Scholastic's Lollies Awards - Voting Now Open

Bedtime. The girls are supposed to settle. And yet, I'm reading them a poem about Zombies eating brains. And they're crying with laughter.

And then, the one word poem. About poo.  Lara nearly wet herself with laughter.

Aren't children weird?

I've been reading the girls poem's from Joshua Seigal's poetry book, I Don't Like Poetry. It's a wonderful poetry book that has been shortlisted for the Scholastic Lollies awards in the category for laugh-out-loud books for 9-13 year olds.

Michael Rosen and a panel of expert judges have put together a shortlist for the Lollies.  The Lollies are awarded in three categories: Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book, Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8s and Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13s. The shortlisted books in each category are as follows:

Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book
Oi Dog by Kes Gray and Jim Field (Hodder Children’s Books)
Eat Your People by Lou Kuenzler and David Wojtowycz (Orchard Books)
Prince of Pants by Alan Macdonald and Sarah McIntyre (Scholastic)
Danny McGee Drinks the Sea by Andy Stanton and Neal Layton (Hodder Children’s Books)

Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8 year olds
Thimble Monkey Superstar by Jon Blake and Martin Chatterton (Firefly Press)
Hamish and the Neverpeople by Danny Wallace and Jamie Littler (Simon and Schuster)
Eddy Stone and the Epic Holiday Mash-Up by Simon Cherry (Usborne)
Future Ratboy and the Invasion of the Nom Noms by Jim Smith (Egmont)

Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13 year olds.
I Don't Like Poetry by Joshua Seigal (Bloomsbury)
The Best Medicine by Christine Hamil (Little Island Books)
My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord by David Solomons and Laura Ellen Anderson (Nosy Crow)
AniMalcolm by David Baddiel and Jim Field (Harper Collins)

The winning book in each Lollies category will be decided solely by children’s votes, with schools and parents encouraged to help kids get involved and vote via the Lollies website, www.scholastic.co.uk/lollies, or via the Scholastic channel on the PopJam app.

Lara and I have been reading I Don't Like Poetry - it's blimming awesome. There is something very magical about reading a good poem and I'm so glad Lara feels the same way too. When Lara first heard the poem that shares its title with the book (I Don't Like Poetry), a big grin came across her face as she realised that the poem uses all of the poetry mechanics it complains about such as similes, metaphors and onomatopoeia. Lara has enjoyed this book so much that she took it to school to show her friends. There are lots of laughs but also some more serious poems on topics that older children know and understand - really strong, powerful poems. Some rhyme, some haiku, some very deep creative writing and we all loved it. I Don't Like Poetry definitely gets our vote in the Lollies.

The Elephant of Frimley

Today marks the start of a blog tour by a very special elephant - The Elephant of Frimley.

The Elephant of Frimley is a rhyming illustrated book for children. The story is about two sisters and an elephant who is, to all intents and purposes, lost.  I was drawn to the book because Lara and Holly were both born in Frimley so we were all a bit curious to find out about whether or not there really was an elephant to be found there.

The book was originally written by Nicholas Rawls as a bedtime story for his own daughters and we've found it to work very well as a quiet, calming rhyming story before bed. Each page is illustrated and includes a verse of rhyming story.

The story features a sad elephant who the girls, Hannah and Emily, find has wandered into their own back garden. I think my two girls would squeal with delight if they found an elephant in our garden! I'm not sure my two would be so conscientious as the sisters in the story book though; they set themselves a challenge to find out why and where the elephant has come from.

At the end of the story the girls are thanked by a local zookeeper for returning the elephant. While I'm sitting here wondering quite where in Frimley you might find a zoo, the girls think that the very last line of the story is hilarious because of the attempts to rhyme and scan Frimley (that's what a love of phonics in school does for you).

We thought the rhyming was very clever and the illustrations were sensitive in this little children's tale.

You can find out what other children's book reviewers thought of The Elephant of Frimley by joining in the blog tour over the coming days.  You can find our friend the elephant in the following places from now until the 4th of June:

Children's Activity Book :: Doodle Dogs by Tim Hopgood

I don't think of Lara as particularly creative - like me, her artistic and creative side is very much driven by mimicking others, rather than developing her own innovative style; that's why she doesn't normally get along with drawing and doodling books normally because she likes to have instructions to follow and designs to copy!  Doodle Dogs has been a big hit with her because it encourages creativity... but within boundaries and with instructions. Perfect for helping Lara to explore her creative side on her own terms.

