Happy New Year!

Jessicat is back into books with a vengeance at the moment. She must know that 2008 has been designated the National Year of Reading! Her favourite way of reading at the moment is to select a book, bring it to me to read to her, allow me to get through a few pages whilst she excitedly points to objects she recognizes, before rolling off me to select another one. Although it means our reading is done piecemeal, I can't help but get carried along by her enthusiasm, and am proud of her growing understanding and ability to point to objects on request.

Some of her favourite books from our current selection are:

One Little Farm - Dubravka Kolanovic. Lovely warm pictures; a basic counting book, but one that Jess really enjoys, so no doubt we will make our way through the whole series.

Lulu's Busy Day - Caroline Uff. Jessicat and I have read this book before. Lulu is a long established favourite now.

Ten in the Bed - Penny Dale (in board book format). We already own the paperback version, but that is not really able to withstand Jess's loving ministrations yet, so a board version is a great idea. Jessicat is amused by the noise the animals make as they fall on the floor. The drawings in this version are not quite as nice as in the paperback, so we will keep our book to look at when Jess is a bit older.

Who's Hiding at Home? - Julie Fletcher. A good find. Really sturdy flaps for Jess to manipulate; whoever produced this understands what toddlers can do to books!

Hoping for a more healthy year in 2008. Looking forward to Jess being able to walk and talk, and hoping for more sleep! As for the New Year Honours, really pleased to see Jacqueline Wilson and Eric Hill honoured.