Don't Worry, It's Baby Book Club!

What do babies do? They grow! It's been a while since I last saw some of our regular Baby Book Club members and the changes are astonishing! We now crawl, walk, look out, make sentences!
Today we went for a dip in Chris Haughton's huge-enormous-massive waves as we read Don't Worry Little Crab. They enjoyed 'holding tight' before each wave and the colourful fish the pair of crabs meet on the sea floor. They loved when Little Crab introduces themselves to said fish, as they saw it as an opportunity to say 'Hello, fishy!' and started on a round of introductions of our own: 'Hello, fishy, I'm Juliette! Hello, fishy, I'm Flynn...' The excitement to 'find' themselves in the book!
Overall, I think this crowd might have been a little too little for this book. It's longer than Haughton's previous offerings and didn't keep their attention as well as, say, A Bit Lost or Goodnight Everyone.
Our activity today was… to go fishing! I had drawn and cut out sea creatures and plants inspired by the illustrations and stuffed them into a box full of shredded cardboard, a leftover from my Christmas book shopping.
The kids really enjoyed the challenge of touching the strange-to-them texture and rummaging through it. It took some longer than others to go for it, but everyone took part in the end. They were then plied with blue paper and glue sticks and got a chance to create their own seascape. The concentration and seriousness as they worked was fantastic. These guys are aged 10 months to 2 and a half!
As promised, here are the lings to the songs and videos.
Until next time!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive l


The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a great YouTube channels with lots of videos. Try the Bell Jellies:

 the Galloping Bay Pacific Seahorses:

 or the Pelagic Red Crabs:

That’s What Makes the World Go Round (the fish scene from the Sword in the Stone): 

Lost: Poetry - Have You Seen It?

What a morning we've had with Second Class!
Since January is Poetry month and we're all finding it a bit mysterious, we decided to look into it, or rather to look for it.
We kicked off with a really interesting brainstorming session where we wondered about things like What does a poem look like? Can it be about anything? What does it do? Suggested answers, in no particular order, included: rhymes, patterns, feelings, mystical creatures, doom and death, detail, lines, breath and nervousness. These 8 year olds are on the ball.

We then had a look at what wasn't poetry. After all, what's the difference between 'The Friendly Cinnamon Bun' by Russel Hoban and the cookery book version? Or between the nursery rhyme Wiggly Woo and a few lines from the National Geographic website on earthworms?
We were now ready to sort through a big bunch of texts (some found in poetry books, some elsewhere) (some in French!), in groups, and decide what belonged to poetry what didn't.

This wasn't a test, there was no 'wrong' answer, each group could make their own decisions. It was so interesting seeing what was selected (nearly everybody went for short rhyming texts), but it was equally fascinating to see what wasn't. Shape poetry was a flop, for instance. Presentation mattered: anything illustrated with photos was automatically deemed, in some groups, as 'facts'. Some texts were selected on the basis of having illustrations of cute bunnies or nasty dinosaurs.

I then asked each group to vote for their favourite poem and tell us what they had liked in it. 'Good rhyming' was clearly high on the kids' checklist, even when they picked (as one group did) something in French (which they don't speak). Subject matter played a part, while one group liked the image that Margaret Mahy's 'My Sister' painted in their heads ('My sister is remarkably light/ (…) We use her instead of a kite'). We noted that the poem worked even if you didn't have a sister yourself. We talked about poems that were funny and poems that used repetition and made you want to dance and wriggle.

After all that thinking it was time to move around, if not wriggle and dance (but that was ok too) and launch into our poetry treasure hunt! Everyone came back with a series of words that belonged just to them and was invited to combine them in a striking image. Each kid added a stanza (usually illustrated) (sometimes a full-blown epic) to a collective piece that grew and grew, over three long hall tables.
Criminal hairdressers, colour-changing dogs, evil rubber ducks (they seem to be a thing), football-playing skeletons, officers in rubber duck costumes (told you), vampires, peacocks, the moon, and much, much more made an appearance in our crazy poem!
There was a lot in it, for everyone, (enough for 2 sessions, even), but this bunch was game and almost no-one noticed when the bell went for break!
Take a bow, poets!

