I *heart* Oliver Jeffers

Boog. boog. BOOG!

It's the sprout's first word. He holds up a book and says, "boog!" He sits on my lap and points at his pile of books and goes, "Boog!" He sits on the floor and turns the pages, banging his chubby little hands on the books. He loves his flip-the-flap books and his touchy-feely books. I have more than once caught him petting monkey's tail. But not his monkey. His monkey has a fluffy tummy.

It's cute. It's so friggin' cute.

Let's face it, tho, after the 18th million time, the twist ending of "Peekaboo! It's you!" is lost on me. I think I want to shoot myself.

But then... one day, we found a penguin at our door.

It was when I was looking for a Christmas present for the sprout that I first picked up How to catch a star, by Irishman Oliver Jeffers. I got to the part where he considered flying his rocket to space only it was out of petrol because he had flown it to the moon last week. I was completely drawn in but the simplicity of the story and the artwork. Oh. my. god. The artwork! It is phenomenal! I *heart* Oliver Jeffers! It's just... he's just... I want to marry him... Actually, no. The dude might have something to say about that...
Jeffers writes from an amazing point of view - that of a child. But he does it in such a way as to make his stories endearing to the reader. As adults we often forget the simplest way from point A to B in a child's eye can be the most ludicrous avenue available. But that's what makes children so special. They are unaffected by the world around them.


Our favorite book right now has got to be Lost and Found. Or maybe it's The great paper caper just for the artwork which tells a fantastic story all on it's own. The day I bought that book I studied it for half an hour before going to bed!