New parent's guide to Sydney
Landing on my desk this week was a copy of a new parent's guide to Sydney that I co-wrote with four others. It's cheeky, fun, has some great ideas, and is only $15 on Amazon.
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| Just released: this parent's guide to Sydney, called Mini Me. |
I co-wrote this fun little guidebook with some other parents who write, including two people who I've worked with in the past, Kayte Nunn, former editor of Holidays with Kids, and the illustrious Liz Ginis, who I worked with for many years at Australian Geographic.
Our brief was to find and describe great Sydney things to do with kids, particularly kids aged 0-5, but our target market was supposedly a hip, inner-city crowd. Our style was to be edgy, cheeky and even a little bit naughty. As a result, the book is a fun read and doesn't take itself too seriously - a necessary quality when you become a parent.
It'd make a great little mother's day present for newish mums in Sydney. Find out more info here.
Below is one of my entries, for a wonderful bookstore up at Beecroft.
The Children’s Bookshop (and Capella Bookshop)
I was watching her face
pretty carefully when I dropped the F-bomb. After all, the middle-aged book-wormy
woman in The Children’s Bookshop had been really helpful, seeming to know the
plot and main characters of almost every book in this friendly store, which has
bright picture books beside the counter and gaily coloured lanterns hanging
from the ceiling, and I didn’t want to darken the mood of such a bright,
child-friendly space, but I really wanted to know: “Do you have Go the f**k to sleep? by Adam Mansbach?”
“Oh, I think we’re
currently out of stock,” she said with a smile. “But I can order it in for you.
It’s very funny – have you seen Noni Hazlehurst reading it on Youtube?”
The death of the humble
book has been predicted for over a decade, and we’ve seen many of the big book
store chains turn over their last page, but thankfully little gems like this
store still exist. Unadulterated by too many other distractions (like DVDs and
games), this shop is just full of great books, and staff who can actually read.
There’s no cappuccino machine (but several cafes in the street), and the store
isn’t big enough to have couches, but there are stools, chairs and wonderful
bits of carpet for you and the kids to sit and flick through a stack of books.
Helpfully set out in age groups from the toddlers at the front, past a long
teenage fantasy section, to the small, but surprisingly good, adult section at
the back, it’s a joy to visit for any book lover.
As a bonus, they have a
regular program of inviting children’s book authors and artists who speak (free
to attend) and run workshops (usually a small fee) in a room upstairs. And
there’s pre-school story time twice a week. But I doubt they'll be reading Go the
f**k to sleep.
6 Hannah St, Beecroft
(02) 9481 8811
www.thechildrensbookshop.com.au
Open Mon–Fri 9am–5.30pm,
Sat 9am–3pm, Sunday 10am–2pm
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