Book report!

I guess the main problem with blogging so infrequently is that I'm always catching up. And when I'm catching up I often forget some of the details, I sometimes don't have the relevant material with me anymore and I always feel like there's so much to get through that I don't know where to start. So I guess this is a kind of warning that the weather forecast for this week is grim so I might finally find myself with a bit more inside/computer time and a couple of catch up posts might be on the cards.

The first is a book report. Or bookS as the case may be.

Season of Salt and Honey was written by fellow blogger and mother of two cute girls Hannah Tunnicliffe.

In Hannah's own words - Seasons of Salt and Honey is the story of a young Italian-American woman escaping the tragic loss of her fiancé by retreating into the Washington coastal rain forest.

I read it in a couple of nights, devouring all the relationships, the descriptions of grief and Hannah's gradual physical and emotional journey from a life that was safe and expected all the way through to one that she chose and fought for.

The thing that makes this book so different for me was the traditional Sicilian recipes included within the chapters. Nine recipes that had me reading each word of their ingredients lists and methods as if they told an important part of the story. While I've seen loads of cooking scenes in movies, I'm not sure I ever have read them in a novel before and I loved the extra flavour it gave to the story.

When Hannah wrote to me explaining that she was a friend of Beth's and had written this book and would love to send me a copy, she suggested I might like to cook a couple of the recipes in my review. While I haven't yet had the chance, I can certainly see her Nzuddi - Vinnies - roasted almond cookies, Spring risotto and Rosolio alle Erbe - sweet herb cordial/liqueur in my future.

Season of Salt and Honey can be purchased online here.



My sister Abby lent me Rebecca Starford's Bad Behaviour last week and I read it in about two days. I could not put it down.

Bad Behaviour is the story of one woman's experience of life at the country campus of an exclusive Melbourne school. The book examines boarding school life and bullying and gives the author an opportunity to tell her own story of life before that year away and since.

This book touched me on so many levels.

Firstly, when I was about halfway through BB I clicked onto Facebook one night and found a gorgeous picture of a group of current students of that very same school, all heavily laden down with enormous matching blue backpacks on the top of a mountain somewhere in the Victorian high country. I sat searching those 15 or so faces for ages, looking for the characters in the book (even though it's been years since they hiked that trail), trying to work out who would be the leaders and the followers and imagining all sorts of other scenarios from the book. I guess that snapshot gave a reality to the book that could otherwise have been just another story.

Secondly, BB took me all the way back to camps that I went on at school. The things we got up to, the popular girls, the cruel taunting that went on and the general day to day life.

And lastly, a book about a 14 year old girl of course made me think of my 14 year old girl and some of the stuff that goes on with her friends and classmates.

I'm sure BB ruffled a lot of feathers and upset a lot of people and I do feel awful about that. I'm not sure how I would feel if someone were to publish a book detailing the goings on of my year ten camp. However it is an interesting story and for all the reasons above - I couldn't put it down.





When Marika from Scribe publishing emailed me asking if we would like her to send us a copy of The Underwater Fancy-dress Parade, a new children's book, I originally thought I'd say no. My girls are all now well out of the picture book department and it didn't seem like it would be relevant. But then I read Marika's review and changed my mind.

Marika wrote - It's a very sweet story of childhood shyness and fitting in - the message being that it's OK to be shy, and that it's not a character flaw to be fixed.

While stories of elves and fairies and horses are great, I've found that books aimed at young readers don't necessarily tackle the big life stuff and sometimes a picture book is just what you need to get the conversation started. This book certainly does just that.

And did I mention that it's GORGEOUS!!! Allison Colpoys illustrated this book and Davina Bell wrote it.

We've read it several times in our home, both together and alone. We've used it to discuss and understand situations we've found ourselves in and also some of our friends. I think we might donate our copy to our school library this afternoon so more kids can read it and discuss it.

Here's a cute story of how the book came to be.



My sister Emily lent me the Ferrente novels a few weeks ago and told me I'd love them but before that I'd never even heard of them. My Mum said they are huge but I guess that shows how out of the literary circle I am.

But nevertheless I loved them!! Loved them!!

Three big, fat books that carry the story of two girl friends from childhood all the way into their womanhood. Their story is filled with descriptions of a neighbourhood, a community, of places, of times and politics, of family and of friendship.

For me, the worst part of reading these books was coming to the end of the third book and feeling like I had to say goodbye to the main characters Elena and Lila. You can imagine my happiness when Emily told me there's a fourth and final book in the series coming out this October. Yay!


