Mommy, let’s cook!
Our daughter Sara (6) still wants to become a chef, and I couldn’t be more over the moon with her current career choice. Imagine a daughter who’s a chef ! (She’s also secretly in love with Courtney’s son Easton so if all goes to plan, Courtney can consider herself a lucky mother-in-law too.) Anyway, I recently got this cookbook ‘Mummy, let’s cook!‘ and both Sara and I LOVE it. Recipes are organised in chapters such as ‘Sunday Brunch’, ‘Spring Picnic’, ‘Mother’s Day’, and ‘Santa Claus is coming!’. There’s a guide to setting the table (don’t forget the wine glass for mummy and daddy!), kitchen cleanliness and safety and table manners. All very nice, but best of all are really the recipes, accompanied by gorgeous (GORGEOUS!) photos. Risotto with crispy artichokes. Chocolate buns. Couscous with chickpeas and vegetables and gingered chicken. Wild strawberry and honey smoothie. Tuna, cheese and arugula filled bread. Sounds appetising? And this is only a small selection of the wonderful recipes. A book to recommend!
xxx Esther
Do-it-yourself nativity scene
How cool is this DIY cardboard nativity set? What a fun craft project to do with the kids… and a really sweet way to explain the story of Christmas and the nativity. The kit comes with 20 punch-out figures on thick cardboard sheets, plus all the golden haloes, crowns and pre-cut stars. You and your kids can paint and decorate the figures and then assemble them (easily!) to set up the scene. It also includes the nativity story, in case (like me) you need a little help explaining the story. What a great activity in these cosy months leading up to Christmas. The kit is available from Little Scout (along with loads of other great gifts!).
xx Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Flat Out a cozy cuddle!• Paper Snowflakes
• Christmas selection at Smallable
All Around The World Sticker Book
This past weekend, while scanning our bookshelves for a new book to read… we stumbled upon a book we weren’t familiar with. I think this book was given to one of my boys as a birthday gift last year, and somehow it ended up on our shelf before we had time to open it. Anyway, finding this book was the best thing that happened to us all weekend — it created hours and hours of crafting fun with stickers and crayons! All Around the World
The book is available from Amazon US
x Courtney
Fantastic Mr Fox
Last weekend, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, the girls and I made popcorn, wrapped up in blankets and settled down to watch Fantastic Mr Fox
Coming into winter does have advantages — I would feel too guilty in the summer spending a Sunday afternoon watching a movie, but when it’s cold outside, I reckon it is completely justified!
- Emilie
Nisee Made
Do you recognise this illustration? It was inspired by this photo which I posted a couple weeks ago! Chicago-based illustrator, Denise Holmes, liked the photo and thought it would make a cute drawing… and I know I’m biased (it’s a photo of my daughter after all), but isn’t it indeed SO cute?!
Denise has a paper goods studio called Nisee Made and sells her products on Etsy. I love all the cute and happy little designs like this panda holding the yellow balloon!
-Courtney
Light Up Your Mood – Light Switch Stickers
I just got a pack of these funky light switch stickers for my kids and we’ve had so much fun customising all the light switches in our house. Ivy turned her light switch into a bunny rabbit, the boys turned theirs into bear, and then they turned the light switch in the playroom into a funny combination of all the different animals. Such fun! The stickers are available from Hello Bubba and also come in different themes — such a cute little gift (stocking stuffers maybe?).
-Courtney
Olivia!
My daughter is absolutely obsessed with Olivia
There are a few Olivia books, but the original one is our favourite. It’s available from Amazon (US
-Courtney
A Zeal of Zebras
An embarrassment of pandas, a galaxy of starfish, a shiver of sharks, a zeal of zebras… all of these are terms to describe the different groups of animals. An embarrassment of pandas? Such a funny one! A Zeal of Zebras
A friend recently gave this book to my children and it has proven to be a hit both with the kids and with adults! It’s available from Amazon (US
-Courtney
ABCs from The Wild Unknown
I’m a big fan of the whimsical prints and calendars from The Wild Unknown — I have this calendar hanging in my office and it’s one of my favourite things in my house! So of course I was so excited to receive an email from them announcing their latest project: a series of art prints for children… and a children’s ABC book! I love the touch of watercolour to the ABCD print and the fact that a butterfly lands on B and a mouse creeps across M, etc. So sweet. And from the sneak peeks of the book, it looks to be just as beautiful. It’s available to pre-order now.
