Today we hear from Bookbabbler Helen…

This is the third book in the Seahorse Stars series which follows Cammie, a young seahorse, as she progresses through the Pearlies (a seahorse version of Brownies or Rainbows).  By completing tasks and challenges she is gradually collecting the six pearls she needs to become a Seahorse Star.  (See my review of book one, The First Pearl, for more background information!)

In this story Cammie is aiming to pass her “Wave Wanderer” challenge, which requires her to learn how to read a map and use a compass.  She finds this difficult, however, and is worried that she will fail where the others succeed.   Corinetta, who has been conceited and unfriendly up until now, offers to help her but Cammie is unsure whether or not she should trust her!

The books in this series have an on-going plot-thread but despite this can be read as stand-alone stories without too much trouble.  We went straight from book one to book three and there is enough information about the characters and situation to be able to follow easily.  The stories are quite obviously aimed at little girls of about 5-7 and the plots developments might seem rather predictable for older children or parent readers but it wasn’t the sort of book that I found a chore to read each evening.  There are seven chapters which are relatively short – about 10 pages of fairly large writing interspersed with black and white illustrations on about every other page, making the books suitable for newly-confident readers to read alone as well.  As with the others in the series, the book also includes a map of Rainbow Reef and a guide to the main characters.

We would definitely recommend this series as a good bedtime read for children who are moving on from picture books to chapter books.

Thank you Helen and thank you to Usborne Publishing for sending us a copy to review.

Gorgeous gifts for babies…

Numbers & Colours by Orla Kiely

From a small collection of accessories, commissioned by Harrods following her graduation from the Royal College of Art, the Orla Kiely range has grown to include a complete ready-to-wear collection, travel, homeware and stationery, making her one of the UK’s most eminent designers. The creative world of Orla Kiely was founded in 1995 to express visually, her love of pattern, colour, texture and rhythm, which as components all play and work together. Her instinctive graphic discipline to simplify and stylise everyday motifs and forms adds another dimension. Her work achieves strength with a very modern quality, while her nostalgia for all things mid century, help make her patterns charming, uplifting and instantly recognisable (from Amazon)

These books are very cool and gorgeous, and my sister in law was desperately trying to take them from us (despite her youngest being 9, so there was no excuse, other then her love her all things Orla!). The covers are a lovely texture, that makes you want to stroke them, and then in contrast, the pages are all sleek and shiny. The illustrations are great, and what struck me is that they weren’t your typical board book choices – the colours include grey, brown and black along with all of the bright colours, too, and in the Numbers book we count cups, forks and leaves amongst others.

My daughter likes to look through these books, naming the colours and counting the shapes, and it’s very unique design really stands out from her other books, as it almost seems less babyish, yet holds her interest just as well. I like them, and think they’ll be the books your child will enjoy and learn from, and don’t look out of place stylishly arranged on a coffee table!

Thanks to Egmont for sending us copies to review. You can buy yours here now…

Today we’ve a book for little ones…

Monster Mates: Ernie the Eye Monster (Mini Monster Mates) by Sam Lloyd

Meet the Mini Monster Mates, from the creator of the award-winning Calm Down, Boris! Ernie the Eye Monster is looking for his mum, but every monster-mum that he finds is the wrong colour. Help him find her by looking at all the different colours in the park. Also available is Nosey Norman who is sniffing out numbers. These appealing, interactive finger puppet books are a perfect introduction to simple concepts, and come with texture patch on the final spread.

This book is just a few pages long, so perfect for a quick read before nap time, and features Ernie, who has lost his mummy in the park. Each page has Ernie looking round for his mummy, and they are colour themed, so for example, one page sees Ernie spotting a blue monster mummy, a lost blue shoe and a blue butterfly. It’s great for teaching or embedding learning about colours, different objects and it’s fun with Ernie looking about. Of course, it has a happy ending, as Ernie’s mummy is not far away and they meet with a hug and a kiss!

My 2 year old daughter loves this book! She likes to ‘read’ it to herself, trying to pop her finger through and make Ernie wiggle, as well as listening to it, transfixed, practically every day! It’s an easy, fun read, and has fast become a favourite in our house. It’d make a fun Christmas present for any toddler.

Thanks to Templar for sending us a copy, and you can buy it here now…

Today we hear from Bookbabbler Pamela…

The Dragon Princess is an awesome bumper back of three tales of magic, action and true love.

Join Emma and Eadric as they battle against the odds to prove their love and determination to be together, all the while trying to rescue Eadric’s younger brother in No Place for Magic. Grassina will charm and amuse you in The Salamander Spell as she struggles against feeling neglected and useless and what it really means to go back home again. And of course, Millie, the Dragon Princess, who is determined to control her dragon nature.

The Dragon Princess is packed with adventure, mythical creatures like vampires, werewolves, trolls and fairies. It will charm and delight its readers with laugh-out-loud hilarity and sweet tales of true love. Not to mention having them on the edge of their seats at the epic adventures.

Thank you Pamela and thank you to Bloomsbury for sending us a copy to review.

Today we hear from Bookbabbler Wendy…

This is a sweet simple little tale about a brave knight known as the Golden Prince. The story is short and based on what knights do such as hunting wild beasts and locking traitors in dungeons whereas the illustrations are off a little boy in fancy dress hunting his cat and playing with his little brother in the playpen. The imagined fantasy world is something that all parents and children can relate to.

I thought my children who are 4 and 6 would find this book too simple but they think it’s funny and is a much requested read. As the writing is simple it also would make a good early reading book.

Thank you Wendy and thank you to Inside Pocket for sending us a copy to review.

Today we have a book for little ones, reviewed by Wendy..

