Book review: The Snatchabook

‘In every house, in every bed

A bedtime book is being read’

There. They’ve won me over already.
Yes, I know that sadly not every child gets bedtime stories, but for the ones who do this is a great affirmation of the comforting bedtime routine. The Snatchabook, by Helen Docherty is a beautifully rhythmical book whose poetry seems to flow gently from page to page. The author’s use of asides - 'Long hours passed without a peep (She'd nearly fallen fast asleep!)' - to deal with trickier words for rhyming is observably smart to an adult, but to the wide-eyed child it just adds to the narrator’s charm and gives a sense of them being let in on a secret.

Now for the bad news. As you may have guessed from the title, The Snatchabook is a story in which books are snatched. Gone. Vanished. The first time we read this story, I had to read it quite fast in order to get to a point that would reassure my indignant children that no such fate would befall their books! But fear not dear reader, without giving too much away, I will tell you that no creature in Burrow Down is left without a book to treasure.

I think that I would love this story if it were merely scrawled on a dog-eared A4 sheet and shoved through the letterbox. But oh my, that is far from the case.

The illustrations are stunning, with richly detailed double page spreads just screaming to be framed and put on the playroom wall. ThomasDocherty brings to life the inimitable Eliza Brown, the titular Snatchabook and the cosy, magical Burrow Down with apparent ease.

This is one of those books that really is a true gift, and since having received it ourselves (Thanks Aunt Claire!) I have bought a copy or two to give to other happy children.

We are very much looking forward to the author’s next bedtime read!

Hitchhiker rating: 5 thumbs up 

Playing the heartstrings

It’s 6am and the house is blanketed in silent darkness. Through deep, much-needed, layers of sleep the woman’s subconscious alerts her to a disturbance. Something has changed in the blackness. She tenses, all senses searching for more information.

There! A muted sound, surely? She sits straight up in the bed, heart pounding, bleary eyes attempting to detect subtle variations in the little light available.

Oh.

‘Sweetheart, WHAT are you doing out of bed? It’s still not getting up time you know.’

Little Lady replies, ‘Well, it’s just that I love you so much, I really wanted to give you a hug and it woke me up.’

The moments of fear and disorientation fade, and what’s left is amusement and a little pride.

How does she do that? At 4 and-a-half years of age, how does she know so innately how to defuse a situation?

‘C’mere pet. One and a half hugs and then straight back to bed until getting up time, ok?’

This emotional intelligence is not new, but it surprises me every time. We’ve recently celebrated her learning to peel a banana all by herself. She sat down one morning and learned how to tie shoelaces more through stubbornness than dexterity. She and Little Man are bright kids, but she is streets ahead of him when it comes to understanding emotions – how to read them, how to soothe them, and how to take advantage of them!

The first real grasp of how clever she is in this way came about 6 months after Little One was born. When I went to tuck Little Man into bed, he asked why my belly was still so big even though there wasn’t a baby in it anymore. It was an emotional slap in the face. I thought I hid it well, explained that Mammy’s tummy needs some time to learn how to be small again and he was satisfied. With my brave face in place I went to Little Lady’s room to tuck her in to bed. She stood up, threw her arms around me and declared ‘Mammy, you are a beautiful princess and I love you!’.  I almost cried. It was the perfect thing to do, the perfect thing to say and somehow she knew it!

She’s got a real knack for cheering people up, for just throwing herself into a hug at exactly the right moment and she’s used her charms to get herself out of trouble at least once. To hear her telling a fussy Little One ‘It’s ok pet, you’re just having a tough old day, I’ll say a hug is what you need!’ is at once adorable and admirable.

I think overall, it’s moments like those that make me look at my kids with a kind of awe. We made those kids from scratch, and are so lucky to get to watch them learn and grow into fascinating people with diverse talents and quirks.

And even at 6am, I wouldn’t change a thing!

Book review: I Dare You Not To Yawn

One of our favourite things to do as a family is to read stories. The house is bursting at the seams with books for babies, toddlers, older kids, teens and anything Hubby or I might like to read. 

So, I thought I'd share some of our favourites with you. 



I Dare You Not To Yawn by Héléne Boudreau is one of our latest favourite books. 

Narrated by a small boy, the reader is immediately warned of how sneaky yawns can be - and what the disastrous results might be if you do succumb to their sneaky efforts! The descriptive passages are excellent, and the narration seems utterly authentic from the point of view of a perhaps slightly cranky but NOT at all tired little boy.

Both older kids love this book*, it's sweet and funny and a bit of a competition not to yawn the whole way through reading it. Their glee when Hubby or I start to yawn is uncontained, 'You yawned - you YAWNED! I saw you. Straight to bed you'll go!"

For adults, this book is absolutely brilliant for bedtime. Take some excitable, chattering children who look like they may not sleep for hours. Curl up somewhere cosy, read this clever book to them and watch them yawn yawn Y A A W W N N their way to sleepy town. 

Hitchhiker rating: 5 thumbs up


*To be fair, Little One likes it too. Although more for its chewiness.