Picture Book

One of Myrna's favorite activities is reading books, and we're happy to relive old faves from our childhood and see what the new cool books are. Seeing as Chris and I were born in the same year, you'd think we at least would have heard of each others favorites. Last summer there was huge debate over which Maurice Sendak book was better: Where the Wild Things Are or In the Night Kitchen. Both circulate into the apartment frequently, thanks to a healthy English kids book collection in Stockholm. Myrna's a fan of them all: Here she is as "Max" (at least the crown is like Max, not quite sure what the rest of the get up is).

But I was unfamiliar with Maurice Sendak's Nutshell Library, which is also now quite popular here (though that may be that our copy is cute hand sized, red, hard-cover books, which double as "cookies", as seen above on the tray).

Another favorite of Chris's that I had never heard of is Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. The title might explain why we never crossed paths, as I never had a thing for heavy machinery. But it's a new family favorite. Mary Anne (Mike's steam shovel) has now an even more special place, as we have named a large construction apparatus near our apartment "Mary Anne." It's not quite a steam shovel, but it's pretty cool looking, you can run under it, and Myrna now constantly asks to go see "Mary Anne." On our last trip, she even took the book, so that she could match them up.


It also helps that seeing Mary Anne means walking along the water, past the awesome "mountains" ("fountains," Myrna) and past the library.


We've also done our best to see what all the Swedish kids are reading (via English translations, or attempting to depict the illustrations). We all know Myrna loves her some Bridget and Pippi, but lately she's become devoted to Mumin. She see's Moomintroll's sidekick Little My everywhere - the first was a sand mold, that actually was Little My, but I certainly hadn't spotted it. The second Little My spotting was with a cookie cutter that I believe was a bell, but you might be able to spot the resemblence.