A Lovely Miniature World

Dear Readers.

My baby was very ill these past two days so I hardly slept.  She woke up often in the middle of night, unable to sleep because of her stuffy nose. And I was unable to rest, staying awake and worried , because of her fever.  This resulted in a major headache that prevented me to do anything constructive this weekend.  My husband actually cooked for us which is a good thing because he is a better cook than I am.

But there was one positive that happened: a marvelous book that I had ordered did arrive just in time for the weekend!  I knew it would be an awesome book even before I got it but I waited until I had it in my hands so I can write a proper review.

I found out about the book thanks to Jennifer from PlushPussyCat, who introduced me to a fantastic website: Mouses Houses by Maggie Rudy.  Maggie has created a miniature world with mice living in houses that she has created herself made with all kind of recycled material.

It is truly a magical world.  Her photography is incredibly beautiful!  I did not hesitate to buy her book THE HOUSE THAT MOUSE BUILT which I ordered from Amazon.com.

The picture above is from Amazon and I don't want to post any of my own because I feel none of my pictures would do any justice to this beautiful book!  

If you want to get an idea of what kind of world she has created, I would recommend browsing her blog Mouses Houses because it reflects very closely the spirit and charm you will find within her book.

The story is simple but oh so lovely.  The rhymes are easy to read and a delight for children to hear.  And the biggest pleasure is to admire the miniature objects in each pictures.  You will be amazed at the author's creative genius!  She transformed so many common and otherwise uninteresting objects into miniature furniture and ornaments, making you wished you could live in such adorable little houses.

Her mice are lovable characters.  They show so much emotions in their features and movements!  I just couldn't get over how much emotions they could convey in one single picture.

The only negative thing I could say about this book is that it is too short.  I wanted to read more about her mice and more about their world!  I heard there will be a second book in the making so I will be impatiently waiting for it to be released!  

In the mean time, I console myself by reading her blog because she does post pictures of her mice on it and she also talks about the process of creating the miniature props she uses!  I feel very inspired thanks to her!  

Have a great week everybody!

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. I was not paid or received gifts to write this or mention any stores or website. You may find a better store in your area.

A Merry Little Christmas: Celebrate from A to Z

Do you know Mary Engelbreit?  Her illustrations are incredibly beautiful and I adore all her books!  She never disappoints and I would like to share with you the latest book I purchased from her! 

 

I discovered A Merry Little Christmas: Celebrate from A to Z thanks to Melissa who wrote about it on Julia's Bookbag and I bought it instantly because it was just too cute to resist! 

 

If you are a booklover, you should totally read her blog!  Melissa is also an accomplisehd photographer and a foodie who always shares her recipes! Thanks to her, I have discovered so many new books, fantastic toys and the prettiest tea cups !  She is a true inspiration for me!

 

The book cover alone would have convinced me to get this little gem!

Look at the tiny mice-elves!  They have pointed ears!

The verses are adorable!

I love this darling little mice family!

 

Mary Engelbreit has a knack for creating a charming and whimsical world where one would love to get lost. Here illustrations are never boring.  Each page is filled with vivid colors and meticulous details.  Each scene comes to life in the most adorable way. 

The characters she has created are all loveable and I wished she could write a book about their adventures!  It is a thin but inexpensive book that is totally worth owning!

 

I am so looking forward to this weekend to finish my Christmas village and to take some rest.  I am totally exhausted!  I wish you all a beautiful weekend!

 

The Nutcracker And The Mouse King

While looking for Christmas books for my Christmas Books Advent this year, I was surprised and happy to find The Nutcracker And The Mouse King book by E.T.A. Hoffmann and illustrated by Gail de Marcken.  I didn't hesitate to purchase the book.

The pages are filled with gorgeous and detailed illustrations with so many vivid colors!

 

 

 

 

This book is lengthy and not the short version children may be accustomed to.  The pages are filled with text as you can see below and there are many dialogues.  This may take more than one night to finish for little kids.

 

 

I grew up with a somewhat different version of the usual children's Nutcracker book.  It was not the whimsical ballet version but rather the Russian animation from 1973. 

 

The first video is in Russian.

For English subtitles, you can watch this version:

I was enthralled by Tchaikovsky's music and the sad story of the Nutcracker.   The characters were beautifully drawn and the mood was just right.  It had everything: love, beauty, drama and action but it was not too tense for little kids.  This movie became one of my favorite to this day. 

