BOOKS
Madame Badobedah by Sophie Dahl
If there is only one book I urge you to purchase this holiday season it's this one, Madame Badobedah. It is truely astounding!! It's anigmatic and mysterious and hysterically fun. It's absolutely everything a book should be made of. We adore Madame Badobedah and you will too! Adventurous and rather curious Mabel lives in a ...
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SERVICES
Revisiting summer memories with photo books, and strategies for moving photos from digital to print
I'm now five and half years into parenthood and I still haven't developed a consistent method for archiving and printing photos...please tell me I'm not the only one! I've had stretches where I ordered some prints monthly and I've made photo books after having nice family photos taken, but I'm still searching for a method ...
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BOOKS
Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters by Andrea Beaty
Both of my girls are huge fans of Rosie Revere, Engineer. Helena once dressed as Rosie for World Book Day and totally inspired her classmates to jump on board with reading the book. Florence has continued in the enthusiasm of the characters and when I saw there was a new range of chapter books showcasing ...
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TUESDAY TIPS
Memorizing Poetry, a lost art? Let's talk about the benefits.
I'm just back from Community Meeting at my children's school, which is a short weekly gathering of all the children in grades PreK-3 (so, ages 4 through 8 or 9 years old) and their parents. Typically at Community Meetings we sing together or listen to presentations from various classes on their studies, but the theme of ...
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BOOKS
Picture Books for Toddlers: Wilkie's current favourites
About a year ago, I shared a selection of Wilkie's favourite picture books, many of which are still on rotation as his favourite bedtime reads. But he's beginning to enjoy the slightly longer stories now, and we have a few to add to that list. I snapped a photo of his current go-to books, most ...
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BOOKS
"Hotel Flamingo" by Alex Milway -- a sweet series for the young
A friend recently told me about Hotel Flamingo so when I saw a copy in our local library I immediately picked it up for Florence. It is absolutely delightful and we've both fallen in love with the characters, especially Madame Le Pig, the amazing chef. It's a new series by Alex Milway and true to the ...
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BOOKS
'Would you Rather...?' by John Burningham
I remember the first time I played a 'Would you Rather...' game. I was a freshman in college and we played in my friend's dorm room, laughing our heads off. So fun! Who doesn't love thinking about silly, outrageous potential circumstances and weighing up your favourite (or least terrible) of your options?! Haha. When I ...
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BOOKS
Early Riser Companion: Rhythms & Rituals, Traditions & Transitions by Elizabeth Antonia
Longtime readers of this blog will remember reading posts from Elizabeth Antonia in Los Angeles. She has been a friend of ours for many years, has contributed to this blog, supported our LA-based ShopUp events and has been a wonderful supporter of Babyccino. I remember the first time she told me her idea for the ...
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PICTURE BOOKS
'Hey Grandude!' -- a picture book by Paul McCartney!
Grandude is not your everyday kind of grandfather. True, he has some stereotypical grandfather characteristics. He lives in a very normal house in a very normal street. He has snow-white hair and a tendency to fall asleep in his armchair. But, he also has something extraordinary and utterly amazing: he owns a magical compass! When ...
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TUESDAY TIPS
Encouraging children to read! Here are ten tips.
Both my oldest children are avid readers. Especially Sara is the kind of person who reads everything she can get her hands on: novels, series, educational books, newspapers, magazines, the back of cereal boxes -- you name it. So recognisable: I was exactly the same as a child. (I always thought it had to do ...
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BOOKS
The Bear, the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle by David Litchfield
The Bear, the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle has recently become one of our favourite reads. Written by David Litchfield this is the sequel to the wonderful The Bear and the Piano. Hector, the fiddle player, and his dog Hugo are the bestest of friends but when Hector retires, Hugo learns to play the ...