Kids' Books Quiz 2019!

Randomness alert! These questions were originally designed for the young readers in my life and therefore based on their favourite reads of the year. Some of the books are very current, others date a little, some are huge best-sellers others not so much, but ALL were deeply loved and read many times.
You can take the quiz online at this link or, if technology fails, the questions are listed below.
Check out answers in this other post, and revel in the bibliography of what an 11- and a nearly-8-year-old have enjoyed in 2019.




1. What are the three magical items found by the three heroes of The Cloud Horse Chronicles?
a. A runcible spoon; a worpal sword; a cello
b. A tin of Tearful Tea; a gingerbread warrior; a sentient clock
c. A subtle knife; a reliable hammer; a discreet colander

2. What does the main protagonist of We Won an Island want to build on the island?
a. An ice-cream factory
b. A donkey sanctuary
c. A year-round fun fair

3. Thanks to the blood of which animal can Charlie Ashanti of Lion Boy speak to cats?
a. A tiger mother
b. An ocelot pack leader
c. A leopard cub

4. Where are the adventures of the Warrior Cats set?
a. White Hart Woods
b. Hundred-Acre Wood
c. Farthing Wood


5. Where can you find the Marram Marshes and the House of Foryx?
a. in The Chronicles of Narnia
b. in Harry Potter
c. in Septimus Heap

6. Where do Jill, Terry and Andy live?
a. in the 13-storey tree house
b. in the magical school bus
c. in Lamonic Bibber

7. What extra classes is Raymie Nightingale taking this summer?
a. Baton twirling
b. opera singing
c. ancient greek

8. Why is Boot called Boot?
a. it's the name his previous owner gave him
b. he found a boot in his chest compartment when he woke up in the scrapeyard
c. it's from 'Reboot', the first word he said when he woke up

9. For which space program do the Catstronauts work?
a. MEOW
b. COOKIE
c. CATSUP

10. What are Greg Heffley’s brothers called?
a. Jeff and Kinney
b. Harold and George
c. Rodrick and Manny

11. Who is the Space Girl?
a. Zita
b. Alien
c. Lula




12. What does Friday O’Leary keep shouting in the Mr Gum books?
a. Truth is a lemon meringue!
b. Life is always greener in Lamonic Bibber!
c. What's for dinner Mr Gum?

13. What do you get if you assemble Officer Knight and Greg?
a. the Dynamic Duo
b. Dog Man
c. Cat Boy

14. 'I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet.' Which was the perfect one?
a. a frog
b. a puppy
c. a duck-billed platypus

15. What is Garfield’s favourite dish?
a. lasagna
b. burger and chips
c. he will eat anything

16. Which of the following is a famous dangerologist?
a. Doctor Noel Zone
b. Doctorr Noel Zone
c. Docter Noel Zone

Answers and some great books

1. What are the three magical items found by the three heroes of The Cloud Horse Chronicles?

a. A runcible spoon; a worpal sword; a cello

2. What does the main protagonist of We Won an Island want to build on the island?

b. A donkey sanctuary

3. Thanks to the blood of which animal can Charlie Ashanti of Lion Boy speak to cats?

c. A leopard cub

4. Where are the adventures of the Warrior Cats set?

a. White Hart Woods

5. Where can you find the Marram Marshes and the House of Foryx?

c. in Septimus Heap

6. Where do Jill, Terry and Andy live?

a. in the 13-storey tree house

7. What extra classes is Raymie Nightingale taking this summer?

a. Baton twirling

8. Why is Boot called Boot?

c. it's from 'Reboot', the first word he said when he woke up

9. For which space program do the Catstronauts work?

c. CATSUP

10. What are Greg Heffley’s brothers called?

c. Rodrick and Manny

11. Who is the Space Girl?

a. Zita

12. What does Friday O’Leary keep shouting in the Mr Gum books?

a. Truth is a lemon meringue!