-Courtney
Who’s been sitting in my chair??
A few months ago we stayed in Emilie’s flat for a few days, which is a feast for my kids because they love all the new-to-them toys and secret hide-aways! (Emilie’s daughters also have a ‘real’ mini sized Vespa which my kids go crazy about. I think baby Ava and Pim sat on it every single minute we spent in the apartment!) We also got to discover some new books while we were staying there, and ‘Goldilocks’ was one of them — funnily enough it made a deep impression on them! I know this might sounds strange, but my kids didn’t know the story of Goldilocks — it’s not a common tale here in the Netherlands at all.
So when I saw this pillow from Samantha Morris, I thought I should get it as a little fun joke in our living room (and how cute is the little bear at the end of the zipper?). I also would love to get my kids a good Goldilocks book — I found this one in Dutch that looks nice, but can anyone recommend a good one in English? (Or any other language for our readers in the rest of the world!) Thanks!
xxx Esther
James and the Giant Peach
Just like Courtney and her boys, my girls and I have graduated to a new type of bed time story. Longer format books are slowly replacing shorter, illustrated books (although I’m sure a few firm favourites will remain). We are now reading chapter books! One of our recent reads was James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, a classic. It is so fun to read, with just the right amount of illustrations by Quentin Blake to help explain the more difficult ideas and nice, short chapters. Next on the list, Fantastic Mr Fox and then maybe Little House on the Prairie? (Does that still appeal to girls in 2011? I hope so!)
-Emilie
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Win! Adorable Esthex package• Top 50 Design Blogs for Moms
• Give good Karma — the best gift of all
Jeeetje! Wallet size photobook
Good news: the cute ‘Look at Me‘ booklets are now available in English! Yay! Once a year, just glue a passport size (school) photo in this cool harmonica style booklet. How fun will it be to see how your kids have grown in a few years to come! On the back of the photos you’ll find some questions that are fun to answer now and sweet to read again later. A darling little keepsake (how cute is that little button on the front?) that is also great to give away as a present — it fits exactly in an envelope.
xxx Esther
Oliver Jeffers’ newest book, ‘Stuck’
Oh man. It is no question around here how much we LOVE Oliver Jeffers (we have loved on him here, here, here and here to name a few), but now his latest book has got me completely overjoyed. I think it might even be my personal favourite, or at least it ties with Lost and Found.
Stuck
-Courtney
Operation Alphabet
I am having quite the most perfect morning and there is one reason responsible …. After a long wait, my lovely friend Al’s first children’s book, Operation Alphabet
You might remember I mentioned Al and his book a while ago here (along with his Top Ten list of children’s books). I was lucky enough to be introduced to The Ministry of Letters over a year ago and even then, whilst the i’s were still being dotted and t’s crossed (literally), I knew that this book would not only become the children’s book of the year but one of those books that will be passed down and loved by generations to come.
Operation Alphabet is the first story from The Ministry of Letters, published by Thames and Hudson last week, and tells the tale of Charlie Foxtrot, a day-dreaming boy who just doesn’t have any interest in learning the alphabet for his homework. To the rescue comes an army of charming letters — sent on their mission by top secret government department, The Ministry of Letters. In their plight to help Charlie with his ‘alphabet-a-heebiegeebies’ and show him how brilliant letters, words and reading can be, they incur great adventure – speeding through a fabulous London landscape, escaping a hungry cat (cats like to eat letters!) and even getting a helping hand from Royalty! Other then just being a great story, I also love the underlying message about how learning can be fun and that letters and words are more then just school-work.
Al’s day-job is as a (splendid) Creative Director for the much-acclaimed Advertising Agency, Mother. And I think you can see his expert creative eye in his partnering with Barcelona based illustrator, Luciano Lozano and Mother’s own Head of Design Jim Bletsas. The genius-team have created a truly, truly beautiful book. You can also see their consideration for the readers on The Minstry of Letters website, where you can download some MoL extras — bookmarks, book-plates, ‘keep out of this room’ signs and the Letters themselves are bought to life.
