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Do you know anyone who’s expecting a baby soon? If the answer is yes, then forego another babygro and give the new baby a book – baby and parents will get much more enjoyment out of the gift, and it may even stay with them their whole life 
But what book to give?
Peepo! and The Baby’s Catalogue, or an Eric Carle book are all popular choices, but me? The next baby I’ll be giving a book to is going to receive the new Taro Gomi Board Book Boxed Set which is made up chunky versions of Spring is Here, My Friends and Bus Stops.
Spring is Here tours the four seasons but what makes it different from many other books about the seasonal change is that the story appears to take place on the back of a young calf! This may sounds strange, but it’s actually an effective way of showing that the change from spring to summer and so on is not just as a cycle abstractly repeating itself but also physical time moving forward. As the seasons change the calf (and by extension the reader) grow up and older.
My Friends is a playful appreciation of friends in all forms and what we learn from different sources of inspiration. The text is like a beautiful poem, for example:
I learned to watch the night sky from my friend the owl.
I learned to sing from my friends the birds.
I learned to read from my friends the books.
And the final lines of this poem are the loveliest I’ve read in a long time in the often-too-saccharinny world of love-makes-the-world-go-round type children’s books. This little book brings a tear to my eye and makes me (even after repeated readings) hug which ever child I’m reading to.
J reading My Fr
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The world itself has become hectic and life a fast-forward motion picture. Wherever one goes, everything must be done speedily. This is because nowadays, almost in all families, both parents go to work, departing early and arriving late. The indoors work is thus kept pending. Beforehand, the speed of life was not so emphasized upon. Only the husband was the bread-winner and so the housewife had all the time to cook, clean and complete the household chores. Today, the parents, after a hard day’s work, must speed up and prepare something to eat for their children. People, therefore, have to follow the new trend and adjust to a new lifestyle.
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The on-the-move lifestyle includes the eating of fast food among others. But even if “fast food” as we call it, people do not have time to eat a rounder properly; they either gulp it behind the driving wheel or eat it watching the television at the same time. To speed themselves up and save time, people make use of sophisticated machines such as microwaves to cook food quickly, portable computers to complete office work…. After a speedy week, to supposedly relax themselves, people listen to music now – quick, hasty music. It is the hard rock and technos. This music is a great contrast to the old ones that were the real relaxing music.
These small factors contribute to big inventions, speeding the transport rate. Long ago, there were ox carts and slow trains as means of transport. With the evolution of science and technology and due to the speed revolution, buses, cars, motorcycles, aeroplanes as well as super-jet trains travelling at two hundred kilometres per hour were introduced. Their need of fast transport then was satisfied. As their burden of work grew heavier, the need of a quick means of communication was also felt.
Scientists and inventors put their heads together. To support the level of speed of life and promote development, they abolished the hand-over of letters on horse-backs and established the links between one place and the whole world. Speed developed the fax, email methods. Through speed, the distance between the countries of the world is now lessened and so this helps the economic development of countries.
Speed may prove to be dangerous also. The speed of a car, an aeroplane, a ship can endanger the lives of many people, if not properly controlled. Cases of accidents where people had died are numerous. For instance, the well-known ship “Titanic” sank as a result of sailing at full speed and thus inevitably crash into an iceberg. How rightly has one stated that “haste makes waste”.
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I would like to trade places with your girls for a day, please!! Your day sounds amazing! And I had to laugh- my post tomorrow will be about reading to babies- there must be something in the air!
Hi Stacey, we certainly had a fun day and were lucky with the weather. I shall look out for your post..
What a lovely day out and yes I do know someone who’s expecting a baby soon – my son and daughter-in-law. Lots of excitement in our house! Thanks for the review.