1001 children's books... part 11

Ages 5+ part 8...
176. Friends from the other side by Gloria Anzaldúa and Consuelo Méndez - no
177. Stellaluna by Janell Cannon - YES
178. Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon & Tony Ross - no
179. Old Tom by Leigh Hobbs - YES
180. Jennifer Jones won't leave me alone by Frieda Wishinksy & Linda Hendry - no
181. Math curse by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith - YES
182. Moka the cow by Agostino Traini (Italy) - no
183. Lilyl's purple plastic purse by Kevin Henkes -YES
184. The sea at the end of the forest by Pinin Carpi (Italy) - no
185. My kingdom for a horse by Ana M Machado & Elisabeth Teixeira (Brazil) - no
186. The great escape from city zoo by Tohby Riddle - YES
187. Henry and Amy by Stephen Michael King - YES
188. A bad case of stripes by David Shannon - YES
189. Rumpelstiltskin and other Grimm tales by Carol Ann Duffy & Markéta Prachatická - no
190. The death book by Pernilla Stalfelt (Sweden) - no
191. I will not ever never eat a tomato by Lauren Child - YES. Now, did any regular readers expect something different? Oh, and I own a copy...
192. Fox by Margaret Wild & Ron Brooks - YES
193. The three pigs by David Wiesner - YES
194. Dodo gets married by Petra Mathers - no
195. Ug: boy genius of the stone age by Raymond Briggs - YES
196. The love book by Pernica Stalfelt (Sweden) - no
197. That pesky rat by Lauren Child - YES
198. Beegu by Alexis Deacon - YES
199. Bridget and the moose brothers by Pija Lindenbaun (Sweden) - no
200. The day the babies crawled away by Peggy Rathmann - YES
total for this lot: 14/25.

It's raining!

which means... I got to use my Charlie & Lola umbrella for the first time!
Yes, there's a downside... it IS a kid's umbrella - but my face & shoulders stayed dry!
But, come on!, the rain was so heavy, no umbrella would have done much better.
On the positive side... I looked good with it - and my matching backpack!
PS my extremely very important diary is working! I always have it with me - so it's moments for me to find out what's going on in my life, and the bookings for the family bach, rather than waiting and hunting...

I'm hopping, I'm hopping, I'm hopping, hopping, hopping

When does liking something spiral into obsession?

I'm a bit concerned about my Charlie & Lola collection. I now have:
I absolutely must do colouring-in now or painting or drawing
But excuse me that is my book
My extremely very important diary 2008
A Charlie & Lola backpack

AND, just bought...
A Charlie & Lola umbrella
AND
I will not ever never eat a tomato - the pop-up edition (in my defence for this one, I really wanted the pop-up editon of We're going on a bear hunt)

Maybe the phrase is 'I absolutely must stop buying Charlie & Lola things now'

The sun has got his hat on...

I couldn't wait until Christmas and decided to out my Charlie & Lola backback early (if you happened to be wondering what I'd bought at the Smith & Caugheys sale). So while shopping at the Bead Hold I heard a little voice behind me say 'Mummy, that lady has a Charlie & Lola on her back'.

Then, I took a copy of I'm really ever so not well to my friend, who is recovering from a stroke. Yes, it did cheer her up!

See, the right present at the right time to the right person in the right spirit, can do wonders. Something it's really hard to keep in mind while frantically shopping at Christmas. At that's why I've decided to buy my Christmas presents for the great nephews & nieces in the summer sales. Yes, I'll be spectacularly short of cash for a few months - but less stress in December!

I will not ever never...

not love Charlie & Lola... Just when I thought it was safe (after playing with Charlie & Lola stuff)... there was a sale today... Merry Christmas to ME! Also bought, but at Jabberwocky, My Extremely Very Important Diary. I'm hoping that, by being so extremely very cute, I might actually USE it and have it with me...

We've got to get to school before the dragons!

I have this little sister Lola. She is small and very funny...
Thus begins pretty much every Charlie & Lola book by Lauren Child.
I don't want a little sister like Lola - as I am a little sister, I want to be Lola.
So, with gift vouchers for my birthday, I bought But excuse that is my book - all about Lola's visit to the library to get out the bestest book in the world. But someone else has it!
We've done this as a readers theatre for a special storytime - and I demanded to be Lola (just getting into my character, of course).
The next day I got an email from a former workmate who had seen a new Charlie & Lola book online... and now we have it on order - This is actually my party.
Then a friend & I went and played in the toy section of Smith & Caugheys - with the Charlie & Lola toys! Oh the want! Daytime and Nightime Lola... Messenger bag... Umbrella... Giggling Lola and Giggling Charlie. I felt all Lola aged! My friend knows the obsession - she bought me I absolutely must do colouring-in now for my birthday last year.
Thank goodness I don't have a credit card...