I suddenly remembered I had this little pretty board book saved for some time and asked him “Shall I sing you a special song?” He paused, intrigued, nodded and quickly climbed into my lap to see the book I had pulled off the bookshelf. 

I gave a most imperfect and off-key rendition of Louis Armstrong “What a wonderful world” and… he loved it . He gently caressed each page with his cute little fingers as I sang, pausing longly on the pages with the children holding hands and the kid diving in the ocean amongst the fish (“where is the baby, mummy?!”) and then asked we did it “encore” and “encore” and “encore”…

The book is a joyful, lyrical, amazing pairing to the song and it is so happily coloured, like all Tim Hopgoed’s books. We love it. Little gosling forgot all about his troubles and was back to his playful, cheerful self. Now, he occasionally entertains his very sleepy (and annoyed) dad at 5.30 a.m. singing the song and corrects me sternly when I get a line wrong. Mea culpa, I keep forgetting “the bright blessed day” and improvise..

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Being out in the rain is a different story. When we returned to Europe, little gosling found the Brussels rain less than enchanting. He would get agitated and fussy whenever we went out when it rained, and shouted “rain, go away!” in a distressed voice. He disliked having the rain cover on top of the pram and would do all to pull it down. When walking, he just didn’t want to be outside. To be fair, he has similar reactions to wind or sun, when the latter gets into his eyes. And, generally, people coming to Belgium from further away always complain about the rain and grey, low sky. 

I am intent on us having an active, outdoorsy life, therefore I started to look for ways to have him embrace the weather. If not enjoy the rain, at least not let himself be discouraged from doing what he wants because of it. 

First thing I did was to enable him to do what he (and I suspect all small kids, including myself, according to what must be what my parents most vividly recall from my early childhood) loves most: splash into every puddle he can find. What joy and pleasure this simple act can give small kids! We quickly got him a sturdy pair of long rubber boots and agreed with him that he could splash into whatever puddle he liked, as long as he was wearing his boots. He happily acquiesced and now he knows: whenever he is wearing his sandals after rain, he stops next to the puddle saying: “this is a boot puddle”, so no stepping, no splashing. Next, we made sure to have rain jackets for all kinds of temperatures; some with whales, some with numbers (his favourite), so he is all set. He loves umbrellas, but it’s just so very impractical to have one around him; it does not serve him and, well, it’s just a hazard for everyone else in his hands, at this stage :))). 

With all the reading and singing we have been doing, I looked for relatable, positive, uplifting songs and picture books on the topic of rain. I was happy to find Tim Hopgood’s illustrated “Singing in the rain” and “Cyril, the lonely cloud”. I take them out with excitement every time it rains! And I’ve made a habit of singing “Singing in the rain” and B.J. Thomas’ “Raindrops keep falling on my head”. I think this is working… although it has no effect on daddy’s grumpy and reluctant mood when it rains :P. 

Little gosling immediately got hooked on the song “Singing in the rain” and wanted me to sing it again and again and again. As customary, he was not so keen on Doris Day’s version (that comes in a CD attached to the book), but wanted mommy’s version. I’m struggling both through the higher and the low notes, but I make up for it with smiles, silliness and with the absolute enjoyment I take in singing it. The illustrations are lovely, in strong, bright colours and there are music notes and smiles everywhere; they reflect superbly the joy imparted by the lyrics. Little gosling liked the children running and playing under the rain, splashing happily in the puddles, with big smiles on their faces. My favourites are the children floating down with the open umbrellas, their smiles reflected in the puddles and the children enjoying the small, simple things around them in the rain: a flower, a butterfly fluttering, the grass underneath their bare feet.

Little gosling seems equally attached to “Raindrops keep falling on my head”. He recites the first verse and asks for it when he feels raindrops on his face and little hands. He’s irresistibly cute raising his hands up and fidgeting his fingers saying “these are raindrops!”

“Cyril, the lonely cloud” just wants to look down on the world and see a happy smile, feel welcome, but people receive him with distrust and displeasure, as a fun spoiler. Therefore, he pours his sadness over them and travels further in search of a friendly face. In the process, he grows bigger and more frustrated, until…. He reaches what looks like hot, dry Africa, where the animals are so happy to welcome him. Cyril is sweetly drawn, with a kiddy face, very likeable and relatable and helps build understanding and empathy and a positive perception of clouds and rain.

