Here are my reading finds of the week:
This is a fantastic book for anyone who loves the outdoors. One of the things I miss most about living on the West Coast is the proximity to majestic rain forests (and I am not an outdoorsy person at all. I just took all that nature for granted!). I have a hard time in Toronto finding some wild and getting my kids out on forest walks. This book is about that search.
With stunning illustrations and descriptive, poetic text, a boy and a girl search for wild. They go through the seasons, explore how wild can hurt or sting but how it can soothe and calm. Wild is buried deep below our concrete cities but you can always find some wild.
What did we learn?
We learned about terrains and seasons, we learned how wild can hurt us (like touching a cactus) and how it can soothe us, and what we can find in the wild (like wolves howling). We learned to look for wild even in the city.
Why I love it:
The illustrations are absolutely lovely and Lloyd’s lyrical writing is so lovely: “Wild roars and barks and hisses and brays. It storm-thunders and wind-whispers. Wild sings.” Finding nature with my children is really important to me so this book has a place on our bookshelf to remind us to get outside and search for wilderness.
I think I picked this up because I am trying to force George to love dragons (his Chinese name means ‘Happy Dragon’) and because the author’s last name is George’s middle name (and my mum’s maiden name). It turned out to be a favourite for George – hooray!
In it, King Jack with Sir Zak and Sir Caspar (his friend and his baby brother), build a castle in which to fight dragons and beasts. A giant comes to take Sir Zak home (his dad) and Sir Caspar has to go to bed, leaving King Jack all alone to defend his kingdom. It is a bit scary being all by himself as the sky gets dark and strange noises surround him, but luckily his mom and dad are nearby to rescue him (although he is so brave he really didn’t need rescuing).
What did we learn?
You can be and build anything using your imagination.
Why I love it:
I changed the names so it was King George, Lady Ellie and Lady Alice – which George LOVED. I love how this book shows us how a few boxes and sheets can create a kingdom for a child. The power of imagination is so magical at this young age – even George believing that this book is about him – is so sweet.
This is an entire series and I love it all. George recently became enamoured with otters so I got all the books from the library that I could that starred otters. This became a fast favourite.
Otter is a mischievous little guy that lives with Otter Keeper, his best friend Teddy, and Giraffe. In this book, Otter decides he should open a restaurant so that he and Teddy can have jobs. From the beginning things go wrong and it is all Teddy’s fault. So Otter fires him and does it all himself, while making a massive mess in the kitchen. When Otter Keeper returns home, Otter tries to blame it all on Teddy but quickly realizes that he misses his friend and that it wasn’t his fault.
What did we learn?
To not blame others for your mistakes.
Why I love it:
Otter is just a really funny little character. It’s written well and is very cute. George absolutely loves all the Otter books so we highly recommend them.
Happy Reading,
Curious in Wonderland
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