Child book recommendation: The Slightly Annoying Elephant by DavidWalliams

Sorry for not posting in a few days but my laptop is not working properly. It's at the doctors and I'm on the iPad which is not ideal for blogging. Well, not for me anyway. However I'm determined to give you guys a quick child's book recommendation.

 We have covered a lot of serious, sweet and spiritual books lately.  So I thought I would mix thing up a bit with a silly, fun book.  One of our favourite funny books is The slightly annoying elephant by David Walliams. David is a British comedian, and a well known face in the U.K.  I bought the book figuring it would be funny as I'm a big fan of his work on television.

The story starts with a boy named Sam opening the door to a very large, rather unexpected visitor. A giant elephant who knows his name! He thinks back and remembers filling out an "adopt an elephant" form at the zoo and immediately regrets the decision. He did not think an elephant would actually show up! 

Still Sam tries to make the best of the situation. He gives the elephant everything he demands. Even after he overflows all the water in the bath tub he still gives him all the food in the house when the elephant gets peckish.  When Sam asks questions, the elephant gives him patronising answers in an abrupt tone.  This elephant seriously sucks.

Just when he thought things couldn't get worse, what with the elephant breaking his brand new bike, things start to get real. Whilst the elephant is napping ( in Sams bed I might add) he gets a knock on the door. A whole herd of elephants is standing in his doorway claiming their friend invited them! So Sam has himself in a sticky situation. All the better for us though, as its great time watching the story unfold. 

I like to use a silly voice when saying the elephant lines and Scarlett always gets a kick out of that.  This book gives us a chance to loosen up and be silly for a couple minutes  out of our sometimes stressful lives. The pictures are colourful and very funny.  It gives our kids a chance to laugh, learn a bit of good manners, and most importantly ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT..

Childrens book review: Buddha at bedtime

Hello everyone!I know, its been awhile. I've been pondering which way to carry forward with this blog. I want to do more than talk about art tutorials, products, and techniques. I want to discuss living life creatively and more passionately. That includes the foods we eat,the music we listen to, the books we read, and the places we go.In fact I aim to bring creativity into all aspects of my life. I invite you to follow with me. I pursue this life to keep me sane, and I feel when we strive to be creative we make the most of our life. We don't become as complacent, and forget to "stop and smell the roses". I hope maybe you who are reading this can get a few ideas to be more creative yourself.

So let's start with a children's book review!

Last week we started reading Buddah at bedtime by Dharmachari Nagaraja and Sharon Tancredi.

This book is a collection of stories written to get kids thinking about kindness, compassion, and empathy. It includes a section on who Buddah was and a little about practicing buddhism. We all know our children need to get out playing more and using their imagination.  Though its becoming increasingly difficult in a world full of apps, video games, films, ext. Im not saying those things are all bad. Far from that. I love a good crime drama, and im currently obsessed with instagram. I just think all of that is okay in moderation. This book helps us set aside a little time to sit quietly with our child, tell a story, and travel to another place. 

 I wasnt sure how my daughter would like this book as it reads as a chapter book and I was worried about lack of pictures. To my suprise though, she really likes it! They scatter smaller pictures along the edges to keep the reader intrested as they read along. I would stop every so often and ask questions like "why do you think Dinos was crying?"(because Arthur broke his promise). At the end of that particular chapter there is a few sentences about why its impotant to keep promises.

We arent finished with this book entirely but so far we are really enjoying it. These authors have wrote a second book on the same subject called The Buddhas apprentice we cannot wait to read! I really suggest this as a great book to read with your child.  

Remember this:

“it’s not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It’s our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.” –L.r knost

 Does anyone have any particular stories they like reading with their child? Id love to hear about them! We are always looking for new books to add to our list. They dont all have to be as thought provoking as this particular book. Another book we have on our shelf is called Walter the farting dog...but we will leave that for another post. Thanks for reading and stay inspired!


                                                                                                 -Kassandra