13. What do you get if you assemble Officer Knight and Greg?

b. Dog Man

14. 'I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet.' Which was the perfect one?

b. a puppy

15. What is Garfield’s favourite dish?

a. lasagna

16. Which of the following is a famous dangerologist?

c. Docter Noel Zone (yes, with an E, a bit like Anne of Green Gables)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We had a very lively session today with a selection of Christmas stories, Christmas FM in the background and mince pies! The little ones, most of which will be celebrating their first xmas in a few weeks, were in a showing off mood, practising standing on their own two feet and showing us how Head Shoulders Knees and Toes is done. We loved looking at how Maisie and her friends decorate their tree (it's a bit like how we do it), listening to the sounds of the Noisy Christmas Book and driving Santa's scooter from Whizzy Santa. 

As our members are really quite young at the moment, we try and come up with activities that will appeal to their senses and will amuse their grown-ups. It turns out cutting shapes out of wrapping paper is a hit with both, and that babies LOVE exploring cotton wool. So we had the ideal materials to decorate our own Christmas tree, inspired by Maisie and co. The babies enjoyed manipulating the paper and the cotton, passing them to be glued to the 'tree' and rolling about in the books.

We left everyone full of seasonal spirit… and ready for a good nap!

As promised, here are the links to the songs and videos.

It's the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - The Muppets Christmas Song:

You're a mean one, Mr Grinch (Original 1966 Version) 

Watch the Snowman, based on the book by Raymond Briggs

For an amazing display of lights, check out Trista Lights 2016 Christmas Light Show - Featured on ABC's The Great Christmas Light Fight 

Tune in to ChristmasFM online or on 105.2 FM.

We Like to Move It, Move It, at Baby Book Club

Today we were all about moving around freely within our space at Baby Book Club. We had a ball reading Jump! by Tatsuhide Matsuoka, meeting all the animals and experimenting with jumping just like they do. For the wobblers who felt more like Snail ('A snail jumps./ Mmh. Maybe not.') than like Frog ('A frog jumps./ Boing!'), fear not: it will come to you!
The little ones enjoyed practising sharing the teddy ball and exploring the barrier of bean bags set up around our rug: not very much can stand in the way of a determined baba!
As promised, here are the links to get you and your young person moving!

Toddler Completes Obstacle Course

Throw your own Baby Rave! See how Young at Art does it (above), try this great playlist from Kitty Lynn, or make up your own! 

CosmicKids have loads of videos for kids to do yoga, relaxation and learn about mindfulness. You can choose by length, energy level or category.

I Am Yoga Song - Emily Arrow 

Press this!

We had a bit of a magic session this week in Baby Book Club, thanks to Hervé Tullet's Press Here. His are books that typically look weird and confusing to grown-ups but that little ones just get and can't get enough of. In Press Here kids are invited to press, rub, shake, upend and generally manhandle the book and stuff happens! They stroke a yellow dot on the page and suddenly, on the next one, it turns red! They tap another and, tada, there are now 5 dots where there had only been one! Absolute magic!
They loved manipulating the pages, interacting physically with the pictures and being, it seemed, in charge of the magic.
We clapped, we danced, we squealed with delight. This is not a quiet book.
To add to the general volume levels, we then taped some bubblewrap on the floor and set the babies loose...

If you don't know Hervé Tullet's books, seek them out! If you do, why not read them again and try making your own colourful masterpiece inspired by his dots and squiggles, like we did before?
As promised, here are the links to the songs and videos.

PRESS HERE by Hervé Tullet made out of playdo!  

The Dot Song LIVE - Emily Arrow & Peter H. Reynolds 

Lunch Money "I Want to Push Buttons" 

Buttons In the Wind