Hush, Little Beachcomber by Dianne Moritz & Holly McGee

We made it! E and I are now officially ensconced in North Carolina and lucky to be spending some time at the coast. It cheers my heart to no end to see him barefoot and giddy as he runs shrieking from the waves with a gaggle of cousins in tow. We're existing in a perpetual state of sunscreen sheen mixed with sand as we shed the skin of a long London winter.

To celebrate our time at the beach I've added this new book to the library: Hush, Little Beachcomber.  As the title suggests, it's set to the rythmn of the well known lullaby (Hush, Little Baby). This gives the text a lyrical quality as the narrative takes you on a journey to discover what's magical about a trip to the beach: waves, seaweed soup, seashell collecting, sand pies and ice cream cones. It's a fun story about a day out that we can instantly relate to, however, the illustrations are what set it apart from other beach books.

First of all, this book features characters of different ethnicities which is a refreshing change from most of what we see on the picture book shelf.  The illustrations have an appealing sketch like quality and their whimsical style matches the subject matter.  It was no surprise to me to learn that the illustrator, Holly McGee, has her own shop on Etsy featuring a range of artwork. You may want to check her out!

More to come from Mrs Brown on the move!

Sticker books, airplanes and little ones

It's that time of year again and we're getting ready for an annual trip to see friends and family back home in North Carolina.  It's a 9 hour flight from London so I tend to give my carry on bag more thought than any other packing duties. As I've mentioned in previous posts, flying with a three year old is pretty much about getting through it and a lot of my normal guidelines go out the window. I rely heavily on movies and apps and our narrative picture books are traded for sticker books. By the end of the flight we generally end up with E, the window shade, the tray table and me covered in stickers (and very few in the book). It's harmless, it's quiet and it passes the time.

For this trip my local news agent had a deal on sticker books and I picked up 3 for our flight:

My Swashbuckling Pirate is just one of the many titles available from Bloomsbury. In addition to the 100+ stickers, there are pages to colour and pirate paraphernalia galore to search for on each page.

Usborne are well known for activity books and they also publish specific books about first experiences such as riding on a plane or going to the airport. E never seems to tire of identifying things around the airport that he finds in the books.

There are lots of these sticker books on the market but I especially like this trio because of the detail on each page. Once E has finished decorating our seats with stickers the books still serve a purpose in stimulating our conversation about three of his favourite subjects.  I'll let you know how we do!