Doodle Dogs by Tim Hopgood is an activity book with a doggy theme; on the pages you'll find drawing, colouring and doodling activity prompts which introduce you to different artists and their styles. There's a page in the style of Matisse, Jackson Pollock and even Kandinsky!

Each page has a different activity which can take from seconds to hours to complete. Some simply require a pen or a pencil, others probably need a bit more colour, though Lara hasn't yet lifted out her paint set and tends to stick to pencils and crayons. The book is broadly themed around dogs preparing for a dog show and at the end of the book you get to award a prize for the dog you like the look of most.

I think this activity book is a great introduction to different styles of art - Lara doesn't even realise that she's learning about such significant art movements as pop art and modernism, she just knows that each page is different. I think Lara has most enjoyed the pages where she gets to follow patterns - maybe there's a little bit of Escher in her?

 

Lara has really enjoyed responding to many of the prompts in the Doodle Dogs book. You can find Doodle Dogs for around £8.99. I'd recommend it for children from about 6 -10.

Pirate Pete and his Smelly Feet - Childrens Book Review

Holly loves rhyming stories at present - I think all her foundation work with phonics really helps her to recognise the art of rhyming words. Pirate Pete and his smelly feet is a fun and fast-paced rhyming picture book about a gang of pirates who've had enough of one of their shipmate's odorous feet and Holly thinks it is great fun.

First Pete has to walk the plank. Then he wanders all alone through the wilderness but finally, his old crew need him back to help out - Pete's cheesy feet are quite good at warding off shoals of sharks.  The story is written by Lucy Rowland and the illustrations are by Mark Chambers.

The paperback book comes with a sheet of stinky stickers for you to use throughout the book; scratch the stickers to release a very cheesy whiff indeed.  Holly and Lara both rushed to have a go before they'd even read the book!

I really loved the rhymes in this book - it always makes it so much easier to read out loud to the girls when the rhyme just works naturally. I found the story fun and fast and I particularly liked the way that the illustrations worked with the text to suggest passing of time as Pete sinks into the ocean and when he is wandering over the island.

The illustrations are bight and fun with lots of bright yellow whiffy, cheesiness and lots of piratey goodness to be found on ships, islands and oceans. Holly and I think it's a fabulous book that is lots and lots of fun.

Pirate Pete and his Smelly Feet is published by Pan Macmillan children's books and costs around £6.99.

Children's Book Review: Hedgehugs by Lucy Tapper and Steve Wilson

As part of the Boolino Friends scheme, we are reviewing some gorgeous children's books; if you subscribe to the Boolino emails at www.boolino.co.uk you can also receive free weekend and bedtime stories with audio and text online but this week Lara and Holly have been enjoying a new paperback book, Hedgehugs by Lucy Tapper and Steve Wilson.

I first read Hedgehugs tonight because the girls have been pestering me for the last few nights - they first heard it from Daddy at the weekend and they both really enjoyed it so have asked me to read it to them again.  Mr. B. had warned me that the story was very sad, and I had prepared myself for a little bedtime tear or two... but now I've read it, I think he was just being soft!

Hedgehugs is the tail of Horace and Hattie, two hedgehogs who are very good friends, perhaps even in love.  They love doing all sorts of things together but one thing that Horace and Hattie can't do is hug...they are just too spiky. This makes Mr. B. very sad indeed!

We loved the cute hedgehog illustrations throughout the book and Lara particularly noticed that the story tells the tale through each of the seasons of the year with lots of patterns and prints that look like different fabric offcuts.  The text is big and bold and not too complex so older children can enjoy reading the story themselves. You can get a taste of Lucy Tapper's cute illustrative style at www.fromlucy.com

When the story ends, you find out how hedgehogs can hug each other and it brings a smile to everyone's face. I won't ruin the story for you but lets say, the ending really has got my girls thinking about where our mountain of odd socks has come from.

I'd recommend Hedgehugs as a picture story book for children from about 3 years to 8 years.

