Tag: Bronny and Muntsa

Bronny’s Bookshelf: Fourth Pick

Posted on | by Bronny

Welcome to the Fourth edition of Bronny’s Bookshelf. In these posts I’ll be picking a handful of children’s books from my home bookshelf and sharing my thoughts on them. Today I’ll be discussing three books, a couple of which are very near and dear to mine an my child’s heart.

Horton Hears a Who! – Dr. Seuss

Horton Hears a Who! is a story about an elephant named Horton who overhears the echo of voices on a little red clover. Upon closer inspection he discovers that there is a whole town of Who’s, human-like creatures small almost to the point of being invisible, and who live on this particular clover. Horton then makes it his mission to protect the clover and its inhabitants, particularly from the threat of other animals in the jungle who mock him and disbelieve in the existence of the Who’s before stealing the clover and trying to hide it.

At the end of the book, after a great deal of anguish and persistence, Horton manages to save the red clover as well as the Who’s which live upon it. The core message of the book is repeated like a mantra throughout it: “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” This is a theme which teaches children the importance of treating and respecting others equally despite their size or appearance.

What is most distinctive about Horton Hears a Who! is, like most Dr. Seuss books, both the imagination of the world created and the style of the language. From the rhyming couplets of the words to the kooky cartoon animals, Horton Hears a Who! is sure to leave you and your child entertained.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – By Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a story which follows a little caterpillar from its life as an egg, its brief life as a caterpillar devouring whatever food it can find, its even briefer life in a cocoon and right through to its emergence as a beautiful butterfly at the end.

Since its publication in 1969 The Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold over 30 million copies, becoming a staple for children’s early reading all around the world. The story is accentuated with little pop up flaps on some pages which can be pulled aside to reveal holes in the fruit which the caterpillar has eaten on different days of the week, and these particular illustrations of food serve as very lush and appetizing pictures and include cakes, ice creams, cheeses, sausages, cupcakes, a slice of watermelon and a lollipop – each with little holes. This creates the sense that the caterpillar has eaten through your own book. On the whole it’s a particularly short though thoroughly enjoyable read.

Mr. Happy – by Roger Hargreaves

Mr. Happy is just one of over 40 books in the Mr. Men series which began in the 1970’s. The story of Mr. Happy takes place in Happyland – where the sun shines hotter and the trees are a hundred feet tall. Everything from all the flowers and all the animals and even the worms smile in this land. It is in a small cottage by a lake in this serene paradise that Mr. Happy lives.

One day during one of his walks Mr. Happy explores an underground house and finds a man. This man is very similar to Mr. Happy, he is small and round and yellow, but unlike Mr. Happy, this man is miserable, in fact his name is Mr. Miserable.

After escorting his new friend out of his tree home and up into Happyland, Mr. Miserable finds himself unable to fend off the simmering happiness that burns in the cores of all who dwell in Happyland, and his frown quickly turns into a smile. This segues into the final message of the story which addresses the reader, it states: if you ever feel as miserable as Mr. Miserable, all you need to do is turn your mouth up at the corners and smile.

These books are available at:

Horton Hears a Who!: http://www.bookdepository.com/Horton-Hears-Who%21-Dr-Seuss/9780394800783

Hungry Caterpillar: http://www.bookdepository.com/Very-Hungry-Caterpillar-Eric-Carle/9780241003008

Mr. Happy: http://www.bookdepository.com/Mr-Happy-Roger-Hargreaves/9781405235518

Bronny’s Bookshelf: Third Pick

Posted on | by Bronny

Welcome to the Third edition of Bronny’s Bookshelf. In these posts I’ll be picking a handful of children’s books from my home bookshelf and sharing my thoughts on them. Today I’ll be discussing three books, a couple of which are very near and dear to mine an my child’s heart.

May We Sleep Here Tonight – Written by Tan Koide & illustrated by Yasuko Koide

May We Sleep Here Tonight

May We Sleep Here Tonight is a story that begins with three mice who are hiking in the woods and get lost in the developing fog around nightfall. They soon come upon a cabin, and after wondering if it would be okay to seek shelter there, they step inside to find it uninhabited and settle in. Soon after, while the three mice are tucked into bed, two rabbits who had similarly gotten lost in the fog drop in to join them. Furthermore, this little group is soon added to by the presence of three lost raccoons who knock on the cabin door. The story hits its peak when a big scary monster descends from the fog and enters into the cabin, frightening all of the animals who are cozy in bed, but it happily turns out to be Mr. Bear, the friendly bear who lives in the cabin and often hosts lost animals before feeding them hearty stew. Unlike a lot of other children’s books which are illustrated in water colour, this one is drawn in pencil which some great use of shading and soft colouring. This book was quite scary as the bear entered, however, the happy ending ultimately teaches our children about perception and how our minds can play tricks on us.

