There’s been a flurry of children’s books arriving chez C recently and it’s been timed perfectly with Master C started at the school pre-school and a new rhythm to our days together. We have less than two hours at home together in an afternoon now before we have to head out again to pick up Little Miss C from school, and how to fill that time best has been a bit of a challenge.
He needs a bit of down time and to zone out in front of the TV for a while, but I’m conscious that if I’m not careful the whole time can be spent like that, which isn’t really what I want. Instead I’m trying to always have a couple of books out for us to read together and have some time snuggled up on the sofa, usually under a crochet blanket, regardless of the temperature!
As soon as Handstand arrived I was totally drawn in by the cover artwork. Lisa Stickley is a British designer and illustrator who is inspired, partly, by 1960s children’s stories and illustrations. With my love of old children’s books I think it’s what gives Handstand that something special that made it appeal so much to me.
Handstand describes itself as “a kind of counting book” and I was a tad puzzled. What does that mean? Does it count? Or not?
Edith is a little girl who loves to do handstands. But, she’s really only just learning to do handstands and therefore isn’t actually all that good at them, yet. As we all know though, to get better at something you need to practice. A lot. So that’s what she sets about to do.
On Monday Edith only manages to hold her handstand for one second, but that’s ok. It’s only day one after all. Tuesday results in a two second handstand. Until a pesky work pops his head up out of the grass and makes her jump.
As the week continues spiders and birds also hamper her handstand progress, but by Sunday she has mastered doing seven handstands in a row. A triumph that was swiftly followed by eating a lolly whilst hardstanding – with a bit of help from the garden fence!
Handstand is a delightful story that manages to combine subtly teaching children about both counting and the days of the week with following Edith’s handstand progress. The illustrations throughout are gorgeous and I also loved the way that all the words are written by Edith in her childish handwriting which ever so nearly sits on the lines on the paper.
Handstand by Lisa Stickley was published on 8 September 2016. ISBN 9781843653127 £9.99 Hardback
Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of Handstand for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains an affiliate link.
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