From an emotive book in pictures to an emotive book of words. The thoroughly gripping tale, written by Theodore Taylor. He took a quick three weeks to write a multilayered book of excellence. We particularly enjoyed the fact that he does not talk down to his child audience, but presents a book of integrity. We…

We were very excited to get started on Troche’s Dibujos Invisibles, each page telling a new and fantastical story. We thoroughly enjoyed the freedom to interpret each story as we saw fit and as it fitted with our life experiences. Troche is a surreal talent, with a love for space, rain, windows and tightrope walkers;…

From the rainforests of Ecuador to remote little pieces of land making up the frozen but exquisite archipelago of South Georgia and Sandwich Islands. As there is no permanent population, we have chosen to read about the islands role in the famous 1914-17 Shackleton expedition. It is told by the Captain of the Endurance, Frank…

From a very heavy read in Suriname we are whisked away to the rainforest of Costa Rica by Anne Weston and her fun tale of a store owner and a problem only the right snake can remedy. Rainforest life looks idyllic, though the children were curious about the rather different attitude towards snakes (Africans tend…

So we have gone from the innocence and light of Tamarita Rachel’s childhood in Ecuador to a folk tale of the lives of slaves of Suriname. It is a stomach churner and our first chance to face slavery, something which is no doubt going to show its head time and again as we travel the…

As Gabriela Mistral’s poem reminded us of other books, so this book reminds us of Joyce Lankester Brisley’s Milly Molly Mandy. It is a very readable account of the day to day adventures of Tamarita and her little sister. It allows daily life in Ecuador, on the other side of the world, to become immediately…

  On the thread of award winners we move to the Nobel Prize for Literature and the poet Gabriela Mistral and her poem Those who do not dance. The children identified immediately with the topic from two books we have read numerous times, Dreamwalking by South African author Bettine Schouw and Giraffes can’t dance by…

  Our journey has taken us from a school librarian in Lima to the editor of the only newspaper of the Falklands to a creative Argentine collage artist; now we are in the hands of a Hans Christian Anderson award winner – Brazilian – Ana Maria Machado and her mystery translated by Lusia Baeta. The…

So this is a double bonanza of a book – gorgeously unique illustrations and witty humour and originality of story. Oh yes it is the eons old desire to fly, mixed with Captain Arsenio’s head firmly in the clouds; and an unshakeable faith in each invention, that cooks up an interesting recipe for some unusual…

From the Peruvian Andes to an archipelago on the Patagonian shelf and a book written by Lisa Watson, the editor of the islands only newspaper, Penguin News. It is also from a very old fashioned cloth handmade book to our first Kindle read (hence the shocking quality of the pic). We are still in the…