After receiving my copy this morning I have already ordered 5 more for upcoming birthdays of children I know. As you know from me already, I think books are the best thing you can give a child and this is now my favourite, favourite picture book. You can buy Operation Alphabet in most good book shops or from Amazon (UK
PS – You can also actually see the letters on YouTube here — my kids LOVE watching this over and over.
People by Peter Spier
I first heard about the children’s book People
The book is about people and all the different types of people in the world, all the different things they do, places they live, things they eat, religions they believe, jobs they have, etc. It’s a really touching book and a bit of an eye-opener for kids. Plus, it’s filled with so many little details and drawings that you can literally spend ten minutes on each page just discussing everything. A must-have for every child’s bookshelf. (Available from Amazon UK
Back To School
Have your kids started school yet? Mine started this week, and I must admit I’m feeling overwhelmed. I have so many friends who are eager for school to start and for the routine to begin again… but I feel like summer went way too quickly and I could use another month of sleeping in and being schedule-free. In a rush to get out the door this morning, I drank my coffee in about 3 seconds flat and then had to brush my teeth immediately after. A sin!
Of course I’m completely unprepared for the new school season, and will be trying to get organised this week (I still have to buy school supplies and Autumn clothes — all my kids’ trousers are about an inch too short now!).Which is why I was really inspired by our Top Ten selection of Back-To-School products this week and thought it was worth mentioning on the blog. Are you one of those mums who is well prepared for the new school season? Or, like me, are you in denial still?
x Courtney
UNO
We have been spending the summer in the fabulous French countryside. The not so fabulous thing about the French countryside is that sunny weather is by no means guaranteed. Temperatures can drop from 28 degrees to 18 degrees in a few hours, so it is wise to have some indoor activities close at hand.
My friend Heather came to visit up with a pack of UNO cards — a game I had completely forgotten about – and it was a total hit. UNO is perfect to entertain the over 5 year olds and their parents for hours. I love it when the whole family can play together!
By the way, I had no idea UNO has been around for a such a long time, but it apparently just celebrated its 40th anniversary! Available through Amazon (UK
- Emilie
Bayard Children’s Magazines
We have recently discovered the world of Bayard Magazines and my kids are loving their monthly issues. Bayard publishes three different magazines: StoryBox magazine (for kids aged 3 to 6), AdventureBox Magazine (for kids aged 6 to 9) and DiscoveryBox (for kids 9 to 12) in an effort to support children of all ages with their learning and reading. Each magazine is filled with age-appropriate stories, poems, activities and games which teach kids a variety of subjects. Educational and entertaining — always a win/win combination.
- Courtney
Reading chapter books to kids
Before this summer I have tried reading chapter books to my kids (we’ve tried Charlotte’s Web, The Little Prince and James and the Giant Peach)… but despite our initial excitement, we never seem to finish the books — either my kids lose interest half-way through or come night three, they just opt for a picture book instead. It must be difficult for kids to make the switch from picture books to chapter books — their little imaginations have to work much more actively, creating the illustrations in their heads. And also, it must be difficult for kids to string together the chapters and piece everything together.
We have, however, just finished our first chapter book and it was a big success. We read a chapter (or two) of Stuart Little
I’m not sure if it’s because my kids are finally old enough, or if Stuart Little just caught their attention… but I’m hoping this is the beginning of a trend toward chapter books.
Do your kids like chapter books? How old were they when you started reading them? And do you have any books you recommend? How exciting it must be when our kids actually start reading their own chapter books (I already have a list of books I want my kids to read!).
x Courtney
ONE YEAR AGO WE WROTE ABOUT:
• Olive & Moss, classy retro baby clothes• Biisoo — Handknit Luxury for Infants
Ploc Magazine
I just received a copy of Ploc Magazine, by the ever creative team behind Anorak, and love it, love it, love it! Not only was it illustrated by one of my favourite retro artists Alain Grée, but it is full of great little stories, colouring pages and games. I am quietly packing it away and stashing it in my handbag, ready to pull out on our upcoming long train ride. It will be a great way to keep the girls entertained!
Ploc Magazine exists in French (maybe a fun way to practice French?) and in English and is available via the Anorak Shop.
-Emilie
