Literary Laughter for Little People

In honour of World Book Day today whilst Culturetot was napping, Culturebaby and I created an indoor story tent, cuddled warm drinks and copious cushions, snuggled and read book after book. There is little better in life than the intimacy of sharing a good book in a cosy location with someone you adore. Likewise, I can think of no better sound than peels of unbridled laughter from the mouths of babes. With this in mind, I've gathered nine books, old and new, that perennially make my three year old laugh out loud. We'd love to hear about yours.

1. In 2014 the world was taken by storm by comedian B.J. Novak's quirky (non) picture book. The Book With No Pictures. The concept? Without images of any sort, Novak plays on the bond between parent and child created by sharing a good book. In a twist, here Novak teams up the child and book in a crafty alliance which 'forces' the adult to say utterly ridiculous things and inject their own creative personality into bringing the text to life. The author's rule is that the unfortunate adult must repeat whatever is written on the page. The reading experience must be shared, and the jokes, tested on young children, are delightfully simple. Culturebaby roared with delight as Daddy or I, for the twentieth time in any given week squalked and cooed the most onomatopoeic nonsense. Initially skeptical, I was swiftly bowled over by the delight of my miniature audience. Both intimate and crowd pleasing, this title is a quirky gem.

2. The second title which has been acted out to near extinction, is Ladybird's touch and count playbook What's the Time Mr Wolf? With flaps to uncover and the anticipation of dinner time and hot chase from Mummy wolf, the girls couldn't be more delighted with this book. It is a great title for sharing with a mix of ages and has something for everyone -  flaps and textures for Culturetot; counting and clocks to learn for Culturebaby - and what the girls consider to be THE most hilarious game at the coda.

3. Some of my favourite books as a parent are Ian Falconer's utterly ingenious Olivia and sequels (in particular Olivia and the Fairy Princess). Olivia is a piglet. She's also a toddler. Fiercely independent and in danger of wearing out the naughty step, Olivia's exploits in the pursuit of individuality cannot fail to make even the most despairing parent chuckle. Olivia and Falconer between them have such a glorious turn of phrase that I'd practically prescribe these titles to knackered mothers everywhere. They are also delightfully educational and often have a sage message behind the mirth. When Olivia decorates her bedroom wall with splodges of black and red paint, this is no graffiti, but an experiment emulating Pollock. In Olivia and the Fairy Princess, we are presented with Olivia's incandescnce at the sole aspiration of her peers to be pink tutu-clad princesses in need of rescue. She presents alternatives, explores stark modern dance, and considers a future as a reporter exposing corporate malfeasance. These books are utterly brilliant. Buy them immediately.

4. Anthony Browne's comedic classic Willy the Wimp justifiably celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2014. Last year, Culturebaby found a copy at the library and promptly fell in love with it. She still laughs out loud with every reading. Willy is a sweet chimp who is fed up with the neighbourhood bullies and wants to learn to stand up for himself. He sets himself a punishing regime and becomes larger and stronger. Appearances are deceptive of course because behind it all, he's still the apologetic and kind chap he always was and his muscles do not prevent his clumsiness... but now at least he can look after his friends.

5. In a similar vein Connah Brecon's recently published Frank! is a quirky tale about a bear who finds it impossible to arrive at school on time. He, inadvertently ends up being drawn daily into larger than life problems in support of numerous local underdogs. His seemingly tall tales, are ultimately vindicated when he is called on to save his class from a monster. The humour is rather less than subtle with its American flavour, but Culturebaby chuckled away at this delightfully illustrated little book.

6. Back to a classic from the Ahlberg duo, the distinctive illustrations, slapstick humour and fabulous text of Funnybones (and sequels) always dish up a generous helping of joy. A trio of skeletons are hurtled into an evening of adventure as they set out to find someone to scare. I noted today that this title has made it into the top 50 that the Daily Telegraph's survey suggested every child should read before they are 16.


7. I have recently been raving about the quirky and clever Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty and Illustrated by David Roberts. I reviewed it here as a witty introduction to architecture for children, and a moral tale that creativity and inner passion cannot be suppressed and ultimately will out - to the good of society and satisfaction of the artist. Iggy Peck is a designer and a builder. From the cradle he was driven to create sculptures from any and all available materials... even dirty nappies or food. His parents encourage him and he develops and develops, until he encounters a teacher who, through her own fears, will have none of it. Ultimately Iggy saves the day and is vindicated in his talents. The illustrations are funny; the witty text rhymes. Next I'm hoping to get my paws on its sister title: Rosie Revere Engineer...

