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Advent means "waiting" or "something good is coming".  This is why history professors are always talking about the advent of automation, the advent of industrialism, even the advent of the Stone Age.  Mostly, though Advent is about dancing around wondering if you can be good enough, long enough, to get that pony you asked for. (I never asked for a pony.  I wanted a horse. No half pint measures for this girl!)

Advent calendars are all over the place - chocolate, small gifts, even money, Babyccino made up a book advent calendar back in 2009 which she updates every year.  It's a simple enough concept.  Collect as many winter or holiday books as you can, wrap them in paper and number them.  Open one each night from December 1st through the 24th.

For suggestions on how to make another Bookish Advent calendar - with a list of book suggestions, visit Delightful Children's Books.

It's not too late to make a partial calendar for the dancers in your family.  Whatever you are waiting for this time of year - a baby, a miracle of lights, a fat man in red, snow, a magical star, the dragons of winter - a count down calendar can slow down the dance.

Here is another idea for a countdown calendar.



The Kindness Chain:  Cut and decorate strips of colored paper, longer than they are wide.  (Say five inches by an 1 1/2 inches.).  Make one strip for each day of waiting.  On each one write a kind deed; for example,  hold the door open for someone; let someone in front of you in line; help someone with a chore; talk to someone you don't know well.  You know your family well enough to choose the right acts.  Every so often add something fun, for instance, bake cookies; dance to holiday music; make a cotton ball beard. 
Make a ring of one strip; slip the next strip inside and make it into a ring. You will end up with a paper chain.  Each morning, pull open one strip and read the suggestion for the day.

Although there’s something of a holiday / celebration at the end of this month to enjoy first (!), I’m already thinking about next year, planning projects, drawing dreams and envisaging adventures, not least of all here on Playing by the book (do let me know if there’s something you’d particularly love to see here in 2015).

This forward and full-of-hope looking at the future, with plans for play and learning, is also found in the latest offering (in English) for fans of two of my very favourite book characters: Findus, Food and Fun – Seasonal crafts and nature activities is a calendar of craftiness from my long term Swedish sweethearts, Findus and Pettson, or rather from their creator, Sven Nordqvist, assisted by Eva-Lena Larsson, Kennert Daniels and translator Nathan Large.

Findus is a cheeky, cheerful cat on the ramshackle farm owned by grumpy but loveable Pettson. Stories of their life together are full of mishaps, mysterious little creatures called muckles, kindness and compassion. The illustrations are scrumptious, drawn with delicious humour and attention to detail. I don’t think there is another series of books which I’ve dedicated so much time to on Playing by the book. Perhaps that alone tells you how wonderful I think these books are and how much I want to press them into the palms of everyone and anyone who stumbles upon my blog.

This latest book isn’t a story book, but rather a compilation of crafts and activities very much in the spirit of Findus and Pettson, with lots of outdoor exploration, tinkering, making, pottering, discovering and being resourceful. The crafts are themed by calendar month and richly illustrated with Findus, Pettson, chickens and muckles getting involved and trying out the projects at hand. The choice of crafts is wide ranging and includes the unusual; from propagating succulents, to using ants to dye bluebells, to making your own weather station to weaving a rug, there’s a mixture play and exploration driven by interacting with the natural world and/or being inspired by the farmstead on which Findus and Pettson live.

An interior detail from Findus, Food and Fun.

I suspect many readers will come to this wonderful book because they are already solid fans of Nordqvist’s lovely world where problems are solved with kindness. cooperation and respect. However, if you’ve not met Findus and Pettson before there’s still an enormous amount to enjoy in this book; the crafts are quirky, sometimes a little bit crazy, and ideal for anyone who wants to encourage natural play and exploration.

The first project my girls chose to try was making necklaces out of dried beans; first you have to soak them overnight and then you can thread them onto thread (as the book advises, dental floss is good because it is extra smooth and slidey). One packet of mixed dried beans meant for soup were sorted into bowls and left to soak:

Next morning the girls were intrigued to see how the beans had changed, and were soon up and running with threading them into necklaces.

Compare this with the photo above!

With lots of opportunities for learning about science, plant life and even maths (via patterns on the necklaces), this project – like so many in the book – could be used for more structured learning, as well being simply an enjoyable experience. These lovely chains of beads could be used as alternative Christmas decorations too – perhaps alongside popcorn strings.

Whilst making our necklaces we listened to:

Findus, Food and Fun: Seasonal crafts and nature activities is so packed with activities I won’t suggest any more here, other than to also point you to another craft book from the same publisher, Making Woodland Crafts by Patrick Harrison, a trainer of Forest School leaders. Many of the activities in this book are ones I can imagine Findus, Pettson and kids and families who love the outdoors relishing.

What nature crafts have you enjoyed recently? When did you last take a book outdoors to read under (or up) a tree?

Don’t forget to leave me a comment if you’ve any ideas / suggestions about how you’d like Playing by the book to develop in 2015

Disclosure: I received a free review copy of Findus, Food and Fun: Seasonal crafts and nature activities from the publisher.

September has already arrived and yesterday was M’s first day back at school, starting a new year. With plenty of planning on my mind I thought today would be a good time to share a round-up of 2012 Calendars featuring art by children’s book illustrators.

The one calendar I’m definitely buying this year is that produced by Carousel magazine, a quarterly publication in the UK dedicated to children’s books.

The calendar includes work by thirteen brilliant illustrators: Helga Bansch, Raymond Briggs, Nick Butterworth, Polly Dunbar, Rebecca Elliott, Sarah Garson, Emily Gravett, Pat Hutchins, Mick Inkpen, Catherine Rayner, Pam Smy, Helen Ward and Brian Wildsmith. It costs £6.95 plus £2.50 postage & packing and all proceeds go to the charity CCAA -Kids with Arthritis. To order a copy fill out the form here.

Other kidlit calendars I’ve come across for next year include ones for The Little Prince, Arthur Rackham, Beatrix Potter, the Flower Fairies, Miffy, and Edward Gorey.

3 Comments on 2012 Calendars featuring art by children’s book illustrators, last added: 9/5/2011

I’ve one last giveaway for this year and although it’s not large, it is beautiful and inspirational and just perfect if you love children’s books. But first some background…

A few weeks ago I wrote about calendars I had unearthed which featured the work of children’s book illustrators. In the process of researching those calendars blog reader Annette introduced me to the Family Reading Partnership, one of my highlighted charities in yesterday’s post all about book and literacy charities around the world.

The Family Reading Partnership, based in New York and working in their local community since 1997, has a great mission:

To create a culture of literacy in which all children in our community experience the pleasure of books as part of everyday family life, right from the start!

I love the emphasis on the pleasure of reading and also the normalcy of reading, making it part of regular family life.

As a coalition of several local organizations, individuals, schools, libraries and businesses, all committed to creating a “culture of literacy” the Family Reading Partnership delivers all sorts of programmes to families. Some of my favourite include:

If you’d like to support the Family Reading Partnership you can donate online (or via post), you can donate gently used children’s books, or if you’re local you can donate your time and become a volunteer.

Every year the Family Reading Partnership produces a calendar featuring from children’s book illustrators. These calendars are typically used as gifts to families involved in their programmes and they are gorge