On My Leaf

A few weeks ago I received a copy of "On My Leaf" by Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich.  It is a little board book with a puppet built in!  So cute!!!

I know this is not a great picture but you can get the idea.  The little lady bug is a little finger puppet.  My 8 month old LOVES this book.  Anyone who has every been around a child this age knows that EVERYTHING will go into her mouth!!!  Books are no exception.  What I like about this one is that the pages of the book don't go into her mouth....she goes after the ladybug.  It keeps her engaged and gives her something to "play" with while I'm reading to her.

Each page of the book is cute out, in this case, in the shape of a leaf and the ladybug sits in the middle.  The person reading the book places his/her finger in the puppet through the back of the book.  My 3 1/2 year old likes playing with it too....and "reads" to his little sister.  It's great!

There are many books in this series and they are available at any bookseller who deals with Raincoast Books.  After a brief search I discovered that most of the booksellers in my area carry the books in this series or can order them for you.  They are about $9.99 Canadian....very reasonable in my opinion.  

This is a great gift option for the little ones on your list....I, for one, am heading for more!

Details:  "On My Leaf" (and others) by Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich, published by Chronicle Books, distributed in Canada by RainCoast Books.

It's a Jungle in There

A few weeks ago I was visiting Meghan and doing some shopping around the downtown of her city.  In one of the shops I found these FANTASTIC wall decals by Lorena Siminovich and put out by Chronicle Books.  I had been looking for something, anything, to decorate one of the wall of my daughter's bedroom.  Before she was born we had chosen to paint the room a pale yellow to match with a painting my husband had picked up in Uganda the summer before.  The painting is gorgeous and is a silhouette of two giraffes with yellows, oranges and reds create a "sunset" effect. 

Not knowing her gender at the time, we tried to keep it relatively neutral, but found a cool red shag carpet that had the same shades of orange and yellow in it.  After she was born it just didn't seem to work though.  So I was super excited when I found the decals.  They fit the colour scheme and the theme of the room which was African animals.

Needless to say, I was horribly disappointed when they didn't stay on the wall!  I contacted the Chronicle immediately.  They were aware of the problem and sent me a replacement package of decals AND some other goodies right away!  I was very impressed with the fantastic, personal service I received.  Stayed tuned for some of the other goodies I got from them!

Anyway, here's what I did....with Meg's help of course.

petitcollage wall decals....Chronicle Books

 Aren't they so cute!!!!  The hippo clock comes from another establishment but fits nicely I think.  My daughter, and son, have both enjoyed looking at the animals now that they are sticking properly.

A big "Thank You" goes out to Sandy Cooper at RainCoast books , the people who distribute for Chronicle in Canada, for helping me solve my problem.  Again, stayed tuned to see some of the other cool things Chronicle has to offer.

Cheers!