Eight Years Old and A Book Update

PudStar is eight. I find this hard to comprehend. Everyone used to tell me, ‘it will go so fast’ as I struggled my way through newborn sleeplessness and toddler tantrums. I would smile and think ‘well it’s going awfully darn slowly just at the moment’. And yet here we are – with an eight year old. And it has gone fast.

What at wrote when she was six and then seven still applies, and many of those books she loved have been read and re-read. But she’s also well and truly entered the ‘independent reader’ phase and her reading ability and comprehension astounds me and keeps her entertained for hours (long have I waited for this!). She spends much time choosing books to put in her bag when we go out, she reads on every.single. car trip in complete silence (occasionally reaching over and whacking her sister #justbecause), she escapes to her top bunk and reads whenever an opportunity arises and she is never, ever without a book in her hand. It’s magical, frustrating at times (HOW CAN YOU NOT HEAR ME PUD?!) and she has turned into a reader. Not so much an athlete…apparently we are working on that :).

We still read to her every night – in fact, as I write this, her and #backboy are reading ‘Deltora Quest: The Forest of Silence’ for Readers’ Cup, which is happening next week at school. Bedtime reading is one of the few times we get to stop and be with Pud these days and it will continue for as long as she still loves us laying next to her reading. Some parents want to remember when their child first started soccer or played in their first piano recital – I want to remember the books my children adored each year. What can I say? I’m a librarian…the books are important milestones to me. And so, as chosen by her, her favourite books of the moment are below.

Happy birthday Pud; may you always find books which you love and which inspire, challenge and comfort you. May you walk in the shoes of others through literature and may words and stories help you to navigate your way through life.

‘Wicked’s Way’

‘Olive of Groves’

‘Friday Barnes’

‘Netball Gems’. Full review here.

‘A Patch From Scratch’. Review here.

‘Tom Gates’

‘Squishy Taylor’. Fully review here.

‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’

‘The Worry Tree’

 ‘Meet…’ series. Full review here.

‘Our Australian Girl’ series. Full review here.

‘This is a Ball’ and ‘Did You Take the B from my ook?’

‘Violet Mackerel’ series. Full review here.

‘The Fairy Dancers’. Full review here, here and here.

…and OH THE EXCITMENT of the parcel from Sarah Davis – one of her FAVOURITE illustrators (seriously that dog poo on the carpet in ‘Fearlesss’ cracks my kdis every.single.time we read it) and one of her FAVOURITE series and she now has some of the artwork. It’s from ‘Violet Mackerel: Personal Space’.