Which brings me to Tracks by Robyn Davidson, which my sister Meg recommended to me and I am reading right now. And loving. No picture of the cover because I am reading it on my kindle.


Hopefully I'll post soon about Pip's new book - Craft For The Soul - which Miss Indi has claimed and is adoring and Michelle's book - A Table In The Orchard - which farmer Bren is devouring hungrily.


Phew, that's books all caught up, I'll try and do craft next I think. Or maybe an outside farm post if the weather cooperates.


In the meantime - what are you reading?

Happy page turning!!

xoxo

Snail Mail - the book, our day & a giveaway!

The other day my Mum told us that she thinks Michelle Mackintosh's new book Snail Mail is the most beautiful book she's ever seen. Except for books written by Ulmans, my Dad added! Only Michelle was the designer of my book Vantastic too, so I think she's clearly the winner.

A couple of years ago when I was deep in the exciting phase of signing publishing contracts and working out exactly what my book would be, I remember looking at my phone and noticing that Michelle Mackintosh had just followed me on instagram. Guessing what that might hopefully mean, I promptly burst into tears and called my publisher. She confirmed that she had just signed Michelle as my designer. I hung up the phone and did a mixture of every single silly dance move I could think of all around the house.

Michelle Mackintosh has designed so many of my favourite books; like Beci Orpin's and Pip Lincolne's and Louise and Margaret Fulton's and The Little Veggie Patch Co's.

And indeed Michelle did design my book and I adored working with her and we became firm friends. And I can honestly tell you that seeing Michelle's name proudly stamped on the front of the cover of a book instead of inside the front cover, makes me as happy as can be.

Last Friday we invited Michelle and our friend Chanie and her three girls, Ponie, Nancy and Honey, to come and Snail Mail it up with us at my Mum and Dad's house across the Lane.

First we ooooohed and ahhhhhhed over every page of the beautiful book and ate cake.

And then Michelle led us step by step through a few projects from her book.





First we learnt how to make envelopes and then we spent ages decorating and writing to our loved ones.



And then we folded Snail Males.









Since last Friday my girls have been snatching every spare moment to rummage around in the recycling and in the craft cupboard for old stamps and pretty papers and stickers that they then use to create and decorate Snail Mail for their friends.

From the back of the book -

Snail Mail is here to bring back hand written communication - and more - in one beautifully illustrated and perfectly proper little package.

Learn how to improve your handwriting (and your manners) make your own paper, envelopes, wax seals and pressed flowers; put together care packages for loved ones who need a bit of TLC; romance someone the old-school way; and craft beautiful mail art for any occasion.

I love Snail Mail big time!!

And I'd love to pass on that love to you guys - I have two copies to giveaway thanks to the cool people at Hardie Grant. Leave a comment on this post telling me who you would most love to find Snail Mail in your post box from? 

Australian residents only - sorry.
The two winners will be chosen by me and my girls on the weekend and notified in a blog post and by email.

Yay!! You gotta be in it to win it - so get commenting lovelies.

Until then - you can buy Michelle's book from Readings, and follow Michelle on instagram - @michellemackintosh.


Laters xx

Adventurous girls, mapmakers and a giveaway

The girls who live in my house wear shorts under their dresses so they can climb trees, they ask for bows and arrows for birthday presents and they experiment with starting fires without matches. The girls who live in my house explore the forest out the back of our farm on weekends, they carry sticks for fighting the enemy and have lengthy discussions about what they would eat if their home disappeared. The girls who live in my house have scratched up knees, they wear their hair in long plaits to keep it out of their way and they play games about escaping from jail, about fighting dragons and about ninjas. The girls who live in my house are brave, and a bit wild, and a lot noisy.

So I guess it makes sense that the girls who live in my house are interested in reading books with adventurous female characters in them. Books about girls who aren't afraid to find their own way, to break the rules and who definitely are not afraid of boys.

Recently my friend Bron, Maxabella Loves, sent me a book that her clever sister A.L. wrote. Even though it is a book aimed at upper primary school aged kids, I read it in one night. Even though I knew at the time I was risking exhaustion the next day, I could not put it down.

The Mapmaker Chronicles is filled with adventure. It is full of interesting characters, mythical sea creatures, drama, and emotion. From the website:

The King is determined to discover what lies beyond the known world, and has promised a handsome prize to the ship's captain who can bring him a map of the whole globe. To do that, they'll need mapmakers - and 14-year-old Quinn is shocked to be one of the chosen. 

