Archive for the ‘Book Review’ Category
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19
Sep
2010
Utterly unexhaustive list of good cookbooks. Somewhat related to family cooking – in a spurious manner
People are always asking me how I do it. How do I whip up healthy and nutritious meals for my family and friends night after night? So healthy and yet so
I am pretty even when whipping up meals night after night.
super tasty, the flavour just oozes out? Alright, no-one has ever asked me that. My husband once said ‘this is good’, but he might have been referring to the football results, I can’t be sure. And of course there was the memorable moment when daughter agreed to eat a second helping of chicken. Son would eat anything. I love Son. I love him the best.
Anyway, I do like to cook. I occasionally invent recipes, but mostly I devour cookbooks. I don’t read them in bed like several of my friends admitted recently – that is just weird friends. I read them in totally normal reading places like on the couch in front of Big Brother worthy current affairs programs and sitting in bookshops ignoring daughter’s mournful looks passing some time while waiting for important meetings.
17
May
2010
Gina Ford – the case FOR.
Do not set one of those up in your back garden to burn books. This would be weird.
Oh my god, my pulse is racing, my heart is beating faster and I can hear Jacqui yelling from Madrid. It’s that time. Time for the post I have been thinking about since we started the blog. The Dame Gina Ford post.
If you’ve had a child in the past ten odd years in the UK or Australia, you’d have to be a bit lacking in eyes and/or ears to have missed one of her books on the parenting bookshelves, seen referenece to her methods on the internet or heard mention of her routines from other parents. The most popular book is The Very Contented Baby, but there are various follow-ups including The Contented Baby with Toddler.
At the outset, I need to divulge something that might already be obvious – I love Gina. There, I’ve said it. It’s out there. Let the stabbings commence and the bags full of poo start arriving on our doorstep, but it is true – her methods have worked like an incredible charm for our family and Gina (or The Big G (TBG) as we prefer to call her) rules the child routine roost around at our pad.
11
May
2010
These are a few of my favourite things….PICTURE BOOKS
My favourite book. Get your hands on it.
Or so the song goes. These are actually a few of my favourite children’s picture books for the under 5s. I know, I know, there are literally thousands of wonderful books, and as clever and efficient as I am, I haven’t quite got through them all. Astounding I realise.
My requirements for being added to this illustrious list include gorgeous illustrations, fun or charming stories (a sense of humour doesn’t go astray) and something that I don’t want to set fire to the fortieth time I read it. And I have to admit a terrible bias towards Australian books here – I don’t know if it’s because some of them reflect my own childhood stories, or their cheekiness just appeals to me, but I have to put it out there.
So to keep you going while I make my way through every single children’s book in the world, here are some of my favourites:
- Wanted: The Perfect Pet – this is probably my favourite book ever. Mainly for the over 2s but good for a few years after that due to the detail, it is very funny, very sweet, very engaging and has lovely line-style drawings. It also provides good scope for me to show off the breadth of my story reading skills. Love it.
26
Apr
2010
Things that make me vomit. And other fun stories about toddlers.
Many may be needed.
The day I hoped would never come is here. Or rather I hoped it would come, but I hoped someone else would have to deal with it. But no, no other mother has popped out of the woodwork offering to take over my role for a few months. So…… it is POTTY TRAINING TIME.
I have enjoyed each new stage up until now (apart from the hellish non-feeding phase of the first baby which I have conveniently blocked from all memory). The weaning was fun, the walking, the learning to feed themselves, talking (offensive swearing toddler aside) — all good stuff. But this, this is something I am ill-prepared for. Mentally, physically, emotionally, I am just not a potty-training type of person. I have a number of issues here:
- I am not a massive fan of talking about bodily functions. I cringe when I hear myself saying “can you do wee-wees for Mummy?” and my voice drops four volume levels when I ask my little angel if he needs to do poo-poos. The thought of having to spend the next few weeks (months? years?) talking about this is KILLING me.
17
Mar
2010
Homemade goodness, you can call me Martha
photo credit: mitch59
I tried commercial baby food for the first time yesterday. Well actually the first savoury one. I had tried Nestle’s all-natural fruit puree which is actually really quite fabulous, to be fair. Monkey loves it, even I love it. But I tried a vegetable and meat one for the first time because we’re about to take a long haul flight and I figured it might be easier than taking home made food. So I checked out Nestle’s vegetable and chicken. Not a few people had told me that commercial baby food in general was disgusting. But as the fruit puree from Nestle was so good I thought there would be a good chance their meat and vegetable selections would be edible. They’re not. Well, I haven’t ventured further than the chicken and veg. Nor will I. One was bad enough. People had warned me but until I tasted it myself, I just couldn’t believe it could be so bad. It kind of seemed like they’d soaked some cardboard in gelatine, and then pureed it. They may possibly have thrown in a carrot. There was a taste slightly resembling carrot. Perhaps it was wishful thinking. It was orange though, so, it’s a possibility.
29
Oct
2009
Happy Birthday Asterix and Thank You Rene Goscinny
Today is the 50th anniversary of Asterix and Obelisk. Happy Birthday guys! For certain people this is a BIG deal. It’s top news here in Spain and I am personally hoping to see some people, very large men specifically, celebrating by baring their man breasts and donning stripey trousers and wigs. I know weird. I can’t explain it.
But the the thing for which I REALLY love René Goscinny (other than bringing us large men in high pants) is the result of one of his other collaborations with an illustrator, this time Jean-Jacques Sempé; the book series, “Le Petit Nicolas”, or, in English, Little Nicholas (published by Phaidon, who have a dedicated website to the series here).
I fell in love with Little Nicholas while reading the Spanish version to practise my Spanish. I guessed it would be better than studying grammar exercises, and I was right. I CRIED with laughter all the time (see, that doesn’t happen when practicing verb conjugation) and I only understood about 50% of what I was reading.
27
May
2009
Top 6 mother-type books
I love a list. I have been known to make lists in the middle of the night. M y nickname to certain ex-housemates is Schindler. You get the picture. Anyway, here is my list of some of my favourite mother/parent/woman related books. And yes, I know 6 is a random number. Feel free to add dozens more and round out the list.
1. I Don’t Know How She Does it
2. Love and other Impossible Pursuitsby Ayelet Waldman. I read this long before I was a mother and loved it. Defy ANYONE not to cry. Waldman has since achieved a fair bit of notoriety because of her views on motherhood and family – i.e she has talked about prioritising your partner over your children. Oprah-famous and everything. Anyway, lovely easy-to-read fiction about step-motherhood, relationships and loss.