Super Scholastic Savings on Children's Books

This festive season, our house, as always, has been full of wonderful children's books.  If your family also love books of all types then you'll be excited to know that the Scholastic book sale is now on at http://shop.scholastic.co.uk/sale.  You may know Scholastic from their school book clubs and fairs; many of the children's favourite fiction and non-fiction books are on offer now with phenomenal savings of upto 88% off some titles.

Around six times a year Scholastic reveal a brand new Book Club selection of quality children's books at discounted prices. Any school can run a Book Club. There is no obligation to order, but for every £1 that parents spend on a school’s Book Club order Scholastic donate 20p in FREE BOOKS back to the school. Anyone can order from Scholastic even if your school isn’t running a Book Club. Choose to have your books delivered to your home instead (delivery is free over £25) and if you order over £10 then your free rewards can be assigned to a school or nursery of your choice at the checkout.

The Scholastic January sale features discounted books across all sorts of themes.  Prices start from a mind-blowing 75p! There are huge savings on best-selling children's authors such as Jacqueline Wilson, David Walliams and the Wimpy Kid series as well as classics from the likes of Roald Dahl, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. There are also some amazing value book packs to look out for.

Holly is massively into Frozen this year and so we've been on the lookout for Elsa and Anna anywhere we look.  This Frozen book duo is now just £3.99 (a saving of nearly £8!) in the Scholastic sale - it features one Frozen story book with CD, and one secret diary / scrapbook featuring activities and story snippets.  Holly absolutely loves both books and couldn't wait to listen to the CD on her own CD player at bedtime.

At bedtimes, Holly very much looks forward to reading a picture book with us.  Holly really enjoys the rhymes and pictures in Julia Donaldson's picture books with Axel Scheffler (she very much enjoyed watching Stick Man on Christmas day!).  This Christmas Holly received Room on the Broom (and a matching dragon) as well as this excellent hardback copy of The Highway Rat which is down from £10.99 to £2.99 in the Scholastic sale.  The Highway Rat is one of Julia's most clever rhyming stories and it reminds me of the same magic as the Gruffalo.

Of course, Holly isn't the only one in our house who is keen on reading.  Lara is unstoppable when it comes to books at present.  She has around 4 books on the go at any one time.  Lara's favourites are Roald Dahl and so we thought it would be fun to introduce her to the books of David Walliams, who we have heard tends to appeal to Roald Dahl fans.  The Daemon Dentist is a tale of a town where instead of a coin under their pillows from the tooth fairy, the children are getting unpleasant surprises. Lara is a little daunted of starting a new book from an author she hasn't heard from before so we are going to share this with her at bedtime and read it together as a team.  The Daemon Dentist is now £3.99 as are Gangsta Granny, The Boy in the Dress, Mr. Stink and other David Walliams favourites.

The Scholastic book sale doesn't just feature fiction books for Children - Lara has wanted her own picture dictionary for some time and this Oxford Children's Colour Dictionary is now less than half price.  The first word she looked up in it?  Bed!!!  From science to georgraphy and french to cookery skills there are lots of non-fiction and reference books at wonderful prices and don't forget that if you spend over £10 then you can earn 20% back for your school or nursery at Scholastic.

Disclosure: Scholastic sent Lara and Holly some example books from their sale but we are Scholastic fans and regularly order from our school's fair!

Children's Book Review :: Walter's Wonderful Web

Holly, who is three, absolutely loved Walter's Wonderful Web, a board book that she has really taken as her own - she sits and "reads" it to herself and points out the different shapes as she goes!

Walter's Wonderful Web, by Tim Hopgood is a tale of a sad spider who is on a mission to make better cobwebs!  Walter's webs are a bit wibbly wobbly and they keep being wooshed away by the wind.  Walter experiments with lots of different designs which leads him to explore different shapes.  Eventually, just when you think he is about to give up, Walter discovers the secret to a truly wonderful web.

Walter's Wonderful Web is a gentle, touching tale but with a brilliant learning theme - shapes.  On each page that features a new web, the shape of the web is very clearly illustrated and the name of the shape is written in clear, bold lettering.

At the end of the book there is a colourful page of the plain shapes with a series of questions for you to ask and answer with your child.  This helps your child to identify and differentiate shapes - a basic mathematical reasoning challenge that your child will be far more receptive too once you've read the story together.

I loved this book and I can see why Holly is so taken with it; the illustrations are beautiful and fun with hints of autumn with all the falling leaves.  We're now going to search out more of Tim Hopgood's board books.