While his older brothers long for adventure, Quinn is content with a quiet life on the farm, but when word of his special talent gets out, he has no choice but to pack his bags and join the mismatched crew of slaves and stowaways on board the Libertas. The other competitors will do anything to win, but the greatest danger may come from the strange sea monster hot on their tail or the mysterious unchartered lands for which they are bound.

I really loved this book and highly recommend it to other nine+ year olds (and their Mum's too).

But I really do have to tell you that my favourite part of this whole thing was when I read on Bron's Facebook page that she'd spent the past month reading a chapter a night to her kids. And her kids LOVED the book and were sad when they came to the end. But only once they did come to the end did their Mum tell them that their auntie Al was the author. Imagine that! Your very own auntie the author of your very favourite book. So cool!!

I have am thrilled to announce that Hachette, publishers of The Mapmaker Chronicles, would like to give away one copy of the book to one of you guys. Yay! Please leave a comment below telling me something about the adventurous girls in your life or your favourite adventurous girls in fiction and I'll choose a winner early next week.

Until then I hope your dreams are sweet tonight.

Big love,

Kate xx

Sew together - Grow together - the book

Yesterday morning we woke up to grey skies, steady rain and a couple of coughing girls. Week three, day two of the school holidays, what on earth were we going to do? How on earth were we going to spend the day?


And then I remembered this treasure, Sew Together Grow Together, sent to me by Trixi Symonds, the author, a couple of weeks ago.

Sew Together Grow Together is a selection of hand-sewing projects developed over two decades in classes and workshops for children. The idea for this book was planted by parents who "can't even sew on a button" but wished they could play a more active role in their child's hand-sewing adventures and feel for themselves the excitement their children so clearly felt when they created something they loved and were proud to have made.

Sounds perfect hey?!

Trixi's projects are simple and completely achievable, her instructions make sense and are so child friendly that I believe anybody age five and up could make a go of them.


First our girls studied all the patterns in the book and chose one that they liked.

Then they gathered all the materials they needed, made space in the school holidays chaos of the kitchen table and got to work.

Miss Jazzy read through one step at a time, sometimes twice, and then they did it. Mostly Jazzy would finish first and help Pepper along.


Tracing, cutting, pinning, threading, stitching, snipping, turning...


Stuffing…


Gluing…

This was my favourite part. We didn't have the googly eyes recommended by the pattern, but undeterred Miss Jazzy came up with the idea of using buttons. A little button glued onto a big button glued onto the owl. So cool!

Ta-daaaaaaa!!!

Three little owls made from Sew Together Grow Together, by us. How great!

Just after I took this photo I left the girls and went down to collect the eggs. I asked them to tidy up a bit. When I got back half an hour later, instead of finding a clear table, I found Miss Jazzy deep in the cutting and stitching zone. She was so inspired by her new found skills that she couldn't stop and was taking them further. Using another project from the book she was making a treasure bag for her sister. Tracing and cutting and pining and stitching...

And without one speck of help from me, she followed Trixi's directions and sewed a bag. Then she filled it with treasures of her own and presented it to her sister.

Today she tells me we're pulling out the sewing machine, she's obsessed. Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Sometimes I wonder if my kids will ever love making as much as I do. If they will ever be the crazy girl with the basket full of wool at the picnic, the girl with the bits of cotton stuck all over her skirt up the street, the girl that fills every spare second cutting and stitching and knitting. Days like yesterday give me a glimpse into the future and I think maybe. There is so much love and creativity and satisfaction in making something by hand, I really hope I can pass a little of that on.

Happy days my friends, I hope you've got something gorgeous going on too.

xx

Amazing Babes - the book & the giveaway.

Amazing Babes began its life as a precious gift from mother and writer Eliza Sarlos to her then one year old son Arthur.

I just wanted Arthur to know about these incredible things these amazing women were doing. I didn't want him growing up in a lopsided world when it came to knowing who to respect and admire.

As a mother of three girls I think about the world my girls are growing up in often. The bad and scary parts, and the good. We talk a lot about choosing positive role models from the women around them, the women in the media and the women from history. And we talk about working hard, being compassionate, following dreams and passions and making a difference.

Amazing Babes is a book that brings all of these themes together and then some. It is story book, a picture book and a great introduction into the lives of 21 varied and incredibly inspiring women from the past right through til now.

When I first opened the book I was struck by its simplicity. Then after a while I admired the great and important story it told. And now, I am enjoying the discussion it has begun, the thoughts and stories and questions that are unfolding.

