Karen Katz Books

...are Amber’s favorite books at the moment.

Karen Katz is an illustrator and designer who has published several children board books and lift-the-flap books.

The first Karen Katz book she had was from, where else but Booksale! ^_^

It's a lift-the-flap book that Amber enjoys so much. 

Aside from the cute illustration and the vibrant colors, I also find the ‘Where is My Valentines’ book very endearing and it proved me right because everytime Amber asks me to read it to her, I never fail to get a big hug in the end. Why is that?

Because in the book, Mommy gets a hug from Baby, too! You know kids naman, gaya-gaya lang. LOL!

You should have seen how excited Amber was when she saw another Karen Kats Flap Book on a package sent to her by her Tita Kristine.

Amber, pointing at the 'pungkin'

This one naman is for the Halloween season but still as fun to read as our first book.

Look at the little hand that can't wait to lift the flap!

Sana lang I can find more Karen Katz books in Booksale. ^_^

Books Once More!

It’s been a long time since I last visited Booksale. But when the Hubby and I did last week, I was so happy to have found a new set of books for Amber’s growing library. By the way, the temporary bookshelf that I made for her could no longer house all of her books. I need to find a spot in the house where we can put a bigger shelf for her.

Here are my new finds:

Dear God, goodnight; Snow White; Fuzzy Bear Gets Dressed

This one's perfect for the season!

Aside from my Booksale finds, my sister-in-law sent her some books, too.

These are her very first non-board books! I was so glad to see that she already knows how to handle them, turning the pages very carefully so as not to crumple nor tear the pages.

I guess she is now ready for all types of books! Making my book-hunting more fun and easier because there are wider range of books to choose from now.

Feeling Stranger To My Own Blog :(

I am back to my lulubog-lilitaw status. Now, I'm here, tomorrow, I'm not, hehe!

It’s been a busy time. So busy that I’ve finished the 50 Shades Trilogy. Hehehe! Yup, that’s what’s been keeping me occupied. Well, it’s really ‘stimulating’,... err, I mean entertaining. 

I had to set aside Game of Thrones for Grey, but I’m definitely coming back to the Song of Ice and Fire series as soon as I’m done with the Greys. But I heard Divergent is also a must-read.

But one thing’s for sure, I’m back! I feel guilty for not being able to keep in touch with my blogger friends, I’m itching to leave comments on their blogs to let them know that I’m back. Hehe! Papansin lang. But I have to catch up on my blog reading. See you ‘round! Oh, what was that signature Grey line... Laters, baby! J

What Kept Me Busy Aside From Work

THE HUNGER GAMES!!!

After the disappointment from the Twilight movies, I vowed that I will never read The Hunger Games unless I’ve seen the movie. Why? Because by that, I can try to enjoy the film more without me anticipating the next scene as how I’ve read it in the book.

I failed to watch the Hunger Games on cinemas. Hokey! I intended not to watch it in the theater and hoped that pirates from around the world would send me a clear copy soon. But months passed and I haven’t gotten my hands on the best uploaded video so far. I wonder if the DVD copy has been released.

So ayun, hintay-hintay... I already have the e-book in my cellphone but I was trying my might not to read it, not even take a glimpse of it, until nga I’ve seen the movie.

Kaso mo, minsan isang gabi that I was waiting for the Hubby to pick me up from our meeting place, I was so bored that I thought just a peak of the first chapter won’t hurt.

Ayun! After 5 days, I finished reading all 3 books! So kaka!

I don’t regret it though. I enjoyed reading every chapter. So enjoyed it that the times I should be blogging was spent reading. Bad! I was even sad when I had to come to the end of the story. Parang I was expecting more games. Yun tipong tumanda na si Katniss, eh she’s still playing in the Hunger Games.

Oh well, if I can only get my hands on a copy of the film. I heard it was very faithful to the book. Can’t wait to see it. ^_^

Next book... Game of Thrones!

Books For Bunay

Guess what the building receptionist handed me this morning...

BOOKS!!!!!!

The Danielle Steel books I ordered from a fellow N@Wie are here!!!

My second transaction with Buybooksforless and I am as usual happy! I love that the books are in a very pristine condition. They look as good as new. Well, some of them really are new and have only been read once but their price is just so unbelievably inexpensive!

See the Big Girl book? It actually looked and felt brand new but it was priced only 40% of the actual bookstore price. Price of all other books is only P50 each. Yes, even the hardbound one. ^_^

Thank you, Chie for dropping them off. Let me say this again, you are my favorite online bookstore talaga!

Do hop on to her site, buybooksforless. She has a lot of books to offer. Hurry while they last! ^_^

More books for Amberly!!!

What is a visit to Booksale if I won’t bring home books for the little girl? ^_^ Here are my latest Booksale finds.

My attempt to entice her into using a potty (good luck to us, Ernie!)... ^_^

A book for the season...

Can't remember how much this is, around P40-50 siguro.

I was actually looking for a board book about going to the dentist but the closest I found was Corduroy’s visit to the doctor (hmmm, pwede na rin! J)...

P65

And lastly, even if Amber has too many shapes toys and books, I just couldn't resist from buying this uber cute Shapes book that features Anne Geddes photos!...

P50

Amber-phonics = "ur-kel... ek-tan-gel... kweyr... trahn-gel"

"staaaar... uh-val... art!"

Books Galore!