Walter's Wonderful Web was published last week by Macmillan Children's Books.

Children's Book Review :: The Cow Who Climbed a Tree

My girls have an endless appetite for fun bedtime reading; our two or three pictures books that we share together before bed are some of my favourite moments with them.  New this week is The Cow Who Climbed a Tree which is a fun picture story book by Gemma Merino.

Tina is a cow who breaks the mould.  A cow who wants to discover and explore without living within the traditional grass-munching boundaries of most cows.  Tina is one of four sisters, the others of whom frown upon Tina's frivolous activities.  When Tina the cow tells her sisters that she has learned how to climb trees and discovered a new friend - a vegetarian dragon - they dismiss her story as nonsense.

One day, Tina doesn't appear for her meal (more grass) and so the sisters go in search of her.  When they reach the base of a mysterious-looking tree, their lives are changed for ever!

The Cow Who Climbed A Tree is a fun story that is great for reading to toddlers, preschoolers and younger children.  Lara, who is now 6, reads it alone.

The girls enjoyed the illustrations too - the cows and animals are all very stylised with brightly coloured watercolour-style trees and scenery.  Holly most enjoyed the picture of the vegetarian dragon who sits at the top of a tree - she recognised its tail instantly!  Lara most enjoyed seeing parachuting animals jumping out of the sky.

Gemma Merino also wrote and illustrated The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water which has won a number of children's literature and illustration prizes.

Children's Book Review :: What the Ladybird Heard Next

It's hard not to love a Julia Donaldson book, isn't it?  What the Ladybird Heard Next is the latest collaboration between author Julia Donaldson and children's illustrator Lydia Monks and it is the sequel to What the Ladybird Heard (which I will admit, I have not yet read).

As always, Julia's ability to tell a story using rhyme is awe-inspiring.  I really enjoy reading her rhyming tales to my girls (not all children's authors can pull of a rhyme well).  The story centres around a farmyard full of animals who hatch a plan to divert two criminals determined to steal their hen.  Lara (who also hasn't read the prequel) was a bit surprised to find out quite how little the ladybird features in the story but we did have fun trying to spot her on every single page...however tiny she may be.

Every page in the hardback version of What the Ladybird Heard Next features glittery stand-out elements which adds to the interactivity of the book - it encourages you to touch and explore each page and helps you see things in the illustrations that you may not have noticed otherwise.

In this story Julia Donaldson cleverly mixes fantasy with reality - the girls loved the idea of a Snuggly Snerd on their farm and we talked about what type of creature it might be.  But perhaps the most popular part of the story in our house is, unsurprisingly, the part of the story where the criminals end up digging their way through an enormous pile of poo!  Much hilarity ensues at this point in the rhyming tale.

What the Ladybird Heard Next is a wonderful story book with appeal for children of all ages.  I think it would make a perfect story to read to a class of KS1 children.

Spot a Lot Animals Storybook and Jigsaw

Lara and Holly both absolutely adore the Spot a Lot books by Steve Smallman and Nicola Slater.  I would say that they are just about our most used books in our house because the appeal of spotting animals and creatures on a page seems to be endless.  If you've no idea what Spot a Lot is, then try reading my reviews of Spot a Lot Animal Escape and Spot a Lot Vehicle Adventure which both got raving reviews from my girls.

Recently, the girls were sent this fun Spot a Lot Animals gift pack which is a carry-along set that contains both a storybook and a jigsaw. I think its a wonderful idea as a gift, or as a book and entertainment to take away with you when you're travelling.

The set contains a compact copy of Spot a Lot Animals which is more or less the same as the Animal Escape paperback book but with smaller pages - lots to spot, and lots to count.  The spotting challenges on the page were slightly different but the illustrations were almost the same.  Some of the more complex spots were hard for Holly on the smaller pages but in general you get the idea of the animals escaping from the zoo and needing to be found, along with lots of their friends.

The jigsaw has 30 pieces and Holly found it suitably challenging, Lara found it fun.  They both struggled with the fact that the image on the jigsaw was similar to, but not exactly the same as one of the pages in the book and I think this made it harder for them.  On the reverse of the jigsaw is the same pattern but in black and white so that your child can colour it in.  The girls tried with washable pens but they just rubbed off - I think it would take thicker marker pens or high-quality colouring crayons o be able to colour in the cardboard effectively.

