A motley collection...

...of books this week.

"Nobody Laughs at A Lion" - Paul Bright. Appealing story about a lion who needs to find his talent (message there for grown ups as well, I think).

"Oliver Finds His Way" - Phyllis Root. Beautifully illustrated, very short story about a little bear who wanders too far from home, but is quickly reunited with his mum and dad. A cosy read, and one that with its autumnal pictures, makes me yearn to be snuggled up with Jessicat listening to rain and wind howling outside.

"Big Red Bath" - Julia Jarman. Written in rollicking, jaunty rhyme, I love reading this aloud, and it seems that Jess knows parts of it off by heart, as she is able to supply the missing word or phrase if I stop! A truly splendid book.

"A Rumpus in the Night" - Nick Ward. A rumpus is a friendly little monster who just won't stay in a dream where he belongs. Jessicat enjoys this story of the monster and the young boy causing havoc and having fun in the middle of the night, but I'm not sure she really "gets" the twist in the tale at the end, so probably a book to re-visit in a few months.

"Rufus and the Blackberry Monster" - Lisa Stubbs. Stories that deal with children feeling frightened but overcoming their fear are very reassuring to toddlers I think, and this is no exception. Jess talks about monsters and ghosts, but hasn't yet reached a stage of worrying about them.

"This is the Bear and the Picnic Lunch" - Sarah Hayes. A short story written in rhyming couplets. Fast paced and simple, but very effective, and I will definitely be looking to read the whole series with Jessicat.

"Jumpy Jack and Googily" - Meg Rosoff. Recently published book that we have managed to order from the library, this tells the tale of a nervous snail who asks his monster friend to check everyone for scary monsters. I think the irony of asking a monster to look for a monster completely escaped Jess, but she was still gripped by the story, and we will be looking out for more books for Meg Rosoff.

Summer has hit with a vengeance, and brought with it all the usual paraphanalia: annoying hayfever, Jess looking cute in shorts and sandals, fans in the bedroom (like last year, she is still scared of them!), yearning for different weather and darker nights etc etc (guess who's not a fan of this season?) We still put Jessicat to bed at 7.30pm, but it seems that the heat and the light nights combine to keep her awake and chatting away to herself to nearly 9pm. Which wouldn't be so bad if she didn't insist on still waking up before 6am on the odd occasion...

At least the midday nap has made a temporary re-appearance, which is giving me the time to blog today. Later on, we are off down town, to share a drink and a cake in Starbucks, and to browse in Borders (air conditioned, just heavenly). Anyway, the forecast is for a cooler and wetter weekend, so we live in hope. We are planning to take Jessicat to the Festival of Nature at the Harbourside on Saturday, and maybe to the market at the Tobacco Factory on Sunday.