Category Archives: Uncategorized

If, like me, you have problems with performing animals, you may have difficulty with this book.Dumbo is mocked for his enormous ears and gets into all sort of trouble at the circus. However, Timothy the mouse believes in him and encourages Dumbo to believe in himself and to use his ears to fly. He becomesContinue reading “Dumbo
Disney”

Ideal for young Disney Princess fans. Cinderella’s mice friends help her find a missing sapphire ring, given to her by the Prince on their anniversary. She wants to find it in time for the grand ball. At the end, this simple tale urges children to be kind, polite and to keep on learning new things.Continue reading “Cinderella and the Sapphire Ring
Disney”

A simplified, quirky book. The illustrations are amazing, especially the grinning cat and add to the story.This is a perfect version of Alice for smaller children. They can follow the story by pictures only and as they progress, start to read the words.  

This book is a joy! Norman the bear wants to be a bee because he loves honey, so he makes a bee costume and enrols in bee school.The little bees grow to love him until Amelia bee discovers the truth.However, Norman saves the day and the bees.The illustrations are bold and the book is fullContinue reading “The Bumblebear
By Nadia Shireen”

Can Dog’s friends teach him to be less of a show-off? He really loves his friends but thinks he is the best.This book leaves you feeling warm inside.  

Four realistic stories about the activities of some of the children and families living in a multi-cultural, cohesive urban street. It’s a friendly,  connected neighbourhood with a kind of wealth rich people can’t necessarily buy – affection and a shared need.  

The delicately coloured illustrations match the theme of the story.Fairies, Magic, Princesses and a Magic Pony who whisks Princess Evie away on a magical adventure to a faraway land. A delight for little girls.  

Preston the pig and his family go to the seaside where he makes a new friend, Maxine. They have fun all week but are unaware there is someone sinister lurking in the background in search of sunshine, sea, sand and sausages!  

This book is delightfully potty! It’s a witty take on a well known fairy tale.At night, there’s a terrifying noise in the palace. The source is the King and Queen’s daughter. She is snoring and will not be woken. The palace is in chaos. The only solution- a Prince to kiss her awake. Who willContinue reading “Snoring Beauty
By Rachael Mortimer and Amanda Hellberg”

This book is for children feeling unwell and who will feel comforted and better for reading it.Illustrator Marina Batrak’s  hand-painted watercolour illustrations are delightful.Full of optimism Koala  and Bunny do everything together but when Bunny gets sick they imagine all the fun things they can do when Bunny gets better.A great way to spend inspirationalContinue reading “When You Feel Better : A Get Well Soon Gift
By Misty Black”

There are eight  animal stories but many different animals in this book. They live in jungle, woods and houses and each story has a hidden message. Zebra whose pride comes before a possible fall, Elsie the elephant who wants to be useful but doesn’t know where her talent lies and the near sighted giraffe whoContinue reading “The Big Book of Animal Stories”

This book reminded me of my excitement as a small child when winter’s first major snow began to fall. Why do snowmen always have to melt? The book is a charming fantasy with stunning illustrations by Adrian Reynolds.  

This book is all about two mice who fell in love over a piece of cheese. The illustrations are beautiful, although there is quite a lot of detail inside which I feel is pitched at the slightly older child. Might be one of those where you have to skip the odd sentence, in order toContinue reading “Milly’s Wedding by Kate Summers”

A Biff and Chip adventure aimed at Children being able to read it for themselves. This adventure takes them into the jungle, using a magic key and to the Lost City.  

The story of twins Charlie and Ellie being transported to London by their Grandad’s Robot invention, named Glober. Once there, they do a whistlestop tour of all the sights. Children will likely recognise some if they have visited before. Of course, Grandpa does not believe the twins later when they explain their London adventure, thankfullyContinue reading “Ellie and Charlie travel to London, by Nic Hudson”

Let me begin by saying even before reading this story, Tuesday is my least favourite day of the week. The title therefore, did strike a cord with me. Terry the little boy in this story, overhears his Mum saying “Tuesday is going to be TERRIBLE!” and his imagination goes into overdrive. It is action packedContinue reading “Terrible Tuesday by Hazel Townson”

I love this book. It is funny, dangerously close to reality in our house and makes me feel very silly for fearing spiders. All the spider in this story wants is to be part of a family. Fantastic fun and the illustrator captures the reality of discovering a surprise eight legged friend coming to stay!Continue reading “Aaaaarrgghh Spider! by Lydia Monks”

This book tells the tale of a bedtime routine we should all aspire to! Wonderfully cosy and with a Mother who is up there on a pedestal with Mary Poppins. Admittedly, you find yourself yawning as you reach the end of the book. Good night.  

A 23 page book, with expressive and perfectly pitched illustrations which are sure to have your little darlings believing they have just what it takes to become a Vet. This book features Rufus the dog, Tab the cat and Pinky the hamster. It even has a recipe for making your own dog treats at home.Continue reading “When I grow up I’ll be a Veterinarian by Connie Colwell Miller”

There’s a whole world out there and nothing quite demonstrates that to a child like first hand experiences, or learning how another little person in another country lives and what they do differently. This book is an eye opener into the life of a little boy from Kenya, who shows you around his village andContinue reading “For You are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane”

Bright, colourful and fun book centred around a rabbit, Ralfy who loves to read. This book really sells reading to your child, in a very playful and clever way. Illustrations are smashing too, the characters almost leap off the pages and invite you to jump in.  

Truly fantastic book on the many different types of sharks in the ocean, illustrated beautifully and bursting with facts and information that may surprise us all, as the title suggests. “Every Year people kill 100 million sharks” And for what? Machine grease, Shark tooth necklace, cattle feed, fertilizer, aftershave, shark-fin soup, sharkskin wallet/shoes, skin creamContinue reading “Suprising Sharks by Nicola Davies”

A short and simple story reminding us all there is no place like home. This book shows children sometimes the solution to their problem might be right before their very eyes, however it does also demonstrate there is merit in exploring your options. Moral of the story? Sticking with what you know, is no badContinue reading “A New House for Mouse by Petr Horacek”

A charming, funny story about the responsibilities of looking after a dog. Featuring Charlie and Lola from the Cbeebies series. You will fall in love with Sizzles the sausage dog. The pictures are hilarious.  

A comforting and perfectly formed short story about a rocket, not just any rocket, a toy rocket that was not quite as easy to put together as first hoped. After some alterations at home, with the addition of a sock (the missing component) it makes it’s first mission to the moon and is back inContinue reading “Rocket by Mick Inkpen”

A beautifully illustrated book featuring “Charlie and Lola” from the Cbeebies series. All children catch colds and this story tells it beautifully from a child`s point of view. Brother and sister (Charlie and Lola) do their best to support each other through their illness, coming up with distractions and ideas to prevent them dwelling onContinue reading “I`m Really Ever So Not Well by Lauren Child”

A lovely little book full of the sounds children, like Kipper the dog, love to make in the rain. Words which sound like the noise they describe.  

This factual book shows real photographs of animals alongside drawings. It introduces just the right amount of interesting facts, some funny, some serious but always educational in a compelling way. What animals do at night when we are tucked under the covers is a revelation. A terrific little book.  

This book familiarises children with their school bus and how we can all try to be helpful to each other, whatever we are doing. There are many different types of buses that children encounter each day. This little book opens their eyes to all the different components of a bus.  

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”