On our Bookshelf: October 2015

You've noticed haven't you? You've seen that I just barely make it back here to blog so much these days.

It kind of annoys me because I LOVE looking back on my posts and remembering our lives and the things the girls have said and done, the stuff we've done and places we've gone.

But the thing is, I just have so many books to read. This month I am doing something that I never usually do. As soon as I finished my book, I started reading it again, in the same night!

To be brutally honest, I never cry in books. Movies - all the time, I can even cry in advertising, but books not so much. Not this time.

My Grandma Sends her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman.

Order it, from the shop, the library or your family for Christmas, because this is one that I won't be lending to my friends.

The story is based around seven year old Elsa and her wonderful Grandma. Grandma has lived a life that most of us can only dream of, a doctor who has travelled the world by going to disasters and helping people when no one else did/could. But in her older years, Elsa, her only grandchild, becomes her everything. How Grandma makes a world far away from the bullies and the annoying adults in Elsa's life is intertwined with a story of mystery, history, sadness and laughter.

This is the second book by Fredrik Backman, a swedish author, the first is also a best seller and currently on my list of 'want to read'.


For Big Kids

Ruby Redfort

These are not new, but Miss 9 has enjoyed getting stuck into a book with a bit more depth than her usual favourites (Weirdo, 65th Storey Treehouse, Roald Dahl).

Written by Lauren Child, if your young reader has been through Charlie and Lola, then onto Clarice Bean and is now looking for something a little more gritty, grab Ruby and try and solve the mystery as you go.

For younger school kids

An Aussie Year

Miss 6 spent last term studying all about culture, family trees and where people arrive in Australia from. We even went to the Immigration Museum and learnt about how and why people move to different countries.

At the same time,  I noticed the book 'An Aussie Year' by Tania McCartney. It's a busy book following the year of a few Australian kids. The images are colourful and each page has lots of things for young readers to scan through, to read the bits they know and guess the rest. These are the types of books that I always tell Miss 9 to read too, because I really don't like it when people leave picture books behind too early.

There is also A Scottish Year and An English Year. These books also take you through lots of the things that happen in these countries, from the eyes of a few different kids.

For all kids

The Boy who Loved the Moon

The last book that has been added to the book shelf is, The Boy who Loved the Moon, by Rino Alaimo.

This is more art than story. My kids didn't really fully understand the story line. They read it a few times and loved looking at the images. The author is an award winning artist and it's clear why this is the case. The images reflect a time of darkness (night) but it feels as though the images are lit with a real flame. This is a quality book, it would be a beautiful gift for new babies, or small kids who you want to give a lovely book to. If it was bigger and I wasn't filled with book ripping quilt, I would be pulling out the pages and framing them, adding them to the walls and shelves of our home.


There are always new books we want on our book shelves, what have you added to yours lately?