Spectacular Southwest

This summer I've ended up having a couple of big trips for work that took me towards the west coast. I had to get to New Mexico by the middle of August, so I took a detour to Colorado first to visit the Rocky Mountain Mama and her family! I brought the boys some gifts. Super Sweet S is going into first grade and is apparently literally reading everything! "Titi," he says, "Do you want me to read the catalog about Halloween Costumes?"

His younger brother, Younger Brother E, is also obsessed with reading books as well. I brought a whole load of books with me as my, "Thank you for having me in your house this weekend gift." Among other books, I brought the boys a new series of comic chapter books, The Dodge Ball Chronicles! Apparently they loved them!

After visiting the southwest, Colorado and New Mexico, I decided I needed to search for my souvenirs for my nephew and Little Moon (who I would be visiting for the second part of my west coast tour after New Mexico). I found some great wildlife books. I found a board book about animals in the southwest, and a beautiful photography book of baby animals from this area. I also discovered a new series of non fiction books from Farcountry- So I had to get, The Rocky Mountain Babies.

I would be remiss if I didn't also pick up a story about the Day of the Dead after being in the Southwest. Luckily I found one by Tony Johnston and Jeanette Winters.

As I made my way from Colorado to New Mexico and then on to Seattle, I both dropped books off and picked new ones up to bring with me as souvenirs of my travels!

Hope your summer has been filled with travels and books! What books have you picked up as souvenirs to help you and the ones you love remember your adventures!









The nephew- Sending Back to Canada

Coming Home From Vacation

I am back from Costa Rica. A week of bliss truly! I was staying in a beautiful little-itty- bitty town, Santa Teresa. As I was getting ready to go I was thinking, how will I share this with my nephew? What can I bring him? There were no bookstores here to find a book on Costa Rica. I thought that the airport might have a little, 'recuerdo', that I wold be able to bring back. As I walked along the shores with my friend B we were picking up and noticing the wonderful rocks and beautiful shells.

We found many sand dollars! That of course sparked another line of questions, what exactly is a sand dollar!?

They are so beautiful and have such precision and beauty in their design. We found so many of them on the beach, they looked unreal.

So I decided to bring my nephew back a sand dollar. We started to discuss, what is a sand dollar? "A sea urchin", I began. "It is like the left over skeleton of a sea urchin."

"What's a sea urchin?" my nephew replied. And so the conversation has started. We got the computer open to start searching for the different kinds of sea urchins and what they look like and how they move. "How do they move on it's spine? What do they eat? Why do they look like that?"

Gifts come in all shape and sizes. How you talk about them and let the gifts grow into something larger is all up to you! Hope you are enjoying your summer and reading!

Getting Ready for the Nephew's 3rd Birthday

Don't worry, it isn't until March. Like every other auntie, I am collecting along the way, little gifts here and there, that I want to bring to him on his 3rd birthday. I usually see him once a month (they live in Canada); but I don't think I will be able to see him in February. So, the gifts I am presently collecting will be for his birthday! Here is what I have so far:

When I was out in Seattle, I went to a bookstore for children, The Secret Garden, in Ballard. Very cute bookstore! My friend Mama J wanted to know what it was that I was looking for in the bookstore. It was a good question. I often just browse and try to get inspired. Sometimes I have a specific book in mind. This time I did not. I wanted to see if in this bookstore I could find new books, ones that I hadn't seen in NY. Sure enough they had a couple that just called out my nephew's name!

1. I Call My Grandpa Papa My nephew does actually call his grandfather Papa. It is so cute. In this book though it describes how different languages and culture's name their grandfathers and the things they do together. I love books that celebrate diveristy of families and languages and cultures- especially because our family has a diversity of 'families', languages, and cultures. My nephew's grandparents are a big part of his life. Even though they live hundreds of miles away, they remain close through lots of visits and Skype chats, "Papa, do you want to skype?" Now I am going to search for I Call My Grandma Nana (because he does).

2. I found these beautiful Architecture Concept Books! They have Colors, Animals and Counting! How beautiful. I love books that teach more than one thing- Architecture and Counting!

3. I also found a large, board book with beautiful pictures about the Pike Street Market in Seattle! Great gift and souvenir!

What fun! They are already in his new "Surfers Backpack" that Big Girl C and Baby E are giving him for his birthday. I'm sure that it will fill up soon (I also have an adorable Owl T-shirt and Slug I got from KLTworks). Don't worry sis, I won't go overboard!

Bring Back a Book as a Souvenir

When I was a little girl, my grandfather's brother, Uncle Teddy, traveled the globe! Every time he came from a new country, Korea or Thailand, he always brought me back a doll from that place. Not only did I end up with this beautiful collection of dolls, but I also ended up with a beautiful memory of my Uncle. Why not do the same with books!

In the spring I went to visit my sister and nephew in Dubai and Beirut. I was trying to think of something I could bring back to my friends that captured the essence of my travels. Suddenly I found myself in a bookshop- and I realized, books about the country would be a perfect souvenir to bring back for my friends. You're Too Little is a sweet little book about a boy who wants to help his family build a dhow- a boat. After his family tells him he is too little, he decides to build his own boat. I bought it for my nephew (2 years old) as a souvenir to remember his trip on the Dhow he took in Oman. I brought it back for Baby C to share with him the place I had visited. He immediately adopted it as favorite read!

I work a lot in California. This summer I flew back to Montreal to see my nephew after I spent a week in San Diego. I can't come and visit him without a book. One of his favorite books at home is 1,2,3 New York. He loves saying, "Titi lives in New York!" He is also obsessed with counting the hot dogs and water towers. As I browsed a local bookshop in San Diego I found- 1,2,3 California. It made a perfect souvenir! Surf boards became his favorite thing to count!

When I came back from the Philippines, I wanted to bring back some books that I would give to my nephew. I wanted to show him about the new and latest place I had just visited. I brought back some fairy tales and My First Words in Tagalog!

What a nice way to remember a trip you have taken or to share with someone about a place that you traveled too. Build your collections documenting the trips and travels you take with books. It is a gift that keeps giving!