Painting up a storm

Drying on the balcony



Spirals



Footprint (he wouldn't get his hands dirty!)



Fish! Very proud of this one.



More fish (I think)

Bedtime story with Grandad

Logan has a new Logan-sized chair at my folks' house in Durham, where we're staying til Sunday while Mark's in India. One of the things Ikea does right! And he's reading my Miffy books which are complete classics.

The Children's Traffic Club

Not as nuts as it looks, honestly. It's free for all 3- and 4-year-olds in London and teaches them how to cross the road safely. A bit like Tufty but with balloons instead of squirrels.

Farewell Michael, hello Anthony

I've already discussed why I think Michael Rosen is a genius of a children's author. He steps down as Children's Laureate today, and has written about his experiences in the Guardian.

The new laureate is Anthony Browne, author and artist of children's classic Gorilla and the lovely I Like Books, among others. I hope his two years are as successful as Michael Rosen's at getting children excited about reading.

Clowns!

Logan is obsessed with stickers at the moment. Grandma gave him this book (which terrifies me but doesn't seem to bother him - he hasn't seen Stephen King's IT yet, obviously - "we all float down here...").

The idea is to stick facial features on each clown to suit his mood - a happy one, a singing one etc. One of the clowns has had his clothes stolen (!), so you're meant to make him look sad. Below is Logan's interpretation (a Dali in the making?)...

Logan's first social engagement

Mum bought Logan this natty jumper in Soup Dragon in Crouch End, to wear to Lauren's first birthday party - Logan's first ever party invitation! It was fab - cake, jelly and ice cream, balloons, party bags, bubbly for the grown ups, what more could you want?



Birthday girl!



Lauren and Logan face off in a balloon showdown!



Cutey pie!

Mama Ain't Raisin' No Fool!

Another nice find in Stoke Newington was the Nippaz With Attitude clothing line. I think the babygrow in the pic was my favourite, but they also had a cool "What would Joe Strummer do?" tee and a Bob Dylan one that I've stored away for future reference (no pressure guys!).

Making cookies

Logan made up his own little cookie dance, I think he was mid-flow here.



Eating cookies!

Logan hits the park

Went to the park at the heath on Saturday with the North London posse. I think Logan liked the roundabout but maybe he just couldn't figure how to get off! He seemed a bit happier once Gracie took control.

The Washington in Belsize Park

Had lunch here with Isabelle and Lauren (both looking as fabulous as ever). It was quiet enough for Logan to run round (he made friends with some of the locals) but he wasn't impressed with the burger and spicy chips (yum). My risotto was nice though, and I love the decor!

Animal vegetable mineral

In the same chapter of Diana Athill's biography (see Bible post below), she recounts a conversation with a friend who bemoaned the proliferation of animals in children's books, specifically talking, clothes-wearing animals.

A quick glance at Logan's bookshelves confirms it: This Dinosaur Is So Big! (dinosaurs), That's Not My Puppy (dogs), Guess How Much I Love You (rabbits), The Very Hungry Caterpillar (you get the picture). Thomas the Tank Engine isn't an animal but neither is he a person (does anyone else find him a teensy bit creepy?). We're Going on a Bear Hunt, about a family of five, really centres on the bear, not the people. And in Not Now, Bernard, Bernard quickly gets eaten by the monster.

Athill argues that"children respond to animal protagonists because when very small what they need is not to discover and recognise 'real life', but to discover and recognise their own feelings." While learning about themselves is only one reason for reading to children, her point makes sense. The most obvious application is Eric Carle's From Head to Toe, where children are encouraged to mimic animal behaviours (it also serves as a good party trick, Logan has built up quite a repertoir).

The only real exception I can think of are the Charlie and Lola books, by Lauren Child. The protagonists are most definitely children, and aren't "drawn in such an unrealistic way that they might as well be animals", as Athill describes Postman Pat (!). The appeal here is that no adults encroach on the stories - not even partially, like Mammy in Tom and Jerry - and the dialogue is defiantly childlike (the Animals book includes a "biggish elephant" and a "very biggish whale", the Shapes book "squarish" and "triangley" shapes). They may teach basic realities, but they keep that teaching on a child's level rather than preaching from an adult's point of view.

All this reminds me of a friend's mother who refused to let her younger sibling watch The Land Before Time, not because the dinosaurs were speaking but because the film was about dinosaurs, and as all good Christians know, dinosaurs didn't really exist. So we're back to the Bible again. No more religion today, promise!

Logan goes sliding

The first time he got on he shot down the slide, but sadly I didn't have the camera ready so instead I have a sequence of shots of Logan inching down the slide rather painfully. Ah well, still cute!

Hoppity comes to town

I got embarrassingly excited this afternoon - Mark would agree - to find this 1941 cartoon classic on Film 4. It was a rainy day favourite at Finchale and was way ahead of its time in featuring a community of insects whose homes are threatened by developers (similar to Watership Down, another school standby - wonder who the eco-warrior was? Not Mr Chapman I'm sure).

I was even more excited to discover that the song sung during the nightclub scene, pictured, is called Katy Did, Katy Didn't. (Oddly I've just finished reading What Katy Did, more of which later.)

Now if only Film 4 could show Hugo the Hippo too...