Amber welcomes her newest books. But before I show them to you, here’s how excited Amber was that she instantly laid them out on the Mickey Mouse mat that she personally chose. We will use this mat nga pala when we visit our departed loved ones on All Souls Day. ^_^

The mat costs P99. ^_^

This is one of the first in her Christmas books collection -- The Nutcraker:

The second is about the busy penguins as they prepare for Christmas:

Her first Curious George book:

A story about Polly and how everybody made an effort to play with her to make her happy:

A heart-warming story about Balto, the dog:

A classic Winnie-the-Pooh book. Look at how differently Winnie looks in this book. ^_^

And my favorite on this batch -- Mommy loves her Bunny. The bunnies in the cover are textured: 

Inside the book are pictures of different animals and their mommies. Of course, there is also that of a child and his mommy. ^_^

Prices of these books range from P45 ~ P120. Enough reason to heart Booksale! 

Btw, Daddy also hearts Booksale now! Because he finds back issues of his favorite car magazines here at 50-75% off the price! ^_^

Passion For (Kiddie) Books ^_^

I can’t remember having a lot of toys when I was a little girl. Nanay would rather buy me books. I had toys but they are mostly given by relatives and friends.

But I had so many books, mostly board books. Nanay will delight in seeing me read them. She would bring me to a bookstore and allow me to pick a book I like, then listens to me as I try in my learning years to read a few lines.

Then came a time when I took apart some of them and turned them into a makeshift house for my Barbie, which Nanay finally bought me when I was 7. The bigger books, I used as a cutting board when I was already in High School. I know... it was so barbaric to ruin books like that! I deserve to be punished.

As I think of the books I had back then, I regret what I did. I should’ve taken good care of them. I should’ve appreciated them more! Lalo na ngayon, ang mamahal na kaya nila! ^_^ I should've kept them well for Amber's use. Had I've been wiser then. 

So I pledge that I will try to impart the values of a book to my child... that I will raise my child to be a booklover and a reader in general.

Sure, you can read thru more convenient ways with technology’s aid, I’ve totally nothing against it, I do it most of the times. But for me, nothing still beats the feeling of turning over pages after pages. Yeah, it takes a lot of space to store them but don’t you just feel good as you look at them neatly stacked in a bookshelf? Di ba? Di ba? ^_^ 

Booksale Finds

While waiting for the Hubby yesterday, I checked out Booksale in Festival Mall if they have a new batch of children’s books. Lo and behold, there were just too many that I had a hard time choosing. By the time I finished scouring, I was holding on to almost 10 books!

After I have chosen which books I like, I began sorting them out. Those that have torn pages are out! ... Heavy creases, out!... Dilapidated covers, out! Good thing I still have 3 books left. ^_^

Beauty and the Beast. This is Amber’s 2^nd book for her Disney Princesses collection. The first one is Cinderella.

How Do I Love You? ... let me count the ways. So classic!

Where Are The Bugs? This, I think is her favorite among her 3 recent books.

She enjoyed lifting the flaps to uncover the hidden bugs!

They only cost me P195! Yes, all 3 of them! Isn’t that a big steal?!?! And they all seemed like they are brand new books! The flaps of the Where Are The Bugs book looked like they have never been lifted yet.

When it comes to children’s books, I so love Booksale!!! 

Here is the little girl beaming with joy, so happy with her new books. 

She just couldn’t get enough of it that she looked for them first when she woke up this morning. I’m so happy seeing that books make her face light up.

Book Reading

Speaking of books, I have a kwento (no, make that a rant ^_^) nga pala about the little girl and books.

Amber wants to be read to. In fact, when she feels it she gets her book, asks me to sit beside her and hands it to me as if summoning me to read it to her.

So I read to her. But we never finish reading a page. She always turns the page even before I finish reading it. It’s always like that, I don’t know why. Nanay said that maybe she gets bored looking at a page for a long time so she wants to move on to the next page already.

Does that mean she really doesn’t listen to me reading?!? And just looks at the pages? Ganun ba yun? Do 2-year olds really listen when being read to? 

Well, I guess it doesn’t matter at the moment. So long as she enjoys looking at books. I will still continue reading to her whenever she wants me to.

If Nanay is right, maybe I’ll just have to pick a book that has lesser words per page. Ibigay ang hilig, why not? ^_^

More Books for Amber

My latest Booksale finds...

Disney's Cinderella and Goodnight Thumper and I Love You, Sun. I Love You , Moon

The I Love You, Sun. I love you, Moon book, I think is perfect in teaching Amber to say "I love you" or "Love you" the right way. Kasi until now, even if we say it to her often, she still pronounces it as "Ah-u!". Reading this to her, together with us telling her frequently that we love her, would hopefully make her more familiar with its proper pronunciation. Well, that is besides letting her know and feel what it means of course. I'm crossing my fingers here. ^_^  

Yun Cinderella, I consider it my best find. I seldom see Disney Princesses board books na ganitong size kasi. So I didn't have second thoughts in buying it.  And I just love the colors of the Goodnight, Thumper book!

These are only P120 a piece. Wahaha, I’m a sucker talaga of all things mura! I want to scour for more pa sana but I have to go to the office already. Half-day ako today because I had to accompany Nanay to RITM. We just passed by Festival Mall to have a quick lunch tapos bigla ako hinigop ng Booksale nung napatapat ako sa entrance. Sweet! ^_^

Hope that Amber would like them.

One of My Favorite Sights

...is when Amber is so into “reading” her books.

Totally unmindful of Mommy taking pictures of her. Sobrang camera-shy kasi, whenever she sees a camera pointed at her, she’ll stop at what she’s doing and lalapit na sa’yo. But this time, she is just so engrossed with her book.

I hope she grows up to be fond of reading books.