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BOOKS
'Cookies: Bite Sized Life Lessons'
Cooperation is, “how about I add the chocolate chips while you stir the cookie dough?” Patience is waiting, waiting, and more waiting for the cookies to be finished baking. And respect is offering the first cookie out of the oven to your grandmother. The book Cookies: Bite-Sized Life Lessons, is just that -- a book ...
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BOOKS
Our Summer reads
We are off on the road this week, so I have just come back from a last minute dash to the WH Smith down on Rue de Rivoli to pick up some good summer reads for all of us! I do have a Kindle but I still don't have to instinct of reading on it. ...
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BOOKS
'Read to Your Baby Every Day' edited by Rachel Williams, embroidered by Chloe Giordano
I adore gifting books and when a dear friend recently became a mama I was thrilled to find this beautiful book, Read to you Baby Every Day -- a compilation of 30 classic nursery rhymes to read aloud to your baby, each perfectly accompanied by the most stunning embroidered art work. This is a book to ...
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BOOKS
Nell & the Circus of Dreams -- an inspiring book about dreams coming true
For seven years I have been to the most magical and inspiring summertime event in the UK called Gifford's Circus. I wrote about our family trip to Gifford's Circus last year, (if you live in the UK, book tickets today! It is truly amazing!!!). And last weekend, as our last holiday as a family of four ...
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FOOD
A cookbook addiction
I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, I am somewhere around a 7 regarding my addiction to cookbooks. Every time I am in a bookshop, an unknown force pulls me over to the cookbook section, where I can spend hours looking at pictures, deliberating over recipes and projecting myself into my kitchen ...
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PICTURE BOOKS
Tad -- Sometimes the biggest stories have the smallest beginnings
Tad is tiny. She is the smallest almost-a-frog in the whole wide pond! She is even smaller than all of her tad brothers and tad sisters. As they are rushing through the shallow waters together, she has to wiggle her tail twice as hard to keep up. As the days go by, the tadpoles grow ...
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BOOKS
'Harold Snipperpot's Best Disaster Ever' by Beatrice Alemagna
Beatrice Alemagna is an author/illustrator living in Paris with her husband and two daughters. She has now published more than 30 books, including On A Magical Do Nothing Day and The Marvellous Fluffy Squishy Itty Bitty, which Vanessa has shared about here. Her newest book, Harold Snipperpot's Best Disaster Ever, is as delightful and whimsical ...
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BOOKS
Witchfairy -- a book about being brave and finding your place in the world
Witchfairy by Brigitte Minne and Carll Cneut is a new favourite book in our house. This is a book about finding your own place in the world, and I can't imagine any child wouldn't like the delightful messages in this book. An adventurous and brave daughter fairy who has an independent and curious spirit questions her ...
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BOOKS
Tales From Nature: A cheerful new wildlife series for young children
Spring is in the air (hurray) and with that are these recently released gorgeous new board books, Tales from Nature, highlighting the cheery new wildlife we see in nature. There are currently two titles in the series, 'Bird' and 'Rabbit' and they are just delightful for all young readers. They are bright and engaging with ...
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PICTURE BOOKS
'The Ear' by Piret Raud. A book about the importance of listening.
When Van Gogh famously cut off his ear, the question arose -- what happened to the ear without its head? Estonian writer and illustrator Piret Raud was inspired, and wrote a beautifully illustrated story about that one lonely ear. The ear at first is quite helpless, as she is alone and without guidance. But before ...
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EDUCATION
Greek myths for children -- fascinating and magical!
We're going to Athens this weekend! It's going to be a short trip but we're all super exited. I've been to Athens a few times before, and I just love that city -- the mix of the old and the new is so magical. To get everyone in the spirit of the (Old) Greeks and ...
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BOOKS
'There are no Grown-Ups' by Pamela Druckerman
It really is a funny thing getting older and having older children. Babies and toddlers keep us so busy that we don't have a lot of time to think, and though it is exhausting and exhilarating at the same time, it does have the benefit of distracting us from the realisation that we are ...
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