Lately, in the good night message to everyone, I made a point of starting with the sun and whatever weather features we’ve had during the day. For example, these days I said, “good night clouds! Thank you for coming today and making the heat more bearable, thank you for bringing chill”; “good night, rain! Thank you for visiting us today, for renewing and refreshing the air! You are so important for plants and animals to grow healthy and happy! Good night!” I use these last moments of the day, when little gosling’s focus is on my whispers to reassure him that all these phenomena that displease him have their place and meaning and are good for us. 

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A music-themed book, it features the self-discovery journey of a tiny nightingale, Peep, who  badly wants to be part of a choir of birds singing at dawn. Despite its ambition, practice and perseverance, singing at dawn just isn’t its thing. What the tiny nightingale did not know was that nightingales sing best at night. It takes a good friend to understand this reality and feel happy in its skin, singing beautifully at night for the entire forest. 

It’s a sweet story, with lovely, warm coloured, soothing illustrations, full of tiny, chubby birds and musical notes flowing and floating around. It’s a gentle introduction to birds and music themes, with specific vocabulary. With just a tiny little bit of imagination, one could almost hear the birds’ song. I almost feel sorry there’s no button to push anywhere for some trills.  Above all else, I like its message of knowing and being true and content with who you are. Little gosling is fascinated by the conductor of the chorus and is looking for it on all pages. He gets so happy when tiny Peep finds another nightingale friend and they sing together. My favourite part is hearing him say “nightingale”; it’s quite a complicated word. And he has such a sweet way of saying “Peep”… 

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Illustrated in warm tones of pink and yellow and orange, it introduces one by one ten instruments – brass, reeds and strings included, as well as the vocabulary for the musical groups, culminating with a chamber group of ten that gives a concert in a fancy concert hall, closing with a bow and an “encore”. It’s a pretty accurate image and sequence of how a classical concert unfolds. Written in rhyme, the verses describe the physical appearance of instruments as much as the tones and feelings they convey to the audience. The portrayal of the members of the orchestra reflects the instrument they’re playing. And they all seem to be swaying and moving to the rhythm of the music. The pages are full of musical scores and musical notes flying around. Illustrations are so very fluid, flowing and, ultimately, musical. 

I feared the vocabulary may be too complicated for a two years old, but little gosling enjoys the sound of the words and musicality of the rhyme. Take, for example, “With mournful moan and silken tone, itself alone comes one trombone”. We play at guessing the instruments and the order in which they appear. He gets particularly excited at the flute and the French horn, as well as at the conductor. He is also smitten with the two cats, mouse and dog playing on each page, until eventually falling asleep at the end of the concert, after dancing together to the music of the orchestra. He likes to repeat mommy’s commentary to the illustrations: “when the concert is finished and the orchestra has gone home, the concert hall is cleaned and the dog, the cats and the mouse go to sleep” :). 

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This was part of a batch of books I had bought to introduce little gosling to the world of (classical) music, to familiarise him with musical instruments. The piano seemed like a great start. He loves bears and, since he was a few months old, we have listened to relaxing piano music at sleep time. After reading the book, he was curious to listen to some piano pieces, when I made the suggestion. He now asks for the piano music himself sometimes. 

A bear cub comes across a piano in the forest and grows up learning to play it beautifully. Heard by humans, he becomes a great star in the big bright city. Nostalgic, he returns to the forest to find that his friends have cherished his piano and have proudly followed his career, collecting newspaper clips of his achievements. 

A good introduction to the notions of success, life-changing decisions and homesickness. I like the disinterested way in which it depicts friendship and the way in which it underlines the importance of the inextricable bonds with our roots and home. It shows the tough choices one may face to follow one’s dreams, but also that success can,  but does not need to be lonely. All quite complex concepts for the youngest ones, but on a much deeper level than what they perceive at first sight. I love the forest illustrations, so warm and bright, as well as the melancholic bear. Very endearing! It features a beautiful double-page illustration of a full concert hall, all eyes on the big piano and the fancily dressed up bear, which serves as a good introduction to kids, together with the associated vocabulary. 

Little gosling gets excited with the “pianooo!” and very curious about the bear’s friendship with the little girl who takes him to the city; he looks to identify her in all images. He’s living all the emotions together with the bear, most strongly the homesickness; the only lines in the book he recites are “He missed his forest. He missed his old friends. He missed home”. And we spent some time observing the bear sitting up on the rooftops and looking over the river to his forest. He shares the bear’s surprise (coupled with disappointment on little gosling’s side) at finding the clearing empty and the sheer joy at seeing the piano kept safe and all his bear friends happy to see him again.

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