Laurence’s Water Wings – Written by Leone Peguero & illustrated by David Pearson

laurences Water Wings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Laurence’s Water Wings is a story about children and their individuality. It begins with Laurence waking up and realizing that he is on school holidays. As his two brothers, sister and parents begin to pack their things to go on a family holiday, Laurence puts on a pair of water wings despite being politely told that they are going to the bush and he will therefore not be requiring them. Throughout their entire trip, despite suggestions from his brothers and sister to remove the water wings, he keeps them on. When they arrive home his parents surprise him with the swimming pool they had constructed while on holiday, and still wearing his water wings, Laurence is the first one in the pool. I like this book not just because of the soft water colour illustrations in which colours smoothly bleed into each other, but because it teaches our children that it’s okay to be different. If Laurence wants to wear water wings, let him wear water wings.

Paddington Bear: In the Garden – By Michael Bond & illustrated by Michael Bond

Paddington Bear in the Garden
Paddington’s Garden in one of the many stories in the Paddington Bear series. This particular story was published in 2002, but various Paddington Bear stories date as far back as the early 1950’s, and the longevity of this character is testament to the strength of stories such as this. Paddington’s Garden is set in an affluent residence in London, and after Mrs. Brown, the mother of the house, spies Mr. Brown working very hard to maintain their large garden, she suggests that he delegate sections of the garden to their two children and Paddington. After feeling a little tired and overwhelmed with the initial gardening, Paddington uses his allowance to purchase some gardening supplies. However, on his way home he leaves his jar of marmalade at a construction site and after returning he finds that in its place rests a large pile of concrete. After, convincing the site manage to dig up the concrete and recover his jar, they find it was not there but rather on a wooden platform that had been elevated. Unhappy that his now dried concrete is wasted, Paddington saves the day by buying the dried pieces of concrete off him and using them in his garden display.

What I love about this book in particular is that there is lots of text that guides the story, and it doesn’t just rely on the images to look nice and engage your child. This particular edition of Paddington Bear teaches children about being creative in order to solve problems, and is a story best suited to children who have mastered basic reading and are ready to move onto more in depth stories.

Stay tuned for the fourth edition of Bronny’s Bookshelf!

You can purchase these books at:

May We Sleep Here Tonight – http://www.bookdepository.com/May-We-Sleep-Here-Tonight-Tan-Koide/9780689832888

Paddington’s Garden – http://www.bookdepository.com/Paddington-Bear-Garden-Michael-Bond/9780060296964?b=-3&t=-20#Fulldescription-20

Bronny’s Bookshelf: First Pick

Posted on | by Bronny

Welcome to the first edition of Bronny’s Bookshelf. In these posts I’ll be picking a handful of children’s books from my home bookshelf and sharing my thoughts on them. Today I’ll be discussing three books of which are very near and dear to mine and my child’s heart.

Felix and Alexander: Written & Illustrated by Terry Denton

Felix & Alexander is a fantastic and cute children’s book from Australia. It follows two characters which give the books its title. Alexander is a young boy who lives in the city with his talking and walking stuffed toy dog named Felix. The story begins with Alexander leaving for his regular afternoon walk, but once he fails to return by nightfall, loyal little Felix goes out looking for him with a torchlight. One of the features of this story that really stands out is the two or three panes of illustration when Felix is wandering around in the dark, and the houses of the urban streetscape are personified as grim, scary faces with eyes and mouths. A happy ending ensues when the two are re-united, and find their way home by following the stuffing that leaked out of a tear in Felix’s stitching.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea: Written & Illustrated by Judith Kerr