While I really like the idea of this storybook and jigsaw pack with lots of spotting challenges, I don't think that Parragon have quite pulled it off.  There are some little niggles which mean that my girls have already moved on and prefer to go back to the more traditional paperback versions of their Spot a Lot books; simple things such as the fact that it is quite hard for a child to slip a paperback book back into a box when it already has lots of jigsaw pieces in it; they get easily frustrated with it.

This gift pack costs around £7.99

You can follow Parragon Books on twitter and as @parragonbooks on instagram and pinterest.

Massive Monster Activity Pack

I am often surprised by the scale of the range of children's books that Parragon publish and the Massive Monster Activity Pack has been another great surprise this summer.

The Massive Monster Activity Pack is perfect for taking as entertainment when you're travelling or on holiday, or is an ideal book pack for a rainy day during the school holidays.  The folder features 4 different activity books all with a monster theme; it also contains several sheets of monster stickers (around 500 stickers in total).

Lara's favourite book from the Massive Monster Activity Pack is the Monster Muddles book which includes simple puzzles - something Lara is very much into right now.  Spot the difference, mazes and dot-to-dot puzzles offer plenty to while away an evening.

Lara has also enjoyed using her imagination to fill in the Monster Doodles book.  This paperback book includes 20 monster-themed scenes for you to fill in with stickers and drawings of your own to complete the picture.

Holly most enjoys playing with the stickers and where better to place them all than in the Icky Sticky Sticker book which is a smaller book with 8 scenes as a blank canvas for you to place all the crazy monster stickers.

Holly also enjoys simple colouring right now and the Monster Colouring book is the final book in the Massive Monster activity pack.  Coupled with a pack of coloured pencils, this pack makes a perfect set for the girls to take on holiday.

The Massive Monster Activity Pack costs around £9.99 and comes in its own carry-along presentation box.

You can follow Parragon Books on twitter and as @parragonbooks on instagram and pinterest.

Children's Book Review :: Zippo the Super Hippo

Zippo is a Hippo who wants to be so much more than 'just' a hippo.  This fun children's book by Kes Gray and illustrated by Nikki Dyson reminds us all that you don't have to try hard to be something you're not and, most importantly, that every one is SUPER in their own way.

Zipp the Hippo wants to be a superhero - don't we all?  Zippo wants a cape, a costume and a super power.

With the help of his bird friend Roxi, he gives the whole flying superhero thing a try.  But it turns out that Hippos aren't really cut out for flying.  Eventually , as the result of one or two nasty falls, Zippo discovers the one thing about himself that really is super - his bottom!

As with any story about bottoms, this book made Lara and Holly giggle... a lot.  To me, Zippo the Super Hippo isn't a story that will stick in my mind as first choice for bedtime reading.  That said, simply because it involves enormous bottoms, I know that it will be one that Lara and Holly request regularly!

The Great Cream Robbery from Rodda's

You may have noticed special packs of Rodda's clotted cream recently that have codes you can use to enter to win a copy of a very special children's picture book - The Great Cream Robbery by James Medd and Victora Sawdon.  This fun tale of a feline criminal has been launched to celebrate Rodda's 125th anniversary.

The Great Cream Robbery is a tale about Merryn the cat, Cornwall's cleverest criminal. Merryn has a cunning plan to take over a clotted creamery and recruits Blue, the seagull, to help her.  Merryn tries a few different plots but the one that finally works really put a smile onto Lara's face as it is a topic that we quite often debate in the mellow household... do cows REALLY have to sit down when its about to rain?

Unfortunately, clever Merryn hadn't accounted for quite how popular clotted cream really is and finds her plans are ruined... but interestingly enough, this works out rather well for everyone involved.

The Great Cream Robbery is a fun story packed full of illustrations that bring back great memories of holidays in cornwall.  The story telling itself isn't the cleverest, sleekest or most appealing to children but its readable, and Lara and Holly both enjoyed the story behind the words and it has got them thinking about our forthcoming summer holiday...

...if there is one thing that Lara, Holly, Mummy and Daddy are looking forward to on our summer holiday this year it is the chance for plenty of cream teas with clotted cream!