I have seen the Nutcracker ballet in a theatre a few years ago and although I loved the performance, I wasn't as moved as when I saw the animated movie.

My son love this book!!! So far, he has rejected all the books concerning the Nutcracker but he was interested in reading this one!  He also did enjoy tremendously the Russian animated movie!  

What is your favorite Nutcracker book and movie?

The Snow Queen

This is possibly the most gorgeous book version I have ever seen of The Snow Queen from Hans Christian Andersen.  It is illustrated by Mary Engelbreit and it is a delight to the eyes!

My boy first heard of this story a few months ago, but not in its entirety so he asked me if I could get him the book.  There are many many picture books of this story but I chose the one from Mary Engelbreit because I love her illustrations.  Also, this story could be quite dark and scary for a child so I was hoping Engelbreit's adorable and innocent style of drawings would be more age appropriate for children.

If you are not familiar with the story, here is a quick summary: Kay and Gerda are two young children and they are the best of friends. One day, Kay gets an evil glass shard in his eye and heart and he becomes mean and sees the world differently.  He is then kidnapped by the Snow Queen and Gerda goes on a quest to find him. 

The story is full of magic and suspense!  It is quite long, especially for young children, but it was captivating from start to end and I think it will be something that my son would want to re-read on his own.  I can't wait for my baby girl to be old enough to understand the story too!

I ordered the book via Amazon a month ago and hid it for the Christmas Book Advent.  Two days ago, my son opened the wrapped book and he was very glad to read the whole story at last.  He loved the pictures and I couldn't be happier with this purchase.  It is a BIG book and it's worth every penny!

I posted some pictures on my Instagram account this morning but if you don't have Instagram, I am showing them here below.

Aren't those the sweetest illustrations you have ever seen?  Please pardon my enthusiasm for I am such a fan of Mary Engelbreit!

Do you like this story?  I loved re-reading this tale and I must say that I now want to buy all the illustrated Snow Queen books out there!  If you have a different version of this book, please let me know!  Which one would you recommend?


 

Christmas Book Advent

Dear Readers,

Did you have a good Thanksgiving?  My family reunion was wonderful and I probably ate way too much food!  Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am so happy to step into the month of December and start some fun Christmas traditions!

One of them combines two of my favorite things in this world: books and children's book illustrations!

For Christmas this year, I am planning to have picture books for my boy to read each night of December up to the 25th day.  Most books will be about Christmas but some are about the winter season.  I wrapped each book so it will be a surprise each time!  He will pick one each night and we will read it together with his baby sister.

Half of the books are old books we had and the other half are books I bought recently (some are second-hand, some are new).  I chose pictures books because it's something both he and the baby can enjoy.

I will post each day photos of the books on my INSTAGRAM (the link is also on the first tab above under my header picture).

I heard about the #DoYouReadWhatIRead challenge thanks to Pen Pals and Picture Books so I will be posting the 12 first books according to their prompt.

I won't have the time to write a review of each book but I will post a few pictures so you can get a glimpse of what is inside the books!

Here below is the list of some of the books we will be reading:

Madeline's Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans 

Brambly Hedge – Winter Story by Jill Barklem  

Over and over by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Garth Williams  

The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter  

Eloise at Christmastime by Kay Thompson 

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson illustrated by Mary Engelbreit

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (Little Golden Books)  

Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren  

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann  

The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett  

Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? by Jan Brett  

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore illustrated by Jan Brett  

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore illustrated by Mary Engelbreit

A Merry Little Christmas: Celebrate from A to Z by Mary Engelbreit

Christmas in the Big Woods (My First Little House Book Serie by Laura Ingalls Wilder)           

Bear Stays up for Christmas by Karma Wilson illustrated by Jane Chapman

I would also like to announce the winner of my Thanksgiving Giveaway!  The winner will get a lovely Mini Lalaloopsy Holly Sleighbells :)

You know how much I like Mini Lalaloopsy Dolls and I wished I could give one to each of you so you can enjoy it too but there can be only one winner and this time it is :

Congratulations Jennifer from PlushPussyCats :)  Please email me your postal address!

I wish you all a fantastic month of December!

