loves reading. Although there was no forcing him into loving books, he does naturally and I’m glad he does. So we head to the library to pick up some books. While I love the trip, I hate coming back, because Little Boy hates it too, obviously. He could run around there, surrounded by books, for hours.

So I thought I would show you our last ‘harvest’. I was planning on returning them Wednesday, but writing this post made me realize that there’s missing one. Oh lord. No idea where it has gone. But let’s look at the ones I have here with me…

 

 

Noodle loves to drive (Marion Billet) is a real favorite. It’s the second time already we brought this one home, because it’s a book where he also really appreciates the story and the rhythm of the words that come with the images. I will bring it home more often, because that’s the only book he lets me read without flipping the pages on his own pace. And he repeats it in his own way. There are other Noodles books and they are lovely too, but this one is just ‘tha bomb.’

Die daar is what we’re currently reading a lot. It’s Dutch and as far as I know it’s not translated, but that doesn’t really seem to matter as it is not about the text. I like this one because it’s useable on so many levels. Right now, Little Boy shows me everything so I can name it. Sometimes he tries to mimic what I say. The images are thrown together by ‘category’, like ‘all things green’, or ‘things that go fast’ or ‘auch’. And on almost every page there is something to play with, r something that moves or,… we love this one and I really love the fact that it’s real life pictures without the matching words.

Piep! een nieuwe dag is also in Dutch (it’s about a mouse named Piep, and how a traditional day looks like). On the left page there’s a simple line of text (love the typography and the solid colors or the pages), on the right there’s the image. I like the style and it’s really close to Little Boy’s world. Not that he seems to care. He’s flipping through the pages and that’s about it.

And the last one is a ‘lookbook’ by Anne Suess. I love her books. No texts, but drawings that can carry you away forever. So many things to look at, to talk about. My Little Boy loves it and it’s a book he happily plays with and reads aloud all by himself for quite some time (and let me assure you, that’s quite a thing here). I bought another book of hers about fairy tales and while he loves it too, I can’t wait for him to grow a little older so I can all the fairy tales that are hidden in the filled pages. If you have any suggestions on more books of that kind, please do!