Well, friends, we did it, we made it through one of the most challenging years in living memory. I can’t even describe how happy I am to welcome in the new year. I always get excited about the changing of the year, and find it exhilarating to make resolutions and start fresh (though I’m under no illusions about my ability to keep up with them). After the ups and downs of the last year, I’m more delighted than ever to say goodbye to the past 12 months. Bring on 2021!
Were you able to celebrate NYE in some way? To be honest, the pandemic didn’t really change our plans – with an early-rising toddler, we were never going to make it to midnight anyway! We ordered in sushi and watched Netflix before falling asleep. Alas, we didn’t stay asleep – first we were woken up at midnight by fireworks and pots being banged and clanged around us, which, though annoying, was entirely understandable. The second wake-up call was much, much more unpleasant – our building fire alarm went off at 2am! Trying to bundle up a terrified, wailing toddler and head out into the pouring rain in the middle of the night, while avoiding fellow residents and waiting seemingly forever for the fire department to arrive (I’m sure they had a busy night!) was NOT the way I’d planned to ring in the new year! Hopefully your night was more peaceful than ours.
Anyway, enough of my grumbling. Let’s talk about books! Or more specifically, one book in particular, that we’ve been reading a lot this week.
One of my toddler’s new favourites, this board book is a perfect example of the beauty of simplicity. LITTLE BOAT, by prolific Japanese author/illustrator Taro Gomi, really couldn’t be simpler. The text is limited, the story is brief, and the illustrations, with their bold black lines, bright colours and blocky shapes, have a charming childlike quality that my son finds incredibly appealing. Every time he spots this delightful little book, he breaks into a giant smile.
Little Boat goes on a little adventure, braving big boats, a rolling wake, and even a rainstorm, before making his way home to his parents in a warm and satisfying ending.
Don’t get me wrong, our home library is filled with books that make noises and have flaps and doors and textual elements and all sorts of other bells and whistles. There’s definitely a place for that “more is more” mentality, and my kiddo absolutely loves his noisy trucks book! But there’s also something wonderfully calming and comforting about books that are so very simple. LITTLE BOAT has become a popular part of our bedtime routine, and I highly recommend it, especially if your little is as besotted with all moving things as mine is. There’s also a LITTLE PLANE and LITTLE TRUCK board book…which I think I might just have to keep my eyes open for!
Wishing you all the very best for 2021 and beyond!
What a CRAZY New Year’s Eve with your building fire alarm!! Also, I didn’t know pot banging was a NYE thing. However, we live in a rather small, quiet community. lol This book looks oh so sweet. I love calming bedtime books! Thank you for sharing, Jane, and I hope you have a wonderful week.
Yup, every NYE people in my neighborhood go crazy banging pots and pans – I think it’s a tradition to scare away bad spirits? We used to do it when I was growing up, I loved it. Now I’m old and just want to sleep, ha!
I need to see if we have those three book by Gomi. Have a great reading year ahead!
OMG, I am sorry about your 2am call, but you didn’t say what happened. Was it a false alarm or ? Anyway, since you’re writing, I assume you’re all okay. Thanks for sharing this. It sounds nice. We do order some new board books at the used bookstore where I work so I will share it with those who choose. Happy New Year from now on!
False alarm, thank goodness! Unfortunately we’ve had quite a few kitchen fires in my building in the past (folks – if you’re going to cook with oil, have a fire safety kit in your kitchen!), so we always trudge outside, whatever the time or weather – you never know! But thankfully all seems to be well this time.
Gomi’s books are super popular at the library, they’re just so child-friendly and cute. 🙂
I definitely agree about simple books having an appeal (there’s a reason I still have a collection of Sandra Boynton board books), and Little Boat definitely sounds appealing! I can’t believe your building’s fire alarm went off at 2 in the morning and you had to evacuate while social distancing! Like Linda Baie, I’m also wondering if it was a false alarm or if there was an actual fire—I remember the alarm going off at a hotel I was staying at and making everyone evacuate, but it was a false alarm. Anyway, congrats on getting through that nightmare, and thanks for the great post!
Oh yes, we have so many of Sandra Boynton’s books, too! Definite favourites. Thankfully it seems to have been a false alarm. We had the same experience at a hotel in Japan, everyone was milling around in the hallways in their pajamas, wondering what was going on, and my partner had to use his elementary Japanese to try and figure out what was going on, and explain it to all the fellow tourists. Definitely an adventure! 😉
Whoa! That was some New Years Eve drama you don’t need! Ours was pretty calm too. Fireworks started around 10 in our hood and were done by 11:30. I stayed up listening to an audiobook and knitting while my partner slept on the sofa.
I think there is something soothing and getting ready for bed about these calm books. My grandaughter has started ‘reading’ to us. It doesn’t really matter how simple the book is, she can get pretty excited telling us the story.
Happy reading this week!
What a wonderful way to spend NYE! We had to laugh, the pandemic didn’t change how we would be celebrating anyway, we’re homebodies who like our quiet evenings. 🙂
It’s so, so sweet when little ones “read” the pictures, I love it!
Oh no, not the way you wanted to usher in 2021! Hopefully that means it only is onward and upward from that! Happy 2021 reading 🙂
I definitely had to laugh, it was like 2020 was giving us one last kick on the way out!