Karl's Reading List

We have been living in my parents' house for two months now, and they have a lot of picture books here. As a result, we have been reading a lot of new stories to Ezekiel, and it feels only right that I should do another picture-book entry to acknowledge some of them. Keeping the list to only ten has been tricky, particularly as I also wanted to include two books we read when we went to a friend's bach at the lake a few months ago. Aside from those two, I have limited myself to books that belong to my parents, knowing that the ones we own will still be with us the next time I do one of these. As is now usual, each of these books has their own page, meaning that you can easily skip all ten if you want to just move on to the next 'proper' book on my list. Karl's List First Flight ; Good Night, Alice and Other Stories ; Skarloey ; Swiggo ; Minny Car Elise's List Just Me and My Puppy ; Dogs ; Who's Driving? ; Mosan Mouse ; I've Lost My Kisses Previous Book ~...

Published by Gecko Press: Australia and New Zealand, 2007 (2006). English translation by Gecko Press, 2007. First published in Belgium by Clavis Uitgeverij. I say this a lot for Ezekiel's books, but this is a beautifully illustrated book! And it's a pop-up book too! Who's Driving? is fairly self-explanatory. Each page has three animals dressed in different uniforms, each approaching a vehicle that they could conceivably be driving. When the pop-up tab is pulled, the driver of the vehicle is revealed, and sound effects are added as the vehicle 'drives' away. The illustrations are clever in that there are hints given as to which animal will be revealed. The desert jeep, for example, is being approached by a hippo in khaki. Of course the one in khaki is the driver! The pop-up elements are also cleverly done, with my favourte being a small convertible that is revealed as being driven by a giraffe. I am still impressed by how that giraffe pops up from that little convert...

Published by Macmillan Children's Books: London, 2012 (2009). A fun book about dogs, opening with "I love dogs." After this the book goes through, giving different types of dogs from "stroppy dogs and soppy dogs" to "Scruffy and smart dogs" among others. The book then ends with the twist that it is being narrated by a cat, which means that the dog "that I love best? Let's see... ...is any dog that won't chase me!" The illustrations in this book are well drawn, the types of dogs are well varied, and the twist of having the narrator be a cat is a fun joke at the end. With Ezekiel now more into dogs, this book and Just Me and My Puppy are definite favourites. Karl's List First Flight ; Good Night, Alice and Other Stories ; Skarloey ; Swiggo ; Minny Car Elise's List Just Me and My Puppy ; Dogs ; Who's Driving? ; Mosan Mouse ; I've Lost My Kisses Previous Book ~ Next Book (Ezekiel Books) Previous Book ~ Next Book

Published by Wm. Collins Sons and Co. Ltd: London and Glasgow, date unknown. A book I remember from when I was a child (along with Swiggo ), this book is old enough and has 'seen enough' that its cover is now missing - the picture here is from it's inner title page. Minny Car is quite dated - one of the main characters is a gollywog! - but still cute and well illustrated. The story begins with Minny Car broken down on the side of the road. A group of toys rescue her and reattach her wheel. In return, Minny Car takes them on a journey through the highlands. First, they encounter the Loch Ness monster, then they have a picnic that gets rained out, and then eventually they face off against a bad-tempered Highland Bull!  It's all told in rhyming verse, with each character getting a chance to shine; Golly actually turns out to be the most practical of the group! I enjoy the story, and it certainly has that nostalgia factor for me, as well. Karl's List First Flight ; Good...

Based on The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry. Published by Egmont UK Limited: London, 2008 (2003). I'm not really sure who wrote this book, as it is based on stories by Reverend W Awdry, and then filtered through the series owned by Guillane (Thomas) LLC and created by Britt Allcroft. The book only tells me who the illustrators are! So, apologies to the unnamed ghostwriter... There are a number of Thomas -brand stories at my parents' place, and Ezekiel likes them all. Wanting to include at least one of them for this list, I chose Skarloey mostly because one of us pointed out to Ezekil that my name is hidden in the title, and now Ezekiel also points that out every time. He'll point at the title word and say "Skarloey" and then point at it again and say "Karl." He's not quite up to actual reading yet, but he is starting to do a good imitation of it. At some point I'll add Tacky the Penguin to one of these lists and talk about the lines he has a...

Published by Scholastic Press: Lindfield, NSW, 2012 (2007). Set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, I've Lost My Kisses stars Matilda, a little cow who fears that she has 'lost her kisses.' This is especially an issue for her as her Poppa is going to arrive at the airport soon, "And the first thing he always says it "Where's my big smoocheroo?" I just have to find my kisses!" Despite her mother's reassurance that "They'll be there when you need them" Matilda spends the book looking for her kisses in such places as her room, the garden, and the supermarket. In each location, when someone asks her what kisses look like, she says that she doesn't know, but that she knows what they feel like, or taste like, or sound like. Eventually, Matilda, still without having found her kisses, goes to the airport, quite upset. However, when her Poppa arrives she finds her kisses within her, and learns her lesson that they will always be there...

Published by Daan Retief Publishers: Pretoria, 1989 (1988). Also published in Afrikaans as Moesan Muis. This is a weird little picture book, which somehow makes more sense when its South African and Afrikaans origin is taken into account! Mosan Mouse, the head of his family, is hassled by his wife for not providing enough food. She asks him whether he is a man or a mouse, to which he replies: "Wife," said I, "in this house I am the man and the mouse." He then proceeds to go through the house, facing off in turn with the cat, the farmer, the farmer's wife and the farmer's daughter. Each one in turn is knocked unconscious or otherwise side-lined, leaving Mosan Mouse free to help himself to the food they have on offer. At the end of the story, he returns home and tells his wife that "now it is up to you" to go with the children to collect the food, "And never shout at me again, for it should really be quite plain: in this house I am the man and t...