The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a classic English children’s book about a tiger who drops in on a mother and her daughter Sophie as they are about to drink tea. The tiger is harmless and no-body seems concerned by its tiger-ness as it knocks on the door and asks if it can join them for tea as it is quite hungry. The friendly tiger then proceeds to clean out the family’s supply of fresh baked goods, tea from the pot, the dinner cooking on the stove as well as food in the cupboards and water in the bath tub. At the end the mother and daughter buy more food at the shops including some tiger food in case their orange friend decides to drop in again…

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch: Written & Illustrated by Ronda and David Armitage

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch is a great and different children’s story, particularly because it doesn’t feature any children. The characters include Mr. Grinling – the lighthouse keeper – his wife Mrs. Grinling and a flock of a hungry seagulls. Each day Mrs. Grinling fills a basket with her husband’s lunch and sets it on a cable from a window by their house on the coast, and sends it over the water to Mr. Grinling in the lighthouse. However, the scrumptious meal is soon raided by the flock of hungry seagulls en route! Some unique traits of this book that make it particularly special are the water colour artwork which creates a very warm blend of colour and compliments the oceanic scenery, as well as the speech bubbles of the hungry seagulls which are very humorous.

Stay tuned for the next edition of Bronny’s Bookshelf!

You can purchase these books at:

Felix & Alexander – http://www.amazon.com/Felix-Alexander-Terry-Denton/dp/0395486610/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379382099&sr=8-1&keywords=felix+and+alexander

The Tiger Who Came to Tea – http://www.bookdepository.com/Tiger-Who-Came-Tea-Judith-Kerr/9780007215997

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch – http://www.bookdepository.com/Lighthouse-Keeper-Stories%3A-Lighthouse-Keepers-Lunch-Lighhouse-Keepers-Picnic-Ronda-Armitage/9781407105789

Bronny and Muntsa go to Melbourne Writer’s Festival

Posted on | by Bronny

August brings with it an exciting and fun opportunity for Melbourne readers, writers
and book lovers, especially Bronny and Muntsa who celebrate the Melbourne Writer’s Festival. The festival showcases a variety of authors and industry figures from an array
of different creative endeavors and backgrounds.

Here at Bronny and Muntsa we are very excited to see that the festival is hosting
a number of events which are themed around Children’s books. One such event is hosted by Jane Godwin, a writer of several successful children’s stories along with illustrative collaborator Anna Walker. Together they will share some of their stories and as well as explore different and creative ways to create them. This event will be held on Saturday the 24th of August at 11:00AM.

Another fun event will feature one of the most established names in Australian
children’s fiction: Morris Gleitzman. Along with fellow children’s author
Deborah Ellis, Glietzman will be discussing, among other things, where they
draw the line in conveying to children what the world can be like. This event
will be held on Sunday the 25th of August at 10:00AM.

Children’s stories mark most children’s first taste of fiction and begin to
open up their imaginations in all kinds of new and fantastic ways. It builds
the foundations upon which our children begin to build understandings of storytelling. It is for that reason that we here at Bronny and Muntsa are so thrilled to see that the MWF is featuring events themed
around children’s stories.

Super Single Families Facing Tough Changes in Australia

Posted on | by Bronny | 1 Comment on Super Single Families Facing Tough Changes in Australia

When you’re walking down the street and see an adult with a child; do you ever wonder if it’s a single parent family, single mum, single dad, maybe two dads or even another alternate family situation? It can be very easy to assume that the large majority of families in Australia are the typical statistic that springs to most people’s minds; two working parents with 2.5 children.

Did you know (according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics as of June 2011 Australia) single parent families account for 950,000 homes in Australia with single mums making up the majority! Staggering isn’t it? Considering that we are a population of 12 million this is nearly 1 million homes in Australia with only 1 parent.

As you are probably aware, key to the My Super Family children’s book series (My Super Single Mum, My Two Super Dads, and My Super Groovy Gran) is communicating the values of love, safety and security. We care about promoting healthy relationships in single parent families, blended families, and all other types of families hence why we decided to produce the series of books. We just love it when we get feedback from mums and dads who have bought our books, just like this;

Hi Bronny & Muntsa, 

Just wanted to send a big thank you for writing such a beautiful book! So many children’s books out there are aimed at the more typical family unit, it’s nice to know that someone is out there thinking about the less ordinary. 

I admit I actually cried reading it, and even though it’s just me and my son (rather than Mother and daughter) I think my son will get a lot out of reading it with me (he’s 4), especially as his Father unfortunately has had no part of his life and has never met his son. As well, my family do not have a big part in our lives so it really is just me and him. I can’t wait to show him it, so much so I won’t be waiting for Xmas, but look forward to reading it to him tonight.

