What we're reading in...November

Pre-baby I was an avid reader. I love books; reading, writing, reading about writing; so much so, I spent three years writing about books for my degree. I even set up a blog about books to capture my thoughts and recommendations. I am a book worm through and through (slightly strange sentence… but you get my point!)

Since I fell pregnant and had A, unfortunately I haven’t had as much time, energy or head space to sit down and read. I can’t complain too much though, as thanks to the internet I am able to read a lot of fab articles, blogs and content on my phone when I do get a few minutes to myself.

My fiction fix is now coming from the children’s books we are reading to A. Now that she is eight months old, our little one is becoming more engaged with the books we are reading to her and I’m hoping this will grow into a love of reading as she gets older (*must try not to be pushy about this*).

I want to share with you the children’s books we are enjoying, so each month I will post up a review of our current favourite. And if you have any to recommend then please let me know… I’m always looking to expand our collection!

This month we are reading Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Written by the same talented duo who created The Gruffalo, I had high expectations when we chose this one to read. I was not disappointed. Set to the same rhyming couplet structure as The Gruffalo, Stick Man is about a Stick Man (!) who ventures out from his family tree one day and unexpectedly ends up on an adventure. He finds himself moving further and further away from his home and getting involved in all sorts of situations. ‘I’m not a stick, why can’t you see. I’m Stick Man, I’m Stick Man, I’m STICK MAN, that’s me’ he cries out as he is consistently mistaken for a useful stick, and in this book sticks have many, many uses…

A enjoys the sing song rhythm of the story and seems to like the beautiful illustrations. The pictures are bright and varied and A likes to show her appreciation by smiling and banging the pages. She is too little to understand the story just yet but likes to sit with me when reading and help turn the pages!

Stick Man is ideal for the winter months as it has a festive twist (you may have noticed the snow on the cover) and would be good to start reading to your little ones in the next few weeks. But the story is ultimately set all year round so don’t feel restricted!

I think Stick Man will appeal to babies and pre-school children as it has bright and detailed illustrations, a varied story line and rhythmic language.

Have you and your family read Stick Man? What do you think?