Since Sunday, we have been starting and finishing our days with the same book – Birds of a Feather by Bernadette Gervais and Francesco Pittau. This gorgeously illustrated book won Budster’s heart from the first look. It comes to us from France, where the talent...
Some of them are more than twenty years old, and some are new. At first, I preferred those which pages were white and fresh, carefully chosen and delivered from overseas, but as Budster brought me my old books, without bright illustrations, but loved now by the second...
It was a week before Easter, and I made up a small chant, based on one of my son’s favourite books We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, “We’re going on an egg hunt! We’re going to find a lot of eggs…” But is Budster familiar with eggs?...
This year we had a long winter, and even now, as I show grass and leaves on the pictures to Budster, I wonder whether he remembers how it should look when the warm weather finally settles. Time goes slowly for children, and if we think that the winter was long, for...
I could have called this blog post Liska’s Favourite Books, and it would have been just as fair. For of all the books we collected for Budster over the first year, Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson was without doubt my favourite. Now the choice would be more...
Last week we decided to check out the aquarium that opened in Toronto last fall. Budster is very curious about the animal world right now, and it seemed like a good place to show him something new. Not that he had not seen fish before – there were aquariums at the zoo...
Did you know that one of the most popular English children’s books nowadays was completed using only fifty words? Dr Seuss did just that in creating Green Eggs and Ham, as a result of a bet with his publisher. Here is the list: a, am, and, anywhere, are, be,...
At the Early Year Centre, I first saw Budster play with a water table. The basin is deep, and in many activities children are encouraged to use fishing rods, measuring cups or spoons to play with the toys at the bottom. It is also just possible to reach with...
There are few defined hopes I have for Budster’s future. I would like him to be happy. I would like him to be healthy. I would like him to adore books. I believe that if you are a passionate reader, the world is a much more pleasant place. Bigger, too. In the...
Books by Julia Donaldson are among our favourite on the shelf. The plots are invariably interesting and understandable for Budster, and I enjoy the lively rhythm, humour and dialogues which invite the possibility of turning reading into performing. Many of her stories...
Painting and drawing have always been a big part of my life. At times they comforted me, other times they helped me to visualize my ideas. So I could not wait to share this passion with my son, and I first offered him food-based paints when he was seven months old. He...