Brambly Hedge

I started reading the Brambly Hedge Jill Barklem this year only.  I had never heard of them before and accidentally found them while browsing for children's books.  Oh what a discovery it was for me!  I totally fell in love with her exquisite drawings and charming stories about little field mice living in hollow trees.  It was almost like entering a magical world and not wanting to leave once the story ends.

I bought the The Complete Brambly Hedge book (available at the UK Amazon online store) which contains the 8 Brambly Hedge books collection :

1. Spring Story
2. Summer Story
3. Autumn Story
4. Winter Story
5. Poppy’s Babies
6. Sea Story
7. The High Hills
8. The Secret Staircase

The stories are about a community of field mice living in Brambly Hedge.  The main characters are Primrose, a strong-willed little mouse and her best friend, Wilfred, who is always looking for adventures!  The stories are sweet and funny and all the characters are so lovable! 

What is really amazing about these books are the detailed illustrations.  The books are filled with color pictures, all incredibly beautiful and full of very small details showcasing the life of the mice in their homes or outdoors.  My favorite drawings are the ones from the kitchen.  Tons and tons of objects are shown and they are so well drawn that they resemble miniature toys (or so one could wished!).  Don't judge by my low-resolution photos though because they don't do the real illustrations any justice.  

To complement the book, I purchased the DVD as well : Brambly Hedge - The Classic Collection which is priced very reasonably and is available unfortunately only at UK Amazon for now. Be careful though because the DVD is coded for the UK so it may not play on your DVD player if you live in another country.  It only plays with one of  my old DVD player but no all of them.  This DVD includes the 4 stories listed below:

1. Poppy’s Babies
2. Sea Story
3. The High Hills
4. The Secret Staircase

I can't tell you how lovely it was to see the story come alive in these stop-frame animation episodes.  I wished there was a DVD for the 4 other stories as well. One could purchase used VHS (Remember them? Those big bulky tapes?) but I don't own a VHS player .  However, I was able to find the download of those 4 missing episodes on youtube  :)  

The children love those stories and movies.  They ask to watch them again and again. I really wished they could make a line of toys based on the Brambly Hedge stories and characters.  I surfed online for figurines or dollhouses and came across this extraordinary hand-made Miniature Tree House by Maddie Chambers inspired from Brambly Hedge's Crabby Cottage in Spring story.

The picture below is from her Website and you must must must go there to take a look because you will then see each room in detail and see how she built some of the miniature items from scratch!  I am absolutely floored by her creation: so much beauty, patience, and passion went into this Tree House that one can't helped but be amazed at her creativity and sheer talent!

Martine

Last Friday I received a big package from my best friend in High School. Guess what was in the package?  Books from the MARTINE serie!!! It's an old French book collection for little girls! I was beside myself with joy and nostalgia just looking at those old picture books that I loved so much during my childhood!  

All the books in that collection are about Martine, the main character, and her life with her family and friends.  The books are written in French by Marcel Marlier and Gilbert Delahaye.  50 book titles have been published since the first one in 1954.

One thing about Martine is that style of the illustrations change slightly throughout the years and my favorite remain the drawings from the 50s and 60s. You can see that quite clearly in some of the pages below from the books I received. Each era is easily recognizable with the fashion and hairstyle depicted in the illustrations.

Martine en bateau (1961)

Martine petite maman (1968)

Martine fait la cuisine (1974)

Martine, la leçon de dessin (1999)

L'arche de Noé (2003)

Oscar and the Very Hungry Dragon

Do you like dragons? I don't know anybody who does not like them!  Children are especially fascinated by them and they never fail to pick up a book about dragons at each library trip we make.

This week we stumbled upon Oscar and the Very Hungry Dragon by Ute Krause.

It's starts like most dragon story, with an evil dragon who terrorizes a village and wants to eat the princess. But since the princess leaves in her car, the villagers decides to randomly pick one child to take her place: in this case our hero Oscar.

But little Oscar is very clever and finds a way to not get eaten... He tricks the dragon by telling him to fatten him up by letting him eat more.  He would then cooks all kind of delicious dishes and attempts to convince the dragon to try eating human food instead of humans.

