"No reading at the breakfast table"

I thought this would be a lovely book to give a child about to start school.  It goes through all the things Cornelius Pig needs to do to get ready for school.  But it's only until he gets a kiss from mum that he's really  ready to go.  Very cute and simple but good for helping with the idea of getting in a routine to get organised.

Here are the books that have been great hits with the 7-10 year old crowd in 2012.  Hope it helps with your Christmas shopping! New Geronimo Stilton series 'The Kingdom of Fantasy' 'Tom Gates' series 'EJ12' - spy girls books that are good after they get tired of 'Rainbow Magic' fairies.   'Unicorn Riders' - serve a similar purpose to EJ12! 'Dinosaur Rescue' - combining dinosaurs with adventure.  Perfect combination! 'Specky Magee' for the AFL mad (a little more challenging read). 'Nanny Piggins' has been hugely successful this year.  

These are some of my most popular books from 2012 for kids who have just started to be able to read a little on their own. This has been my most borrowed series of the year.

As usual these are not all new books, but they're books that I've enjoyed in 2012. 'Starters' by Lissa Price is a dystopian story that actually has quite an interesting premise.  During a world-wide viral epidemic, only the young and the over 60's are given a life saving vaccination.   The over 60's are now able to live into old age, while the young are left starving and orphaned, unable to work until they are 18 so they don't take the jobs of the elderly.  16 yo Callie is looking after her little brother, but cannot work out how to care for him alone.  The option comes for her to earn a large sum of money by renting her body out to a senior.  But while she is being rented something goes wrong and she wakes up, discovering that her body is going to be used to commit a murder. 'Matched' is a dystomance (we made this genre up).  Ie. a dystopian romance!  The Society determines through DNA and psychological testing who your perfect match will be. ...

Here are some of the picture books that I've loved sharing with my classes during 2012.  My favourites are books that are great to read aloud (and should be yours too if you have to read the books that you choose to buy/borrow many, many, many times!). Mozzie and Midgie by Doug MacLeod - This is partly my favourite because the illustrations are so cool but also because of the reaction my Kindy class had to this book.  One of the characters tells the other that he looks 'stupid' because of the silly hat he's wearing.  My class reacted with 'Oh, but Miss you said the 'S' work' and turned around to look at their teacher with open mouths.  Hadn't quite realised how delightfully conservative my school is! Lazy Daisy, Busy Lizzie  by Mary Ellen Jordan is just funny and silly and everyone has a good laugh.  This is one dysfunctional farm. All through the year  by Jane Godwin.  Illustrated by Anna Walker (just beautiful) tells the story o...

Hoping to pull together in the next week some reading lists for you and your kids.  Especially as you face those long shopping lists in the lead up to Christmas!  And hopefully after you've done all your shopping you can sit down and read a book or two for yourself (while the children are suitably occupied).  I always like to buy my kids who can read, long books in the hope that I will be left in peace for at least a couple of days after Christmas.  For the not-quite-fluent readers I like to buy large boxes of lego that keep them busy.  And if I had smaller children it would definitely be a long DVD that they want to watch lots of times! So ... reading lists in the pipeline.

My sister got me on to the 'Fly Guy' series.  This series is perfect for your early reader (age 4-8) who wants to feel like they are reading a chapter book but isn't quite there yet.  And even more perfect for boys.  Fly Guy is Buzz's pet and Fly Guy is great because he can actually SAY Buzz's name - 'B u z z z z'.  Doesn't every little boy feel attracted to the idea of capturing something like a fly/snail/caterpillar as a pet at some point? Pictures are great - very funny, slightly gross (of course, attractive to little boys).  Covers shiny and bright. Exciting to find something else to attract boys to reading.

Whoops almost forgot to add some more present suggestions! Might help you as you try to buy age appropriate gifts in the lead up to Christmas. 4 year old girls:  baby dolls - little bottles to feed a baby milk and juice, textas and a notebook, jewellery, dress up shoes, 4 year old boys:  Thomas, drawing stuff, bouncy ball, magnifying glass, tape measure, small watering can 5 year old girls:  stickers, drawing stuff, hair bands and hair clips, ink stamps 5 year old boys:   duplo, plastic dinosaurs, tornado tube (see picture) 6 year old girls:  stationery, paints and drawing book, pastel crayons, sticker book, 6 year old boys:   Lego, silly putty, tornado throwing thing (see picture) frisbee, pencil case, sticker book, post it notes, blu tack 7 year old girls:  craft packs, stationary, hair bands 7 year old boys:  Lego, games - eg. UNO, Blokus, make your own craft packs, dominoes, marbles

Earlier this year my Grandma died.  She was a very precious and lovely Grandma.  One of her amazing skills was her ability to give age appropriate, small gifts to her many great grandchildren (19 when she died).  I assume that it was after so many years of practice that she had a good sense of what kids - boys and girls - of all ages would like.  So she's my inspiration for this series - and when I'm old and have a billion grandchildren - I would like to have this list to help me!  I'm going to go up until the age of 11 which is as far I've got with my own kids.  After 11, it all gets very specific AND expensive!  Especially for boys. Two year olds Bags - of all shapes and colours Colouring in books and crayons Pretend phone Toy cars Playdough Balls Three year olds Girls - more bags, anything pink, hairbrush set, baby dolls, jewellery, fake milk/juice feeding bottles, thick chalk Boys - balls, playdough, balls, thick chalk, anything Tho...

My goal for kid's gifts is to aim for something under $10.  Five kids = A LOT of gifts over the year as they go to friend's parties etc.  I love giving gifts though - great fun. So my challenge is to bring together a list of age appropriate presents for boys and girls, that cost less than $10 - preferably not related to a movie or brand (although there are exceptions to this on my list), items that will stand the test of time and items that don't require any effort on my part (ie. no sewing, cooking, packaging - homemade gifts are lovely and cheap but sometimes there are 4 or 5 parties on a weekend, so I'm being realistic). To kick off this list, I want to share the present that I'm particularly excited about at the moment.  I think it will suit girls ages 5 to age 10 and boys until about age 8.  It costs less than $10 and will probably be the gift many of my 9 nieces/nephews will be receiving this Christmas (sorry to spoil the surprise folks). It's cal...