{Art} All the buildings in New York by James Gulliver Hancock

This post is to showcase some of James Gulliver Hancock's illustrations. Originally from Australia, this New Yorker has set himself the task to draw all the buildings in New York. I love the idea and the colours he uses in his sketches, they remind me of super hero comic books from my childhood.

You can see more of his great illustrations in his book All the Buildings in New York: That I've Drawn So Far.
Check out his blog also, you could place your own order of a drawing of your favourite NYC building...

This book would be a great gift for anyone who love New York City and drawing!

{Books} The incredible book eating boy by Oliver Jeffers

Do you remember my previous post about Oliver Jeffers' World with coffee? I promised you then to tell you a bit more about his books... 

My favourite has to be the Incredible book eating boy.
It is the story of Henry, a young boy who accidentally discovers his taste for books. The more books he eats, the smarter he becomes. If it has pages he will eat it: picture books, reference books... Henry's favourites are red books. He is on his way to becoming the smartest boy in the world when he can't digest his books anymore. All the information gets mixed up in his stomach...

This book is one of my daughter's favourite books and has been read time and time again. The text is written in a snappy way so it is perfect for reading out loud, but there is a lot more to be discovered hidden in the illustrations for younger readers.
I love the simple cartoon illustrations full of humour. They are done in pencil and paint on a clever background of pages from old books. So the drawings set the perfect stage for a fun and quirky story. 

VIA Oliver Jeffers and Amazon

Let me know what you think about it if you have read it... Or if you have any recommendations of books for kids, I'd love it if you could share with us!

{Book} Where chefs eat by Kobi Benezri

Where Chefs Eat by Kobi Benezri is a Guide to renowned chefs favourite restaurants worldwide. A collection of great recommendations. We got given this is a beautiful and useful book for a birthday recently. I can't wait to test it out. 

Apart from the content, I was also drawn to the 1960's style British phone books style, featuring ads on any possible space of the book - the front cover, spine, back cover, and paper edges.

I have included the page on London for you to check out. Enjoy!

{Kids} FUNharmonics on the Southbank

It's tricky to get kids interested in activities that are fun for you also... As a mum of 2, I have had my fair share of kiddy music classes. I still attend 2 a week with my 19 month old. Thankfully, as kids get older, their interests evolve, so we upgraded from church halls, to the Royal Festival Hall.

Last weekend, I took my children to our first LPO FUNharmonics Family Concert. These are wonderful grand orchestra concerts for kids, presented by Chris Jarvis from CBeebies (clever!). It took him and conductor Nicolas Collon a couple of minutes to get the Hall settled and focused. The format is to keep things short and simple: one hour long, interactive, engaging and entertaining. With wonderful classical pieces by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky.

Also, throughout the morning in the foyer of the Royal Festival Hall, children can have a go at playing an orchestra instrument or join the Human Orchestra workshops. These concerts are very popular and tickets go quickly, so book early. I already booked ours or the 13th May, although my eldest (7) is already a bit old or them, my youngest will love it!

In the meantime here are some lovely illustrations to What makes an orchestra - written and illustrated  by Jan Balet (1965).

VIA MY VINTAGE BOOK COLLECTION