Children's Book Review :: Smelly Louie

Lara, in particular, is very fond of Catherine Rayner's book, Ernest, in which a little friend struggles to get Ernest the moose onto one page of a book.  Lara was very excited to find that Catherine Rayner's new book, Smelly Louie, is out now.

Louie is a scraggeldy raggeldy dog who really doesn't like baths.  Baths smell of roses and apple blossom but Louie wants to smell of... Louie.  This dog on a mission goes in search of that certain something that will restore his own particular pong.

On his journey, Louie the dog is helped by a few animal friends to find the stinkiest of stinks for Louie to roll around in but still Louie can't quite get his own smell back. What is it that Louie is still lacking in the stink department?

Smelly Louie features beautiful sketches and watercolours of animals that really help to set the stinky, smelly, raggedy scene for the story.  Holly especially likes the fox who has a dark coat with a fresh white face.  Lara likes the stinky bins that make her go "eeeew" every time she sees them.

There is something very appealing to children about smells, dirt and disgusting-ness and despite wrinkling up their noses when I read Smelly Louie to them, both of my girls giggle each time Louie finds another stinky option.

We loved this book and I think it will become as much of a bedtime picture book favourite as Ernest.

  

Children's Book Review :: Where's Bear?

Holly, recently turned three, is really REALLY enjoying her "reading" right now.  Holly spends many a happy hour at nursery "reading" to her friends and to the staff and this last week she asked if she could take Where's Bear? into nursery to read with her friends.  

Holly does a very good job of "reading" this board book by award-winning author and illustrator, Emily Gravett.  For a book which was only published this month, Holly has read this so many times that she is now able to recite it.  She LOVES counting from 1 to 10 with Hare as he plays hide and seek with his good friend Bear and she giggles every time Bear finds another ridiculous hiding place...

...Bear really isn't very good at Hide n' Seek!  Finally, Hare gives up trying and so they change roles.  It turns out that both Hare AND Bear are pretty good at hiding.

The repetition and counting are really what makes this book so good for preschoolers.  The book has a natural rhythm that children get drawn into and both Holly and Lara (now 6) giggle every time they read it.  It puts smiles on their faces.

Where's Bear is the third book in the Bear and Hare board book series.

  

Children's Book Review :: Max and Tallulah, A Little Love Story

The girls have an appetite for books right now that I'm struggling to keep up with.  We have an entire room full of books and supplement them every other week with a trip to the library (not to mention Lara's school reading books) and yet the girls want more... more... more. And who am I to stop this?  This week the girls have been reading Max and Tallulah at bedtimes, a very cute picture story book by Beverley Gooding.

Max and Tallulah arrived with us for review just before Valentine's day - perfect timing for a little love story such as this.  Max and Tallulah are zebras.  Max likes Tallulah and wants her to notice him but he's too shy to make a move.  Max tries all sorts of silly subtle ways of impressing Tallulah but every time something goes wrong and she doesn't notice it was him.

Eventually Max has a clever idea.  He simply smiles.  And Tallulah smiles back.

This is a very cute story about how people can love you for simply being yourself.  Lara totally understood the messaging and spoke to me about it afterwards.  I always love to read them a story that they can both immerse themselves in, but which leaves a lasting impression.

Max and Tallulah features bright but comforting illustrations - this really is a feel good book.

Find out more through the paragon books social channels on twitter and facebook.

Children's Book Review :: The Best Birthday Present Ever

The Best Birthday Present Ever is a gorgeous picture book with a story that put a great big smile on my face, let alone my daughters!  Written and illustrated by Ben Mantle, this is a new picture book from Macmillan which has a really feel-good factor.

The story features squirrel and his best friend bear.  Squirrel umms and aaahs about what to buy his friend for his birthday.  When the big day arrives, Squirrel gets worried when he realises that all of the other party guests have really splashed their cash on whizzy toys and gifts.  As it turns out, Squirrel's simple gift goes down well and he and bear spend the whole week playing together.

I loved the message that the best birthday present ever doesn't have to be fancy - it just needs a little thought put into it.  To me, this is a really important message for my children to learn.

The illustrations are all great fun and I loved the characterisation of the animals throughout the book.  Little details such as the text on the amazing gifts that bear receives, really helps to add weight to the story.

The Best Birthday Present Ever is a beautiful story book that made both Lara and Holly laugh.  It is a story suitable for age 2 upwards - both my girls loved it.

