Boo Who? by Ben Clanton is a story of a ghost who is new to a group and tries terribly hard to fit in. Since Boo is a ghost, it cannot hold tangible objects and is often unable to participate in games with his friends. Is there any way he can fit in? Eventually, Boo finds a game that he excels at. Boo Who? has simple and endearing characters which are easily identifiable by children like a robot, rabbit/unicorn hybrid, yellow fluffy monster and dinosaur. The sentences are kept to one or two per page, making it an easy bedtime story for parents to read out.
This book is a lighthearted way to introduce to children who are starting or transferring schools and may be shy. Elise took to the story well as she recently started attending kindergarten with a new set of classmates, teachers and routine.
To make the book more memorable for her, I decided to include a play element for her. Recalling a trick from eons ago during art class, I used white oil pastel to draw out Boo on a drawing block. Then, I took out an ice cube paint stick (frozen food colouring and water) for her to make Boo reappear. She shrieked out “Boo!” when she saw it. At least it was somewhat recognisable for her.
Distributed by Pansing, Boo Who? by Ben Clanton is available at all good bookstores.
Little Rainbow Dreams provides personalised books with bright, colourful illustrations and simple stories with short sentences aimed at children. It was started with the intent of using stories to engage the imagination of children, nurture a reading habit and to involve parents in the whole process. Reading promotes bonding and can be a time for parents to put down their adult worries and just focus on spending that quality time with the children.
A few weeks before Emmett was born, Little Rainbow Dreams invited me to choose a book from their selection as a present for Elise in addition to The Elephant Story. I picked the Big Sibling book for her to cope better with the changes in routine with her brother around. Accompanying the two personalised books was a handwritten message! Handwritten messages are rare nowadays and it adds a personal touch to the present.
Elise has a prosthetic eye which in time, will be something that she notices is different from her peers. Thankfully, at age 2, she isn’t too bothered about it yet and the loss of an eye doesn’t seem to impact her adversely. She climbs stairs and plays soccer like a pro. The Elephant Story teaches children that there is no need to compare themselves to others because everybody is special in their own way. Should she ever feel inadequate, I hope this story will encourage her.
She has no patience to wait for me to finish reading and turns the page halfway through most children books. These softcover books are personalised from start to end and use the child’s name as the main character. Short sentences (perfect for bedtime stories) and attractive illustrations with commonly recognisable animals and characters draw children into the story.
The Big Sibling book caught Elise’s attention and she flipped through the book at her own pace.
“Our baby is always sleeping.”
Said baby. Sleeping.
Not “always”!
Mon Chéri Box
We also received the Mon Chéri Box, a Christmas themed gift set. The name Mon Chéri means “My Darling” in French. You can choose to include personalised messages on the front page of each book too.
What’s inside the box:Stickers, A DIY snowglobe, Stamp and personalised Christmas book.
What I like about the Christmas book is that it’s an interactive activity book that encourages the children to use the stickers provided in the box to decorate the pages. The box is a perfect opportunity for parents to create memories through assembling the DIY snowglobe together with the children. The globe is simple enough for children to create and they can make it their own with stickers and stamps. Elise is at that stage where she doodles on her train tracks and decorates her stacking cups with stickers.
The DIY snowglobe makes its appearance in some pages for sharp eyed young ones to spot.
We’re keeping our box for the Christmas event in Christmas storyland,18 Nov, 3-5pm at Bove.
Do sign up early as there are limited slots! Join LRD for a immersive weekend of storytelling and fun-filled activities. Make this Christmas a magical one for your little one with LRD magical Christmas collection! Visit www.littlerainbowdreams.com/xmas-snowland for more details.
There is a 15% early bird discount at $57.80 (U.P. $68) for the Mon Chéri Box valid till 19 Nov.
*** Lead time is 4 weeks so do place your order early to have LRD Santa deliver your Christmas gift by Christmas!
What could possibly be in this box? A lamb can’t fit in it.
Pizza?!
Better than pizza
Delicately packaged in blue crepe paper was a sound book. I have many sound books for Elise which my dad uses to read stories to her but there’s something special about this particular book. The Rasa Sayang: Sing and Record Fun Bookis a fun collection of seven Malay folksongs including very familiar tunes like Chan Mali Chan (hey hey!), Rasa Sayang and Bengawan Solo.These familiar folk songs have been sung many times, but I have no idea what the songs mean and I can only sing the chorus and hum the rest of the tune. I also have to admit that I haven’t heard the other songs before I received this book. Elise won’t be the only one learning from this book for sure.
7 push buttons with icons that correspond to the folk songs. The construction of the book is solid and it also includes an interesting feature –
a record and playback function! If your little ones are old enough to sing, this feature allows their voices to be recorded in the book. If they aren’t, you can show off your singing skills by recording your voice while singing.
Control panel with 3 modes – music, record and playback. There are also volume control buttons and an inbuilt microphone.
Elise can’t yet fully enjoy the features of this book but as she is Singaporean, I feel that it is necessary for her to learn about the many cultures that make up our country and that of our neighbouring countries, Malaysia and Indonesia.
What I like about the book is that it is very well constructed and it is one-of-a-kind. It is the first book of its kind for children to be produced in the region and the songs are a unifying factor for all 3 countries. As such, the production of the book also involved talents from these 3 countries. Lee Jiun is Malaysian, the production company is from Singapore and the voice behind the songs belongs to an Indonesian lady.
About the Rasa Sayang: Sing and Record Fun Book Produced by Peyron Singapore | Translated by Lok Lee Jiun & Serene Ding | Illustrations by Aditya Pratama | Songs performed by Kezia Evana Jaya It all started when Ms. Lok Lee Jiun, a lawyer and a mom to a little boy named Hugo, realised that while there was plenty of songbooks in English, Japanese and Chinese, there was a lack of material in Bahasa. Instead of letting it slide, she set off creating her own book. Plenty of hard work went into the making of this book, from start to end. She translated the songs into English which is useful for non-Malays to gain a deeper understanding behind these popular folk songs and sing the English version. She engaged illustrator Aditya Pratama to add his vivid artwork to attract the young readers. Kezia’s voice brings the songs to life and makes the whole book a pleasant multi-sensory experience. The baba baa mascot looks like a monster but is actually a baby goat called “baba”, designed by Italian designer Tobias Bernard. It is mischievous, curious, smart and funny. As a treat, baba is hidden in every page of the book for observant young ones to spot, much like how our PETS coursebook used to have cute characters hiding everywhere. Rasa Sayang translates to Feel the love in English. Indeed, a lot of love and effort has been put into the creation of this unique book. The website itself is entertaining and there are free colouring & drawing activity sheetswhich you can print out for your young ones.
The Rasa Sayang: Sing and Record Fun Book is available for sale at S$27 while the gift set with a plush toy retails for S$33 (+S$10 shipping fee for those living in Singapore and Hong Kong).
3. Share the post on your wall (set to public) and tag at least 3 friends. While sharing the post, state a song you like from the book and why you would like to win it.
** I received a book for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was received.