8. One of our recent bargain discoveries in the library sale was Emily Gravett's Wolves. A fairly new name in our household, its author has swiftly become a favourite. Her gorgeous Monkey and Me is a joint bedtime favourite for the girls at present. Given Culturebaby's unswerving devotion to classic fairytales, when we found Wolves it shot to favour instantly. Entertaining yet subtle, in this original book we become privy to the library borrowing habits of a rabbit who is keen to read up on his potential predator. Learning some cool facts along the way, rabbit becomes so engrossed that he fails to notice the real presence of the subject of his study. The first ending is flavoured with the comedic macabre, but then there is a second option "for more sensitive readers". Culturebaby finds this book intriguing and funny in equal measure.

9. Finally, we were delighted with the brand new title from the gorgeous publisher Flying Eye Books Her Idea by designer and illustrator Rilla. The humour in this story is subtle and it complements the important underlying message about the value of pursuing your ideas and the glorious triumph when they come to life. The book is of high quality and the design is stunning. Culturebaby adored the fact that when Sozi ultimately reaches her aim of being devoured by her own book, literally residing within its pages, the narrrator is able to peer out from within the volume through the eye-holes engineered within its cover. Whilst this made her giggle, some of the ideas behind this book I hope will re-emerge with all their valuable seriousness with further shared reading a little later along her road of self-discovery.

Disclaimer: We received review copies of Her Idea, Frank, Willy the Wimp and The Book With No Pictures. All other resources are our own, as are all opinions.

The Art of The Brick

A few months ago I took the Culturebabies to the fantastic Art of the Brick exhibition, aptly situated just off London's own Brick Lane. One of the best team toys that the girls can *sometimes* play with happily together are wooden blocks and duplo. Culturetot loves attempting to emulate her sister's creations and, when she's feeling benevolent, Culturebaby will even put up with Culturetot's sporadic demolitions or accidental tipplings of Chrysler-like constructions. As a second child, Culturetot has always been much less interested in baby toys and is fascinated with her sister's things. Consequently, through observation, she's already begun to build respectable towers and clearly understands the basics of building. Our antique duplo set also gets a great outing at gatherings of pre-schoolers, where, on many an occasion the children will concentrate for ages playing happily alongside each other. Inevitably these time-honoured classic toys, alongside playdoh, are the first architectural materials our children will learn to manipulate and I was delighted to see that an artist had recently drawn from them to illustrate the perfection which can be achieved from such humble materials.

The Art of the Brick exhibition, open until April, was a triumph of inspiration for little Lego lovers everywhere. The New York based artist, Nathan Sawaya, has taken millions of basic Lego pieces to create a travelling exhibition of over 100 huge creations from reproductions of classic artworks, to conceptual sculpture and even a giant T-Rex. A tour round this bewitching set of rooms for children and adults alike is a journey of discovery through the art of the possible. Sawaya, known for his interest in creating works from the most unlikely things, shows (in a medium that children can understand and relate to), that the humble Lego brick can produce truly iconic sculpture. Though a little tricky for children along the way, who cannot handle these deeply temping and accessible objects, reward comes on swift wings with huge vats of duplo to wade through, construct and experiment to their hearts content with the inspiration they had just received. We visited the exhibition on a gloomy Tuesday and, happily as prams are not allowed, we found the exhibition relatively peaceful and the play area had lots of space. Culturebaby returned again and again to certain creations she really liked (the shimmering swimmer in particular) and it was nigh on impossible to extricate the children from Duplo heaven until they had well and truly exhausted themselves. We are planning a second dose soon, in case we never get such an inspirational opportunity again.

 

  

Inspired by this recent exhibition and a couple of gorgeous books we have discovered for children about architecture, Culturebaby has been enjoying looking at images of real buildings as inspiration to create her own structures. She's particularly enamoured of sky-scrapers and regularly asks for my photography books of New York Art Deco propped up for her to emulate. We've also been enjoying (a gift from a friend), the quirky and amusing Iggy Peck Architect: a moral tale that creativity and inner passion cannot be suppressed and ultimately will out - to the good of society and satisfaction of the artist. Iggy Peck is a designer and a builder. From the cradle he was driven to create sculptures from any and all available materials... even nappies or food. His parents encourage him and he develops and develops, until he encounters a teacher who, through her own fears, will have none of it. Ultimately Iggy saves the day and is vindicated in his talents. It's a witty tale and a great introduction to architecture for little ones.  