Over the past few days I've sat with my three girls and read through the pages of Amazing Babes and admired Grace Lee's wonderful illustrations and I have loved watching each of my girls pull something different from it.

Miss Pepper, six, studied every woman's picture carefully, noticed all the clues in the drawings as to who they were and then chose to be photographed with Tavi Gevinson because she was the most beautiful.

Miss Jazzy, ten, looked at every woman and described her to me in great detail while I read her the paragraph about her at the end. She chose to be photographed with Malala Yousafzai who is a Pakistani schoolgirl living under Taliban rule who fights for the rights of all children to an education.

Miss Indi, 12, sat quietly with the book for a while reading about each inspiring woman, some she had heard of, many she hadn't. It took her a while to decide but she ended up being photographed with Irena Sendler, a Polish nurse who rescued 2,500 Jewish babies and children from the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust.

I know it's cheating but for me I'd love a big, wide angled, group shot and to be photographed with them all. How could I chose only one? The women in these pages worked hard, were passionate and made a difference. Although times are very different now, I'd like to think my girls might make a difference in their own ways, in their own worlds someday too.

Sounds like a great book huh!
I have one copy to giveaway.
If you'd like to win your own Amazing Babes, leave a comment below.
And please make sure to include a way I can contact you.

Big thanks to the kind folk at Scribe publishing for sending me a copy of this book.
And lots of love to Hello Kate Berry for fixing my photos while my camera was having a tanty. xx

Be amazing!

xx

Let's get knitting giveaway! x

It's probably not very cool to admit this, but I have a little bit of an addiction to craft books. I love looking at their gorgeously styled pictures of crafty projects knowing that the instructions for the making are there should I feel the need.

And possibly even uncooler than that addiction, is the hope I've always had that someone sometime would send me craft books to read and review on my blog.

Uncool-er-ama right!?

But then one day it happened.

Open Road Media released a whole lot of craft books as ebooks and thought we (you and I) might be interested in this new way of reading and following patterns.

Their press release says this; At Open Road Media, we’re working around the movement that increasing numbers of knitters want to be able to read patterns and instructions on their ereaders, tablets, and smartphones—especially those who knit during their commutes or who carry their knitting projects with them, and don’t want to have to use knitting needles to hold their page in a print book while they’re knitting on the go.  For those just learning to knit, having knitting ebooks on their gadget of choice helps them use their idle time to learn more about knitting!

Personally I love the idea of having a book on my phone, in my basket. In the past I've always shlepped bits of paper with scribbled pattern details on them. Or I've taken photos of my patterns out of books so that I'll have the details with me where ever I am. Carting a big pattern book around in my basket just does not work for me. Too bulky. So an ebook is the perfect solution. Yay!

Anyway, as I was saying, my crafty book dreams came true and Open Road Media sent me three knitting ebooks to read, be inspired by and knit from. Thanks ORM. And they are offering two of you guys one each too. Cool hey.

Choose from;

Knitting 24/7 by Veronik Avery.
A book of stylish knits with uncomplicated patterns designed for knitters on-the-go who have five minutes here or ten minutes there to knit.
(So many cute patterns I don't know where to start).

Knitted Socks East and West by Judy Sumner
Glorious knitted sock patterns.
(I am in love with this book and inspired to knit socks like never before).

Viva Poncho by Christina Stork and Leslie Barbazette
A book of versatile, comfortable, stylish patterns for ponchos for all seasons 
(You know I am all about bringing the poncho back).

Knitting For Baby by Kristin Nicholis
Tapping into our innate desire to knit for babies, with the first patterns in the book teaching simple stitches and the fundamentals of knitting, and patterns that increase in complexity as knitters work through the book.
(Knitting teeny, tiny, quick things is such a great way to learn I think).

Knits Men Want by Bruce Weinstein
Far too many women spend their time, energy, and resources knitting things for men that men don’t want to wear.  Author Bruce Weinstein offers humorous rules to create knits men want
(I so should have chosen this one because my farmer boy is HASSLING me to knit for him).

Knit 2 Together by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark
HBO comedian Tracey Ullman teamed up with a Los Angeles yarn store owner to write this lively knitting book
(No relation).

OK, so let's have ourselves a little giveaway.
Let me know in the comments which of the Ebooks you would like to win and why.
Make sure you include a way for me to contact you.
And let's get click clacking!

See ya later knitting potata.
xx