The Minx and I spent a lot of time on our recent holiday reading Finn Family Moomintroll (which was aces, just as cool and fabulous as I remembered it) and I’m wishing I had the courage to decorate my kitchen with these gorgeous wallpapers from Photowall (though it looks like you’ll need to grapple with Swedish to buy them).
As an aside, can anyone recommend good chapter books for a five year old ? We’re currently hugely enjoying Junie B Jones, who regularly makes us cry laughing, but I’m finding it difficult to find books suitable for a fluent reader, but age-appropriate in content (and no, not the vile Rainbow Magic fairies, which the Minx utterly adores, and which I couldn’t loathe more if I tried).
actually the last one is quite cool! – to a person who doesn’t have kids. and definitely different from the usual.
as to swiss chard, so glad you discovered it. the french from the part of the world that you have just visited, eat a lot of it…so if you were to dig through nicoise cookbooks……you would find some nice ideas. and the flavor of the “blettes” as they call them, goes great with cheese and pinenuts.
now you know!
Pippi? Paddington?
Just loving the first one. Still, a pile of nice mugs almost as good.
Mlle P – yeah, I’ve spent a lot of time in the South of France and the only time I’ve really eaten Swiss chard previously was in ‘tourte aux blettes’ (which I’m going to have to learn how to make), though I didn’t even know until recently that ‘blettes’ = ‘chard’.
K – We’ve got both Pippi and Paddington lined up. I was hoping for stuff that wasn’t at least 40 years old though.
D – yep, just going to have to keep collecting the mugs now that the Minx is fully on board…
I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!! SO MAGICAL!!!!!!!!
Your blog is one of my favorites and I check it religiously every day!!!
As for suggestions for books, here are my picks:
1) Roald Dahl
2) Anything by Beverly Cleary (Ramona, Henry Huggins, etc.)
3) “Babe” and “Harry’s Mad” by Dick King-Smith
4) The Moffets series by Elanor Estes
5) “The Borrowers” by Mary Norton
6) “All of a Kind Family” by Sydney Taylor
7) “My Father’s Dragon” by Ruth Stiles Gannett
8) “The Indian in the Cupboard” by Lynne Reid Banks
9) The Brambly Hedge series by Jill Barklem
10) “Trouble for Trumpets” by Peter Dallas Smith
11) “A Cricket in Times Square” by George Seldon
12) “Baby Island” by Carol Ryrie Brink
13) “Little House in the Big Woods” by Laura Ingalls Wilder
14) “Nate the Great” by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
15) “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
16) “Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories” by Florence Sakade
17) of course Tintin, Asterix & Obelix
18) AND OBVIOUSLY the Moomin books by Tove Jansson!!!! 🙂
Stephen, thank you so much!
So many great ideas here and lots I haven’t heard of before and need to investigate. Thanks again!
No problem! I read all of these books as a kid and they really helped make my childhood quite magical indeed. I think all of these are available at the Seattle Public Library so you can research them before buying them! Take care!
Thank you so much for that information. You are very kind to take the time to do that.