Cozy Classics board books for Toddlers!

Cozy Classics "Emma"

My heart melted when I saw these amazing board books for toddlers. The brainchild of two brothers from Vancouver who were tired of reading boring books to their little ones, Cozy Classics distill classic novels down to 12 words and illustrates them with needle felted characters in realistic settings.

Cozy Classics- "It was badly done indeed, Emma!"

How a classic novel can be distilled down into 12 toddler friendly words is beyond me but these creative twin brothers have done it.

Cozy Classics Emma reads as...lady, man, goodbye, hello, why? surprise! carry, thanks, laugh, angry, sorry, happy.

I think the facial expressions and the body language are what bring these tales to life for little ones.

Cozy Classics- Emma and Mr. Knightley

I mean, not only does Emma look very sorry for her treatment of Miss Bates, but Mr. Knightley is looking pretty darned sexy. In felt!

Cozy Classics "Pride and Prejudice"

Here is our beloved Lizzy with her muddy hem and her eyes "brightened by the exercise". You can even see the wind blowing her shawl and her bonnet ribbons. Brilliant!

Mr. Bingley is so happy and Mr. Darcy is...well...Mr. Darcy!

Cozy Classics Pride and Prejudice distills down to...friends, sisters, dance, mean, sick, muddy, yes? no! write, read, walk, marry.

Yup that's it. P&P in 12 well chosen words. But look at those little faces!

"You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you"

So if you have little ones to buy for this Christmas (well, any occasion would do to justify these books!) you are all sorted! And don't think they are just for girls. There is a Cozy Classics version of War and Peace, Les Miserables, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Jane Eyre, Oliver Twist and Moby Dick. And Great Expectations is coming out soon. There is a photo of Miss Havisham looking a little burnt on the Wang brothers' twitter feed. They realistically use real fire to the occasional detriment of the felt figures!

And if there is a Star Wars geek in  your family, the Wang brothers are doing a "Star Wars: Epic Yarns" book to be released next year. Stay tuned for that and hopefully the rest of the Jane Austen novels. Please?

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of The Princess Bride

As You Wish: The Perfect Christmas Present from Cary Elwes!

If you are looking for a great Christmas gift this year for someone you love (or for someone to give to you), look no further. I am going to take a wild guess that The Princess Bride is one of your favourite films of all time. So you will definitely want to read As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From The Making of The Princess Bride.

Grandfather: That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying "As you wish" what he meant was "I love you". And even more amazing was the day she discovered that she truly loved him back.

"As you wish"

This film is extra special for me as I saw it in the movie theatre (not many people did!) and it was the first movie date I had with my now husband of 25 years. We have watched it many times since, especially with our 2 now grown sons who love it as much as I do.

Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE!
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

"Inconceivable!"

This is a wonderful little book. You will wish it were longer, however there are lots of great stories about what a magical time it was making it. And how much fun they had. And lots of great pictures!

Inigo Montoya: Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

Vizzini: No more rhymes now, I mean it!
Fezzik: Anybody want a peanut?

"You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles!"

Miracle Max: Have fun stormin' da castle!
Valerie: Think it'll work?
Miracle Max: It would take a miracle.

So when you have read the book, and watched the DVD again with all of the extras (if you don't have a copy with the extras, that would make another great Christmas present!) then you are ready for William Goldman's book. Yes, the book that the film was made from, The Princess Bride- S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure-The "good parts" version- Abridged by William Goldman. There is a wonderful story in Cary's book about how many people in Hollywood had wanted to turn it into a film and failed (or failed to convince Goldman who was very jaded by 1987). But Rob Reiner loved William Goldman's book. By the way, there is no S. Morgenstern...it is all Goldman and I think as a screen writer, he could see how he wanted it made all along. And so of course he wrote the screenplay himself.

So there. Christmas is sorted for you all!

"When I was your age, television was called books!"

The Grandson: Grandpa, maybe you could come over and read it to me again tomorrow.
Grandpa: As you wish.