Author Archives: Book Worm

This collection of books is classic and beautiful, this is not up there with “One Snowy night” for me however the innocence and mischief of the story will appeal to the nature loving little ones out there and has us all believing that all the animals in our parks and gardens do indeed have namesContinue reading “The Cross Rabbit, by Nick Butterworth”

Wonderfully illustrated and sure to be a hit with little fact finders, not too wordy and really lovely for the visual children among the group.  

A 43 page story about a little monster (which is really a mouse). Delightful sentiment and although old fashioned and dated a simple but charming story of the sorts of reactions you may find if you walked around with a mouse in your pocket. I am firmly in the keep it there and look afterContinue reading “The Little Monster by Shelia McCullagh”

I had such high hopes for this book, the illustrations are super and do tell a story all by themselves, however I thought the story itself was a little underwhelming. It is as the title suggests about a very windy day and people running errands, struggling to hold onto their hats and losing various itemsContinue reading “The Very Windy Day by Elizabeth MacDonald”

Simple and charming Easter themed story, likely to appeal to the younger readers. Beautifully illustrated and by the end of it you will find yourself eating your child’s Easter Egg and have to replace it! Be warned.  

Wonderful creatures from frozen lands, this is a book of mixed up animals. The art work is brilliant from the illustrator of The Gruffalo.The animals have silly names and make strange noises to make you giggle. Hilarious, rhyming text.What do you get if you cross a penguin with a beluga? A penuga – obviously.  

Monty the mouse and his friends leave the countryside in a little girls’ bicycle basket and head for town where there’s plenty of good things to eat. On the way the intrepid harvest mouse falls out of the basket and gets involved in a series of adventures.Young children will relate to Monty’s predicament and beContinue reading “Monty’s Journey
Paul Geragharty”

A charming and classic story filled with wholesome fun. Lots of good vocabulary to pick out and discuss. Children will love the fact that the animals can talk making it a great choice to read out loud.Beautifully illustrated by Hilda Offen.  

Eighteen beautiful picture books have been collected for this anthology, including a book by a recent British Children’s Laureate, Michael Rosen, “We’re going on a Bear Hunt” and also two stories  by Martin Waddell, “Little Mo” and “Sailor Bear”.If your child loves their bear, and so  many do, this wonderfully illustrated collection of stories isContinue reading “The Walker Book of Bear Stories”

This charming story teaches that everyone carries an invisible bucket to hold all their good thoughts about themselves. Having a full bucket makes you feel good, while an empty bucket leaves you with uncomfortable feelings. The book encourages positive behaviour andshows children how rewarding it is to express kindness and love by “filling buckets”.  

A re-telling of the Enormous Turnip,  using simple text and delightful illustrations.When the farmer can’t pull a turnip out of the ground, he gets the whole family to help. But just how big can a turnip grow?The book is carefully levelled so it is accessible and fun.  

The book is a retelling of the film of the same name. It’s a very funny story about the lives our pets lead when we go off to work or school each day.My particular favourite is Leonard the posh poodle, who when alone, hits the switch on the stereo and with his friends, turns intoContinue reading “The Secret Life of Pets Adapted by David Lewman”

A hilarious book featuring a scurvy bunch of pirates, setting sail for an island of gold.Only at the very end do we find a very unexpected development. They find the island – but they find a monster too, the Pirate-Cruncher. Alas for the pirates, their greed overcame their fear.  

Is essentially a picture book, with a very limited story, although it does present you with the opportunity for you and your child to talk through the various pictures of what happens behind the scenes at Weasel HQ. See how much your child understands and indeed whether they have any awareness of DIY/problem solving solutions.Continue reading “Weasels by Elys Dolan”

This is the perfect book using it’s cut out pictures showing different bones within the body to teach us the scientific names for the major bones. One of those where you learn something yourself while reading, or in the case singing (I use that term loosely) the traditional African-American Spiritual song.  

This is a bright and colourful book which is all about different people contributing towards a street party, all the neighbours have their signature dish and it seems their secret recipes are all featured on the right of each page, if you fancy getting involved.  

This is a story about a storm with some friendly dinosaurs showing the frightened children the storm is nothing to worry about. Beautiful pictures and bold and cuddly characters, even a cute cat (although I am firmly in the dog camp usually).  

This book will have children thinking about the many uses of ladders and the book does well to make a story of the missing ladders Leo finds. The adult in me keeps questioning whether you would leave/forget about such a large item, then I switch off the adult in me and go back to readingContinue reading “Leo’s Ladder by Dee Griffiths”

Another super book featuring “Charlie and Lola”, who parents will know from the Cbeebies show. Everything is so simple and logical in Lola’s mind and school is completely unnecessary as she already knows how to count to 10. It is both funny and charming seeing the pictures and being taken back in time to aContinue reading “I am too Absolutely small for school by Lauren Child”

Such a fantastically fun story, great use of colours, shades and creatures to represent emotions and feelings. The lead character Kevin the Koala is fearful of change but with the support of his faithful friends is persuaded down from the tree to play and has his eyes opened to what happened if you believe inContinue reading “The Koala who could by Jim Field”

Lovely little book which is one of those books parents can be thankful for! The way a worry is described and illustrated is super relatable for a child. The message is clearly delivered because it is not too long, or too heavy, simple, useful, engaging story with advice we can all use. “The best thingContinue reading “Ruby Worry by Tom Percival”

There is nothing you will not know about spiders after reading this 29 page book. “There are 30,000 different kinds of spiders in the world” And if you run out of plasters at home then according to the book, “If you cut yourself, try putting a clean spider’s web on the wound (not sure howContinue reading “Amazing Spiders by Alexandra Parsons”

This story falls firmly into the bedtime story category and tells the tale of a bear who lives in that mysterious and magical place….a cupboard under the stairs. This is a superb book and the illustrations are truly wonderful. This is a book your child will want to read often and it will ignite theirContinue reading “Dear Bear by Joanna Harrison”

I so love this story, it is timeless and captivating. It is a book which has everything, likeable characters, adventure, a little sorrow and an epic reunion.  

This story centres around a cave, there is a generous helping of suspense, a hungry wolf and the resident of the cave who eventually is teased out of his humble abode by the temptation of a pink doughnut, with sprinkles….which children with a sweet tooth will most certainly relate to.    

30 page little book on all things bugs. Pitched at the younger reader and has lots of bitesize facts and cute section towards the back on Bug Awards. “The largest land snail is the Giant African snail. It can measure up to 40cms long, that’s the same as a guinea pig.“  

This book is like putting on your favourite pair of old slippers, warm and comforting. Yes, it is an old book however a wet day is a wet day….and it is story that will never date, the characters are in every village and town if you look hard enough.  

A fun and wonderfully animated book, firmly one of those which you can read in under 5 minutes, yet will raise a giggle and have you all wondering whether there is room in your life/house for some mischievous llamas to join the chaos.