It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, and adapted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts with a children’s/YA focus. The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. These weekly roundups are a great way to discover new blogs and bloggers, share some of the titles you’ve been enjoying, and add to your ever-growing to-read list.
Oh dear. The winter cold has struck, and boy, is it a doozy! I’m currently subsisting on a steady diet of ginger lemon tea, cough drops, and Vicks Vapour Rub. Delightful! Forgive this post for being both late and brief, but given the scarcity of sleep in the Raincity household over the past week, I’m quite impressed that I managed to get a post up at all!
Here are a few books I read last week!
When Nico rescues an octopus caught in a fisherman’s net, his parents think it’s a strange choice of pet. Nico keeps it in a tank, feeds it crabs and small fish and soon discovers that his octopus is extremely clever – amazing, amusing and always surprising. It can pull a cork from a bottle and drill a hole in a shell with its beak. But the worst thing in the world happens: Nico’s octopus gets ill, and when his friend the old fisherman tells him why, it’s sad news, but wonderful too…
What a sweet, gentle celebrate of life, loss and letting go. When Nico rescues a small octopus from a fisherman’s net he raises it carefully and lovingly. Nico learns all about how intelligent, clever and creative an octopus can be. All good things must come to an end, though, and with the help of an old fishermen, Nico learns to say goodbye to his dear pet, while celebrating the many little lives she gave her own life to create.
Beautifully illustrated, quiet, gentle and quite lovely, Nico’s Octopus is a bit of an older title (2005) that’s still absolutely worth taking a look at.
When I looked up, I shivered. How many stars were in the sky? A million? A billion? Maybe the number was as big as infinity. I started to feel very, very small. How could I even think about something as big as infinity? Uma can’t help feeling small when she peers up at the night sky. She begins to wonder about infinity. Is infinity a number that grows forever? Is it an endless racetrack? Could infinity be in an ice cream cone? Uma soon finds that the ways to think about this big idea may just be . . . infinite.
What is infinity, really? How can we explain such an abstract concept, especially to someone who’s only lived eight years, and for whom the wait for Christmas can already feel like an eternity? Infinity and Me is a beautifully creative, highly eye-catching book that explores the mind-boggling concept of infinity from a child’s perspective, inspired by the author’s conversations with young children. Swiatkowska’s tone is really quite spot on, and she does seem to have captured the wonder and imagination of a young girl trying to figure out both the mysteries of the universe, and how to get her family to notice her shiny red shoes!
The illustrations in this one are absolutely stunning – I realise that they might not be for everyone, but I found them very striking, with an almost vintage inspiration.
Explore infinity from a child’s perspective with this strange, unusual, charming book!
Alright, friends, that’s all for me today, time to crawl back into bed! Hope you’re all having a sickness-free week!
These are gorgeous books – love the artwork and storyline of both.
I remember the infinity book, but still haven’t read it, Jane. Thanks for the octopus book, too, and hope you get well very soon!
I enjoyed Infinity and Me also. It’s very creative. I hope you feel better quickly. Happy reading.
I loved Infinity and Me – especially when it was a Cybils finalist a few years back.
Both of these books are one I haven’t read. So it’ll be fun to find them and read them. Hope you get well soon!
I am also a huge fan of Infinity and Me. Love this illustrator!
Wow! Infinity and Me looks and sounds amazing. Thanks for the rec! I am battling a cough and sore throat as we speak. Hope you are feeling better!