Press Here by Herve Tullet

Press Here is an unusual book that opens with an invitation to the reader to push the yellow dot on the cover of the book. By pressing the yellow dot you are taken on a magical journey of colour and interaction through the use of coloured dots.

On each page of Press Here you are given an instruction of what to do this includes pressing the dots, rubbing them, shaking the book and blowing on them and then you turn the page to see what effect your action has had on the dots. Luckily the pages of the book are thicker than general books so will stand up to lots of pressing and rubbing!! It is a great book to teach children about following simple instructions and the magic of imagination.

This book is great fun and watching my 6 year old read it was wonderful as she followed the instructions and was amazed at what happened to the dots, laughing the whole way through. It has become a favourite read in our house.

Thanks, Wendy, and thanks to Chronicle Books for sending us a copy. It’s here for you to buy now…

Today we hear from Bookbabbler Wendy….

Little Pim Feelings & Little Pim Colours by Julia Pimsleur Levine

These two books are part of the Little Pim book series which also includes DVDs to help promote ‘fun with languages’ for young children. Each book utilizes the animated Little Pim panda to narrate the story. In addition to English, the stories feature Spanish and French and pronunciation guides for parents.

The first thing you notice about these books is that they are lovely and chunky and each page is thick making them easy to hold and turn over in little hands. They have flaps and tabs as part of the story and these nice and sturdy too. The illustrations are a mix of cartoon style and photographs.

Little Pim Feelings is about Little Pim playing outside and includes the feelings that he has when he is playing and when he’s lost. These feelings are illustrated in the flaps and tabs by pictures of children. At the end of the book is a summary of the different feelings. The feelings are explained in English, French and Spanish with pronunciation guides.

Little Pim Colours is about Little Pim looking for colours and these are illustrated in the flaps and tabs by pictures of various items such as grapes, trucks and balloons. At the end of the book is a summary of the colours learnt on balloons in Spanish and French.

Thanks, Wendy, and thanks to Abrams Books for sending us copies to review. They’re here for you to buy now…

Today we have a book for little ones, reviewed by Wendy…

A Zeal of Zebras: An Alphabet of Collective Nouns by Woop Studios 

An embarrassment of pandas, a galaxy of starfish, a shiver of sharks…these are all collective nouns – terms used to describe a group. Woop Studios has illustrated these quirky phrases, creating a series of truly stunning art that has been collected here for the first time. The colourful introduction to animals and the alphabet is accessible for young children, while the whimsical art and clever word play make it perfect for design-savvy parents and hip gift givers. Longer than the standard picture book, with high design and production values, this is the kind of picture book readers will want on their coffee tables in addition to their child’s book shelf.

This is an alphabet book but with a difference as each is a collective noun for a collection of animals. Some of these such as a caravan of camels are well known but others such as  a pandemonium of parrots and a an embarrassment of pandas sound as if they are made up but apparently they are all real collections if in some cases rarely used.

Woop Studios is a collective of four friends united by a love of graphic design, words and image. This can be seen vividly in the book as it is beautifully illustrated with prints for each letter of the alphabet. The prints can be purchased as actual limited edition prints, and were produced before the book was written.

This is not a story book but a book of facts about each animal the book features a page of writing for each letter of the alphabet together with the related print. The facts contained in each are informative such as king cobras are able to produce poisonous venom from the moment they hatch and that a zebra’s stripes are as unique as human fingerprints.

I found this book very interesting and beautiful to look at and even found myself reading it when the children weren’t around! I would certainly recommend it as a very superior alphabet book. This book would also be a good one for schools to use when studying animals as it gives an interesting fact on each animal.

Thanks, Wendy, and thanks to Chronicle Books for sending us a copy to review. It’s here for you to buy now….

Today we have books for little ones, reviewed by Wendy…

Shapes by Patrick George and Colours by Patrick George

These books are created by the design company Patrick George and are part of a series.

They are described as a book for reading together with young children to encourage conversation and visual interaction. As the titles suggest they are designed to teach colours and shapes.

The designs are very bold and striking and in between each is acetate which changes the picture. In the Colours book the acetate changes the pictures colour in the way that it does when you mix the 2 colours together and in the Shapes book it moves the shape through the book. The only writing included in a brief description of the picture.

When these arrived I thought they would be a little young for my 4 and 6 year old but they were absolutely fascinated by them and sat together looking at them for ages and thought it was really funny when the acetate changed the picture. These are great fun way to learn colours and shapes and I would suggest are ideal for preschool and reception age children.

Thanks, Wendy. You can find out more about this striking new series of books here.

Today we review the latest Barry the Fish with Fingers book…

Barry the Fish with Fingers and the Hairy Scary Monster – Sue Hendra

Barry and his fishy friends are playing Hide and Seek. Puffy finds a great hiding place in an old wreck, but he gets scared out of his wits when he sees a hairy monster lurking in the shadows. Luckily Barry the fish with fingers comes to the rescue – and discovers that the ‘monster’ is a friendly seahorse who just needs a haircut!

A lovely story of friendship with the message of not judging by appearances. Barry proves to be brave and finds a new friend in the process.

I read this book with my toddler, and our timing to first read it couldn’t have been better, as we’d just been playing Hide and Seek and we opened this book to find Barry doing the same! That helped to instantly capture her interest, and the bold and colourful illustrations ensured it was held. As they’re playing Hide and Seek, there’s the chance for her to practice counting and all of the brightly coloured fish give her the opportunity to test her new found knowledge of colours, which she does like to show off! I also like the fact that the ‘monster’ turns out to be a lot less scary than he first appears, which is always a reassuring message to give to very imaginative tots.

This book is a great, fun addition to our picture book collection, and is already proving to be a daily favourite.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending us a copy to review – it’s here for you to buy now….