Thanks,
Nyssa
♥ ♥ ♥

Parents in nuclear families find it tricky to juggle work commitments and quality time with their kids, but imagine how much harder this is for single parent families! Many single parent families in Australia are struggling with the new laws about family benefits. Basically, when your youngest child turns 8, single parents are no longer eligible for the Single Parent Pension, this means they must transfer to New Start and start looking for work. This sounds great in theory, but with only one person sharing the care and still with young children (imagine if it’s only 1 child) most of the money earned goes towards childcare anyway, and all of a sudden someone else (not the best option) is raising your child. Yes, we hear you now! What about a nanny? What about relatives? It can be tricky finding a good nanny – not to mention expensive! Do you really think a single parent can afford one? Most can’t! And, after all, you’re putting your child’s welfare into their hands, and entrusting them with what is most important in your life; it’s a BIG burden of trust to hand over, and it’s difficult to do willingly. Also, not everyone has got relatives that live nearby, so taking your child over to Gran or Pop’s is often out of the question.

This doesn’t cut a fair deal for single parent families, who giving up precious time with their child/ren to earn money to pay another person to do what they’d willingly do if only they could, while instead they’re trying to make money to support them. In this, the importance of government support for single families can be seen. As a result, a stable future for many single families lies in the hands of Australia’s future policy makers. The take home message from the family behind My Super Family children’s book series is that parenting, regardless of your family make up, is not always easy; it has its ups and downs just like life, and that making some decisions carefully can help smooth out some of the bigger bumps in the road, and help other families as well as your own keep on being super! And remember, the most important family values you can ever promote, whatever your makeup is that of love, safety and security.

St Kilda Library – Children’s Book Writing Workshop

Posted on | by Bronny

This coming March, children’s book Author, Bronny Fallens will be taking a workshop at the St Kilda Library. 25 lucky people have already made their booking and the session is now booked out! Bronny will talk all things children’s book writing and plans on making it an informative session on not just about writing children’s books but also on how to go about getting self published. Watch this space for photos from this exciting workshop. PLUS – our books are off to the London Book Fair again this year. We can’t wait to take all our books – My Super Single Mum, My Two Super Dads and My Super Groovy Gran. Plus coming soon – My Super Single Dad.

The Reason We Do What We Do

Posted on | by Bronny | 1 Comment on The Reason We Do What We Do

People have asked me from time to time ‘why did you choose to write books about different types of families Bronny’. It’s fairly simple, I decided to start with this particular topic because their was nothing available for my own child about our family situation.

As you probably already know, I went through pregnancy on my own and after looking for books about single mother situations I couldn’t find any that actually used the words ‘single mum’. You see I wanted children to identify with this type of family and to then feel that it was normal – which it is!

If you look at Sensis statistics in Australia you can see that single parent families, blended families and other types of families that are not mum, dad and 2.5 kids make up close to 50% of families!

With that in mind, I wanted to share with you some feedback I received from one of our readers in the USA. After sending My Two Super Dads express post before Christmas it was with surprise that I received a note asking when the book would arrive! Whilst I was in the process of locating the book, I sent a digital copy hoping this would at least be something until I tracked down Australia Post. In between me doing all of this the hard copy of the book arrived and I received the following lovely email, I hope you find it as charming as I did ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
“Hi Bronny,

Thank you so much for your reply!

I wanted to let you know that the mailman delivered the book today! (If only I’d waited two days before writing…) I’m sorry if we put you to a lot of trouble.

I did want to thank you for sending the digital copy. You should have seen my wife’s face, she was elated. 😀 Yours is the first two fathers book she ever bought sight unseen (usually she gets them through the library first) but she was so charmed by the sample and cover on the website that she couldn’t resist. We both thought it was marvelous and are so pleased to have the hardcopy in hand.

Thank you for the beautiful art and wonderful message you put out into the world with your books.

Evin”

To all my readers a massive thank you and please do as Evin did, get in touch and let me know if you love the books! I have now finished writing My Super Single Dad and Muntsa has begun work on the illustrations. We can’t wait to bring you this next installment in our My Super Family series and want all of you out their to remember you really are SUPER!