This story shows a lot of similarities with the old fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel.  This detail was not lost on my boy who exclaimed : "That's what happened in Hansel and Gretel!" I was pleased that he remembered because I didn't recall him being very fond of any fairy tales so that was sure a surprise for me to see that he indeed remembered the story I read to him :P

All my nephews took turn reading the books and they loved it. A warning though: there is a "bad word" in the book and that's "SHUT UP".  When the kids came across that part, they gasped and ran to show it to me, saying "I can't believe they have a bad word in a book!"

Apart from that one flaw, the book is really just fun to read.  And the pictures are so cute. The oven, pots and pans, chairs, table and food look like miniature toys compared to the big dragon.  Since I am biased toward anything miniature, I was instantly won over!
  

House mouse, field mouse... and wind-up mouse

My boy and nephews/nieces have to maintain a book log each day for school.  They basically have to read at least one book a day and record it in their book log for their teacher to see.  Once a week they write a book report. Since they do their homework after school under my supervision, I decided to get a bunch of books at the library.  

This week I got some books from Leo Lionni.  He has received many awards already for his work. His stories are captivating and his illustrations are adorable! 

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse

Among the books I borrowed, this book is the children's favorite and mine too. It tells the story of Alexander, a little house mouse who becomes friend with Willy, a wind-up mouse.  The illustrations are very cute and the story is simple but beautiful.  The power of friendship has been told before but this story has a magical and mysterious twist to it! 

Theodore and the Talking Mushroom

Another book the kids liked was this very short story about Theodore, a field mouse, who is afraid of everything. His friends do not seem to be very nice as they laugh at him for his lack of "special talent".  But Theodore may be small and easily frightened but he sure is very clever. He discovers a blue mushroom that can apparently talk and he plays a trick on his friend!  The kids thought it was a funny story but I personally did not like it because of a very silly reason: the talking blue mushroom freaked me out big time!

The fact that it could utter a word without having a personality was creepy and I really thought it was going to eat Theodore at some point (have no fear, it did not happen). I know it's so silly but to me the mushroom was not cute; it was monstruous!

Nicolas, Where Have You Been?

I have mixed feelings about this book. It tells the story of field mice and their search for sweet berries.  But the problem is that the birds ate all the sweet berries and so only sour or unripe berries are left.  Nicolas, one little mouse, goes on a quest to find sweet berries and is kidnapped by a big bird... but he escapes and falls into the nest of a nice family of birds.

The moral of the book is great and the storyline is well told. But... and that's a big BUT, it has also two full pages of illustration depicting a fight scene of incredible violence between the mice and birds.  The mice look terribly angry, and chase after the birds with sticks, one mouse even stands on top of a bird and is shown stabbing the bird who is bleeding!

I wished I had seen this illustration before my kid read the book because we were both very shocked and the boy was upset afterward. Which reminds me to read the books or at least the reviews before giving the children any books to read.

Mid-Autumn Festival

It's this time of year again!  Mooncakes, Dragon dances, and paper lanterns! Have you guessed yet? Well yes, it's the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival!

The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, which usually falls in September or October in the solar calendar.  This year it will fall on September 30th.

I love the eat the sweet mooncakes with some hot tea! My friend just gave me the mooncake below! Can't wait to eat it tomorrow for dessert!

I went to the library to find some books to read to the kids about the festival.  I was quite excited when I  found one about the festival and also a few more books about Chinese culture.  I am showing a few below that I like very much.

Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

It's written and illustrated by Grace Lin who is the author of quite a few books. There are not a lot of text but the pages are filled with colorful illustrations. It's simple enough to read to a toddler but yet the older kids can learn a few basic information from the books as well.

Dim Sum for Everyone!

The kids love to eat Dim Sum so this book was very liked. The children especially enjoyed reading the name of the dishes they have tried when they went to eat at the restaurant.

Fortune Cookie Fortunes

Who doesn't like Fortune cookies? It's such a fun way to end a meal and we all share and giggle at the fortune we read in our cookie!  The kids like to read this book (though not as much as the Dim Sum book).

Bringing in the New Year

Another fun book frrom Grace Lin. This one is about the Lunar New Year.  There are some cool illustrations of paper/fabric dancing dragons and lions but it is my least favorite among her collection though because I felt so much more could have been said about the Lunar New Year.  But then again it's really a book for kids so I think she wanted to keep it simple enough for them.