Reviewed by Marzena and Dominic, aged 2
Little crab Hermit is searching for a new home now that he has grown too big for his shell. His house-hunting takes him to all sorts of places on the sandy seabed and all along he meets various sea creatures whose houses look very nice, but not quite right for Hermit. It is so colourful and animated that you almost feel as if you were watching a 3-D movie. This is a changing-picture book with four wonderful double-images created in parallel vertical panels which change by either turning the page or opening a flap on the side of the page, I was extra careful not leave the book around my two-year old without supervision. For its target readers this is a gorgeous sea adventure and the moving images add to the fun.
Photograph: Templar Photograph: Action images
Reviewed by Reba and Amatullah, aged 2
This is the perfect book for my daughter who is princess-mad at the moment – a bumper collection of four of Sally’s magical princess stories: Cinderella, Snow White, The Frog Prince and Sleeping Beauty, all skilfully retold. What’s great about the book is that the stories are broken down into manageable chapters. Each page is adorned with colourful detailed pictures. Sally Gardner’s style of illustration matches these timeless classic stories beautifully. As Amatullah grows up I’m sure she’ll enjoy reading Sally’s book by herself. This book is suitable for older children who are starting to read chapter books.
Photograph: Orion Photograph: Action images
Reviewed by Marzena and Dominic, aged 2
A little boy is enjoying a picnic when he's approached by all sorts of mischievous-looking creatures such as a Snook, a Sneep and a Knoo. I'm not sure what little Oscar was doing picnicking all by himself, but thankfully the author realised that he needed some adult supervision and sent out an array of creatures to ensure Oscar's safety. This is a delightful little story and a fabulous step to introducing the whimsical world of imagination. The slightly muted colours used in the illustrations add to the mildly surreal feel of this dreamy adventure. My gut instinct is telling me that this is another picture book which I will want to revisit when my son is a little older to see what he will make of Snooks, Sneeps and Knoos then, right now they seem to neither charm nor scare him, but with time he may well find his own Snook or Sneep.
Photograph: Doubleday Photograph: Action images
Reviewed by Elli and Oscar, aged 3
"Jumblebum!" shouts Oscar when I ask him what bedtime story he wants. "Again?" I ask. But yes, Oscar does want Jumblebum again. If the measure of a picture book's success is how frequently a child asks for it, then the fabulous rhyming Jumblebum gets full marks. Combining rollicking rhythm with an ingenious plot line, and backed by Ben Cort's vibrant illustrations, it's huge fun. And of course the fact that it contains the word 'bum' is a bonus for any young child. My only quibble is that it's let down by the ending which feels a little too pat. Perhaps it's because I identified with the little boy who found it hard to tidy his room. But that has done nothing to put off Oscar. 'What story do you want?' I ask him the next night. 'Jumblebum AGAIN!' he shouts with glee.
Photograph: Scholastic Photograph: Action images
Reviewed by Poppy and JJ, aged 3
Excellent! Old Quent did not disappoint. It provided just enough peril to be exciting to a child, but not so much so as to be uncomfortable or unsuitable. The finale was perfect. This book is beautifully simple, exciting, and didn't stray into the bizarre. JJ adored Quentin Blake's illustrations and the pictures were clear but sumptuous with a beautiful choice of colours. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I genuinely look forward to reading it to JJ again soon. A welcome addition to our little collection of favourite books, to be read time and again.
Photograph: Red Fox Photograph: Action images
Reviewed by Marzena and Dominic, aged 2
Short it may be, and yet it's full of movement and drama: there is trampling and crushing, rolling and squashing, swooping and snatching. Above all, there's a lot of buzzing as the fly is really good at this game. This deliciously active and humorous story will make its readers laugh out loud and make all sorts of movements and noises, trying to imitate its characters (it definitely worked for my two-year-old). Admittedly, it's the gloriously bright orange of the tiger that is particularly eye-catching, so it's hardly surprising that its image has been chosen for the book's cover. With all due respect to the brave tiny little hero of the story, I'm afraid that to my son it's "the big tiger book." Can't beat the charm of the magnificent cat.
Photograph: Walker Photograph: Action images
Reviewed by Poppy and JJ, aged 3
I was excited to read this to JJ as we both enjoyed Anita Pouroulis' other books however despite his love for making pancakes he was not keen on it at all. It has great potential but the story is too erratic. While JJ usually loves a deliciously crazy book, this was just too convoluted for him to follow and at times it felt as though the author was searching for rhymes, which resulted in strained sentence construction. The story was just too long to maintain his interest, the theme was strange, turning a little girl’s love of pancakes into “an awful ordeal". There was no satisfying conclusion. It was not enjoyable for me to read to him, which I think is something authors tend to forget; if the parents don’t like the book, it won’t be read to the child!
Photograph: Digital Leaf Photograph: Action images
Reviewed by Jennifer, Minnie 22 months and Bebe, 10 months
This is just gorgeous! It's just bursting with bright bold colourful imagery and the text is such a love letter to every day shapes! I couldn't get enough of this and the illustrations are so vibrant the toddler couldn't stop touching them I think she thought it was a 'feel' book as there was so much going on and I think she thought it would be textured. If they want to bring out a textured book I would be the first in the queue! I can not praise this book more highly it's just lush. I love love love it please buy it!
Photograph: Bloomsbury Photograph: Action images
Reviewed by Fahmida and Princess Butterfly, aged 7
Alfie Small likes to explore. One day he goes outside, goes through the tall weeds and has an adventure. He sees a dinosaur flying in the sky with a little girl on his back. My favourite part of the story was when Alfie Small and the little girl find the little girls' brother as it was really nice that they were back together, safe from the dinosaurs. The least favourite part of the story was when the ogres took Alfie Small, because it was a really mean thing to do. If I was in this book, I would run away from the dinosaurs or even fight the ogres! Princess Butterfly surprisingly enjoyed reading this short story; she is not usually interested in dinosaurs and ogre-type stories! The book is set into short chapters so perfect for newly confident readers. We are currently reading the other Alfie Small story about pirates.
Photograph: David Fickling Photograph: Action images
Reviewed by Poppy and JJ, aged 3
We absolutely loved this book. The illustrations are beautiful, comforting and gentle. The descriptions are original and quirky, with a delightful and entertaining take on what could have been mundane or commonplace. JJ loved the counting throughout, and he got excited to count the objects of each page. He would say the number of the next page to come, and it has certainly reaffirmed the mathematical knowledge he already has. I feel this book has been beneficial to furthering his mathematical and observational skills. At bedtime he asked for it again, as was as engrossed on the second reading as he was the first. The book’s finale was perfect to settle him for sleep, at which point he said: “Tonight I’m going to dream of one hundred stars!”. Lovely!
Photograph: Top That! Publishing PLC Photograph: Action images
Reviewed by Jennifer, Minnie, aged 22 months and Bebe, aged 11 months
Oh we love Zoe and beans in this house! Zoe is a plucky young girl and Beans is her faithful overweight pooch! This is a tale of losing then finding Binky boo (Beans favourite toy ) it's so simple yet so fun! Big stark white pages ( how Swedish ) with one or two drawings on each, the toddler loves Beans as we have our own fat woof woof, who would quite happily laze the day away a la beans. It is a long story, but not too long that they lose interest and there is something so inherently likeable about these two that you want to see what else they get up too!
Photograph: Macmillan Photograph: Action images
