World Of Children's Books

Friday, 11 January 2013

Picture Book - Dolphin Baby - Nicola Davies (Author) & Brita Granstrom (Illustrator)

Recommended for: Toddlers/Younger Readers

Now this is a book I can really appreciate - telling the story of where dolphins come from and how they grow up, in the form of a story so young children can enjoy themselves whilst learning? That's my type of book!

Filled with facts about dolphins and how they grow, it's not just children who will learn something when reading this. There's some lovely pastel (I think it's pastel...) illustrations to go along with the text, and there's even an index at the back so you can easily learn about a specific part of dolphin life.

Better yet, there appear to be over 20 more of this style of book to get, so I'll be sure to collect some of those for review in the future.

Fantastic.

9/10

Picture Book - Bear Says Thanks - Karma Wilson (Author) & Jane Chapman (Illustrator)

Recommended for: Babies/Toddlers/Younger Readers

This is the second book featuring the character Bear by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman, and it's a lovely little tale about Bear learning how much he is valued by his friends. Even though he hasn't brought any food to the party, his stories liven it up and are what his friends love him for. It's great to have this sort of thing in a children's book, so that you can point out the valued of friendship and how everyone has a place in a group from a young age. It's an eclectic group of friends that are featured, which again is a great way of showing our differences but that we can build strong friendships anyway.

It's nicely illustrated and I love a book written in rhyming verse (there's the odd deviation, but it's a consistent deviation) - it makes them all the more playful and children love the rhythm.

Read it with Bear Snores On and encourage them to be the storyteller at parties as they grow up - they'll be by far and away the most interesting person!

8/10

Picture Book - Bear Snores On - Karma Wilson (Author) & Jane Chapman (Illustrator)

Recommended for: Babies/Toddlers/Younger Readers

The first story about Bear and his friends begins on a cold, snowy winter's night. While Bear snores on (wonder where they got the title from), lots of animals come and use his cave for shelter, and end up having fun making pop corn and stew, before some stray pepper awakens him as he sneezes. Although he looks angry, really he's just upset that he hasn't been able to join in the fun (well, I can't blame him - how would you like it if squatters broke into your home and then didn't invite you to join them for popcorn?). Luckily, his new friends (it ends well) tell him they have more supplies he can partake in, and he settles down to tell them stories, which keeps him awake for the rest of the night (although the others fall asleep - we'll presume it's from the partying, not because his stories are boring).

I love a story with rhyming text, so I took to this easily. There's the odd repeated line about bear snoring on that doesn't rhyme, but it's done throughout the book and serves to divide up the introduction of all Bear's new friends. It'll make children laugh to learn that all the other animals ended up snoring, whilst Bear ended up staying awake for the rest of the night, and they'll enjoy seeing what the animals got up to whilst Bear was asleep. Whilst I enjoyed the next book in this series more, I'd recommend reading the two together, as this is still a nice tale to tell children about friendships forming on cold, wintry night.

7/10

Picture Book - A Secret Worth Sharing - Jonathan Emmett (Author) & Vanessa Cabban (Illustrator)

Recommended for: Babies/Toddlers/Younger Readers

If you've read any of my previous posts, you might come across the review for The Princess and The Pig, also by Jonathan Emmett. Until recently, that was my favourite children's picture book ever, so I was looking forward to reading another of his books. It's not in the same league as that offering, but it did have a sort of message behind it, which some of my other reviews might have indicated I like to see in picture books, so that they give the parent a chance to discuss what is raised with their children, rather than the book just being put down and forgotten.

In the story, Mole makes friends with Mouse, but wants to keep his new friend a secret from his other friends, so that Mouse is just his. Eventually, he comes to realise that the more friendship is shared, the better it is (yep, that's your moral message there - now, please discuss this with your child...). It's a simple story, with Mole discovering that by being selfish he was hurting his other friends, but it's effectively done. The illustrations are good, and you can't help but think 'aww...' towards the end as Mouse tells Mole that she's still his friend even if she makes new friends.

It won't make your children laugh out loud, but it will make them look forward to seeing their friends!

8/10

Picture Book - It's Mine - Rod Campbell (Author & Illustrator)

Recommended for: Babies/Toddlers/Younger Readers

Another offering from the man who brought you Dear Zoo, once again children can look at a variety of animals (who would happen to go nicely in a zoo), and this time they get more of a chance to guess who is going to pop up next. Each double page contains a small part of the next animal and a little bit of detail (a long nose for an elephant, long neck for a giraffe etc.) to give a hint as to what it might be, which adds to the fun.

The version I read was a board book (much more fun for the youngest children to chew on...), and contained an animal who popped out of the page at the end to give an extra bit of excitement (if I said it was sort of the mane event, would that give you a hint?).

While it's never going to hold the same place in my heart that Dear Zoo does, this shows that Rod Campbell is the undisputed king of fun animal books for children. Read it to your children and enjoy watching them try to guess what the next animal will be.

9/10

Monday, 7 January 2013

Picture Book - I Want My Hat Back - Jon Klassen (Author & Illustrator)

Recommended for: Babies/Toddlers/Younger Readers

Oh, this is good. This is so, so good.

A short while ago, I declared that The Princess and The Pig by Jonathan Emmett was my favourite picture book of all time. Now, I still love that book, but I'm afraid it's been usurped. I Want My Hat Back is my favourite present that my son received this Christmas, so many many thanks to my Uncle for spotting it. This book had me in stitches, and it's rare that you'll find a picture book that will genuinely be making you laugh.

There's a delightful quirkiness to the illustrations, and it's these illustrations that make the humour so complete. The way a shifty look is portrayed as one character lies about knowing nothing of bear's hat is brilliant, as is the pay off at the end when bear has had his revenge. It revisits dialogue from earlier in the book to maximum comedy effect, and even if your child enjoys it just for being a story where bear gets his hat back in the end, it's guaranteed to make you smile at the conclusion.

I almost feel like this book was written just for me, it fits my sense of humour so well. I have a feeling that this is going to become one of my son's favourites very, very quickly. As if he has a choice in the matter...

10/10

Picture Book - Yucky Mucky Manners - Sam Lloyd (Author & Illustrator)

Recommended for: Babies/Toddlers/Younger Readers

Immature as it may sound, it's hard not to be taken by a book that features a giraffe pooping on a mouse's head.

And if that's not a sentence that'll entice you to read a book, then I don't know what will. If you want a book to make young children giggle, then look no further. Featuring an array of animals misbehaving (a gorilla picking its nose, an elephant trumping), it's classic silly humour that is guaranteed to have your little ones laughing out loud, and asking to have it read again and again.

It's also lovely to see some extra love and detail put into each double page, as you can see a little of what the animal from the previous page did next - the giraffe, for instance, gets a telling off from his mouse friend. It's an extra little chance for you to talk to your child about the book, and have fun with the tiny details.

It's written in rhyme, so great for helping kids to get into the rhythm of reading. Highly recommended for when you and your child are in a giggly mood, and you want to make storytime fun.

9/10