Encouraging precious moments with your children
Only five words are used in this short picturebook. The words orange, pear, apple, bear, there are cleverly and effectively used throughout the book. Small children and adults will enjoy the different scenarios from an apple or pear-coloured bear to a fruit-juggling bear. The illustrations are drawn in beautiful soft watercolors and they are very expressive conveying the emotions of the bear. The text has a lovely rhythm and works well as a book for reading aloud.
Author: Victoria Roberts and Illustrator: Lee Wildish
There are many books that help guide parents and toddlers with the potty training but books using the toilet are harder to find. I’ve Finished is one of the nicest toilet training books I have come across.
Every day we follow Mo, a fun cartoon alike figure in a humorous week of fun toilet training. Each day a new loo related challenge arrives that Mo has to solve. The toilet is high and tricky to use and other days it’s occupied by Dad, but Mo is determined to use it by himself. By Sunday Mo feels like a king on a throne and he triumphs on the toilet.
There is a nice simple rhyme that follows throughout the book and the text is a good inspiration for teaching children the days of the week. There are also cute little reminders such as ‘Flushing time”, Flushtastic” around the toilet reminding the child about the importance of flushing the toilet each time. The illustrations fill 16 pages and they are fun, colourful and clear for the younger reader.
The book is sturdy and at the end of each double page the child gets to press a chunky touch-and-fell 3D toilet that makes a flushing sound. Needless to say this is a very exciting part of the book and a real page turner. It may even encourage your child to make the transition from the potty to the big toilet.
Warning: It is important to point out that on the back cover there is a warning. Since the book contains small parts it is not suitable for children under 36 months. I find that the the chunky touch-and feel loo is sitting sturdy in the book, but I guess with all books with small parts, younger children needs supervision while reading it.
Author and Illustrator Robert Crowther
This is a very useful, engaging and interactive counting book for children made by master paper engineer Robert Crowther. Each number from 1-100 is displayed in clear, bold black print and above the number the letters are depicted. There are pop-up creatures for every number. When you pull the tabs or the flaps you will see for example: two swans swimming in a lake, five gold fish jumping out of the water and eighty ants crawling in an ant nest. When you reach the higher numbers the creatures underneath are small and scattered and may be difficult for younger children to count. This book will help with early numeracy development and children will be able to learn and recognise the numbers, the spelling of the numbers and to count the animals presented behind each flap.
As with most pop-up books care should be taken when pulling tabs as they do tend to tear easily but with a little bit of supervision you’ll have a good counting book to enjoy over and over again.
You may also be interested in another book from the same author, the international bestselling: “The Most Amazing Hide-and-Seek Alphabet Book”.
You can read more about the illustrator here:
http://www.robertcrowtherpopsup.co.uk/
Author Elizabeth Baguley and Illustrator Marion Lindsay
Bertie is not your typical ghost, he is very small and afraid of creepy forests and spooky castles. He wants to be good at haunting so he sets out on his first journey into the big forest in the search of a safe and cosy place to haunt. But the dark forest is filled with unexpected guests: a howling wolf, a hissing snake, and a roaring dragon that Bertie has to hide from. Will Bertie ever find a safe place where he can enjoy haunting?
The text in this story is filled with fun repetition that small children will enjoy. “Shiver me Shake me…”
Only a few, mostly dark colours are used in the illustrations highlighting the ghostly theme. However, these illustrations are not frightening and neither is the text which makes the book very suitable for the younger and easily-spooked.
Children will relate to the feeling of being small and frightened of the dark. The ending of the book has a positive message for its readers, even small children can overcome their fear and find a place in the world to feel secure.The book is especially nice to read around Halloween but it can also be enjoyed all year around. Are you ready to shiver with Bertie?
Author Julia Donaldson and Illustrator Axel Scheffler
A nice, smiling witch and her cat are flying through the air on a broomstick when the wind blows her hat away, then her bow, and then her magic wand.
“Down!” cried the witch,
and they flew to the ground.
They searched for the hat
but no hat could be found.
Then out of the bushes
on thundering paws
. There bounded a dog
with the hat in his jaws.
Throughout the book the witch keeps dropping things and she has to fly down to retrieve the lost items. Each time a new animal becomes another passenger on the broom.
Suddenly disaster strikes and the broom snaps in two. The witch falls to the ground and risks becoming a meal for a large dragon.
Will her new friends be able to save her from the hungry beast?
If you would like to know how the book finishes, you’ll have to read the rest of the story yourself. One thing I can reveal is that there is a lovely twist in the end.
In my opinion this is one of Julia Donaldson’s best books and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a witty and magical story about family and friendship and it will make bedtime a pleasure for both children and parents.
The text and the illustrations capture a child’s attention right from the start of the book. The rhymes are engaging, repetitive, funny and flow very well.
Axel Scheffler’s illustrations are lovely and colorful, very humorous and the work well with Julia Donaldson’s text. As always with Scheffler’s work there’s plenty of details to spot in the illustrations which encourages lots of discussion.
The book appeals to preschoolers- lower primary school children and anyone who likes a good witch story.
There is also a half-hour animated film that is based on the book. You can view the trailer and read about the characters on the links below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0125wrg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0102qfj/profiles/characters
When you discover a book the whole family wants to read night after night you know that it’s a well written and illustrated book.
Sassoon is a colourful and adventurous snake that likes to play hide-and-seek. Best of all he likes to hide and he wants you to find him among all the lookalikes hiding in the park, among a pile of presents, clothes hanging on the washing line, amid the boats bobbing on the sea and even in outer space.