Can you guess what present Squirrel gave to his friend?

Tales from Acorn Wood, Hide-and-Seek Pig Book Review

Despite a love of all things Julia Donaldson, I had never come across the Tales from Acorn Wood before.  Hide-and-Seek Pig is a new board book released to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Tales from Acorn Wood series of books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Hide-and-Seek Pig is a beautiful board book with lift-the-flap pages.  It is perfectly suited to Holy who is 2 and a half and who loves to sit on her bed and "read" a book alone.  The book is part of a collection of new lift-the-flap books featuring Acorn Wood characters such as Postman Bear, a forgetful fox and rabbit, who naps!

In Hide-and-Seek pig, little pig is looking for her friend hen and looks under, over and behind lots of little obstacles (great opportunities for your child to investigate independently behind the little flaps on each page).  The book features the recognisable rhyming fun of Julia Donaldson's writing style and the awesomely fabulous animal characters from Gruffalo-illustrator Axel Scheffler.

Holly loves this book.  So much so that I'm thinking of buying her the set, all of which are beautifully illustrated and with sparkly foil lettering on the front cover.  She actively seeks this book out in the bookcase at bedtime and will not let me read it to her... she has to "read" it.

   

Children's Book Review :: Bully and the Shrimp

Bully and the Shrimp tells the tale of little Noah who moves house, and moves school and despite making a couple of really good friends, also finds himself the subject of unwanted attention from a Bully.  This picture book is designed to delicately tackle the subject of bullying for children by adding a narrative around it and the book has been developed with input from school teachers and child development experts.

Lara listened intently when I read her the Story of Bully and the Shrimp - I'm not sure if it struck a chord with her, or whether she recognised the theme but she sat there in silence from start to finish (this is unheard of).

The pictures show a recognisable school classroom and playground scene which I think helps children to identify with the theme.  I wouldn't say it was the most uplifting of picture books we own, but it does have an important message (be strong, say no, confide in your friends) and certainly a happy ending when the Bully then turns into a friend too.

I'd recommend Bully and the Shrimp to any primary school aged child, not just those affected by bullying.

Bully and the Shrimp is written by Catherine Allison and illustrated by Kim Geyer and is published by Parragon books.  You can follow Parragon Books on twitter and as @parragonbooks on instagram and pinterest.

Children's Book Review:: The Dinosaur That Pooped the Past

I secretly read The Dinosaur That Pooped the Past (by Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter) myself before reading it to the girls... partly to ensure that Lara wasn't going to be repulsed by it, but mainly through fascination.  The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet, and then Christmas has to be something worth reading again and again if a third Dinosaur tale has made it into print so I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

Even on my own, there were giggles.  How can you not giggle at the line "The Romans and Trojans were covered in poop; They all got a taste of Gran's broccoli soup"?  Having read the book, I knew Lara would LOVE it and that if her Nanny Button ever comes to stay then I think we'll keep this book out of sight... Dino poop on this scale really isn't her thing.

Danny and his pet Dinosaur are whizzed back into the past on a magic swing and despite the efforts of three very cute dinosaurs (Dinos A, B and C) they find themselves stuck in the past in the path of a volcano.  Thankfully Danny's Dinosaur has a cunning plan and, fueled by Gran's broccoli dinner Danny and his dino friends are pooped forwards through history just in the nick of time.

The Dinosaur That Pooped the past is ideal for little boys; not that I don't think Lara loves it (she squealed as the poo references and the word "smelly") just that I can imagine a room full of 5 and 6 year old boys thinking that the combination of dinosaurs, stinky veg and super time-travel poo is unbeatable.  I can just picture the hilarity.

The story is a rhyming picture book - the rhyme felt very comfortable (who knew you could rhyme so many things with poop?) and because the little Dinosaurs were named A, B and C it reminded me a little of Dr. Seuss and his cats in hats.

The references to history were somewhat of an afterthought, I felt.  I think that the dinosaur and pre-jurassic theme probably would have been enough without the need for the fleeting references to Greeks, Romans and Egyptians which were a little lost on Lara (although I guess they may have had more interest for slightly older school children).  Lara would have been quite happy simply with a story about a poopy dinosaur!

The Dinosaur that Pooped the Past is guaranteed to make your child snigger and, in all likelihood, roll around on the floor laughing at how silly it is!