We've also been propping up for inspiration, as the girls build, a pair of gorgeous books on architecture for children from Prestel Publishing. These guides are essentially designed for older children, packed with facts, photographic and etched images and biographical details. However, like many art books of their ilk, they have far wider application and ultimately great worth for the whole family. The images are wonderful for younger children, and the text is just as useful for parents wanting interesting facts to narrate. I learn from them as much as anyone and the digestible nature of a book designed for children often ensures any reader emerges with the pertinent facts and interesting detail. The pair are a great addition to any family's art bookshelf. Firstly From Mud Huts to Skyscrapers, by Christine Paxmann and Anne Ibelings is a quirky canter through time detailing on each double-page-spread in lovely sketched diagramatic form, a new stage in the progress from primitive dwellings to the homes of the future. This volume is complemented by the simple photographic guide 13 Architects Children Should Know by Florian Heine. Whilst the volumes are by no means exhaustive, and one could have a good debate about the inclusions or omissions, they are both simple and engaging, with plenty of inspiration for a wide range of ages. Open on any page, crack open the lego, unleash the inner child and get building...

  

The Art of the Brick Exhibition is at the Old Truman Brewery, off Brick Lane, London, until 12 April 2015. 

Disclaimer: We received review copies of the two architectural books from Prestel. All views, as always are entirely our own.

An Innocent Lent

Last year was the first Lent that I really had to think about how best to explain the story of Easter to Culturebaby. It's a tricky one. Given that we adults struggle to fathom the mystery of salvation, I'm not sure a two year old can be expected to either. Furthermore, Culturebaby is an innocent. The sight of Pooh Bear, Piglet and pals lined up on the naughty step just makes me love my little lady more, particularly when she explains that Pooh scratched Piglet and he has to do two minutes and there'll be no television for him. Even though we have a naughty step and a marble jar to help Culturebaby take time out when she's being frantic or difficult, and reward spontaneous loveliness, toddlers are ultimately still impulsive in their reactions and they are entirely beautiful and good. It is therefore much more helpful, I believe, to talk to them about kindness and how to treat people, and tell stories about the unconditional love of God - even when we make mistakes. 

I've found that a rather lovely and accessible way to introduce the crucial ideas around infinite love and care, sacrifice and salvation is the simple parable of The Lost Sheep. Culturebaby loves imaginary play and little models. She also seems to be developing rather a theatrical penchant for acting stories out. With this in mind last year I created a simple play landscape for the lost sheep to venture across on his own, complete with perils for his master to overcome in carrying out his recovery. This was so simple to create just from materials and objects we already owned, and was more successful than I could have imagined. After numerous "again!"s and two versions of the tale with slightly different props, Culturebaby began to recount the story herself. We filmed it and watched it back, and I even overheard her acting it out to her soft toys from the other room as she settled down for a nap. The two excellent versions of the parable we use are the lighthearted version from Stories Jesus Told by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen. This compilation is a current favourite with Culturebaby, who loves the simple moral tales re-told here in accessible form. We also really like the cut-out board book The Lost Sheep, which is slightly closer to the original and equally accessible.

 
Last year, towards the latter part of Lent, we also created a Resurrection Garden table centrepiece that I'd seen on another blog and loved. The model presents calvary and the tomb; complete with stone blocking the entrance, which can be rolled away to reveal the empty tomb and figurines. This was extremely simple to make and was a helpful way to act out the stages of Holy Week.

Start with a large plant pot base and a smaller ceramic plant pot or piece of pipe turned on its side. Build up earth around the pot into a mound with the top of the plant pot forming a cave-like entrance surrounded by sand or gravel. We created 3 small wooden crosses from branches bound together with thread and placed these on the top of the hill. We then added cress seeds (you can also use grass seed if you have longer) which grew over the course of the week and was a visible symbol of the resurrection. We also added figurines of Mary and a Roman soldier. It was such an effective model that I plan on making it again this year.

We have found two great books in particular to accompany the Easter story. Firstly Usborne's Book of Bible Stories compilation: this is a perennial fixture in our mass survival bag and has been the primary introduction for Culturebaby to some of the iconic characters from the Bible. She loves the format of these Usborne productions with their simple and engaging images and accessible text. We also received as a gift a gorgeous little Easter Bible Storybook board book featuring photographs of toy models acting out the excitement of Jesus' followers as they discover that he is alive. With the repeated phrase 'Jesus is alive', this one really stuck in Culturebaby's consciousness and she was able to take part in the telling of this story again and again.

Inevitably with children involved, imaginations take over and materials take on a life of their own. Culturebaby decided that as Jesus had vacated his tomb and no longer needed it, he wouldn't mind if she moved a homeless Makka Pakka in. It was indeed strikingly reminiscent of the little chap's Night Garden abode and, given Our Lord's general approach to the needy, I'm absolutely certain he would have had a little chuckle and endorsed the project wholeheartedly.



Disclaimer: A few months ago Usborne sent us their Bible Stories, which has been very well loved. It's a must have for mass bags everywhere... We also received the Roman soldier model from Safari Ltd. Their range of accurate figures have been brilliant for so much of our imaginative play over the last year. We highly recommend them. All other materials are our own. We will write shortly about our other Easter and spring activities - we had a lot of fun last year and failed to write much of it up at the time...