Today we have a review for little ones, from Bookbabbler Wendy…

Lola Clare the Polar Bear – Jo Wright

Lola Clare the Polar Bear is the third title in a series of children’s picture books called Cyril the Squirrel Books. The first two were Cyril the Squirrel and Brian the Lion which I have previously reviewed.

Lola Clare is our favourite in the series and is a tale about a mischievous polar bear who liked to have fun by throwing snowballs at everyone. The story follows her throwing snowballs at all different animals until one day she lands herself in trouble and ends up under an avalanche and needs one of her victims, an arctic fox, to help her out. It ends with her making friends with the arctic fox and apologising to the other animals.

Lola Clare is written in rhyme and is simple enough for early readers. It is illustrated is a simple way with use of only a few cool colours that make you feel in the arctic snow.

The book prompted a discussion with my children about why it was naughty for Lola Clare to throw snowballs at the other animals and how we should always apologise if we have been naughty. It has become a firm favourite with my children and also made them want to read Cyril the Squirrel and Brian the Lion again.

Thanks, Wendy, and thanks to Jo for sending us a copy to review. It’s here for you to buy now, along with the other books in the series.

Wendy shares a book review for younger readers…

Brian the Lion – Jo Wright

A picture story book about a Lion called Brian and is by the same author as Cyril the Squirrel and would be my favourite out of the two of them.

The story is very nicely illustrated with a cartoon type lion and uses just a few colours in the illustrations mostly being shades of green. The idea of the story is that Brian is not a frightening lion and the other animals make him jump and tease him. He therefore decides to get his own back on them and scares them with his reflection in the watering hole so that he gets back the respect a lion would expect.

The book is written in a rhyming style and is a nice length for a bedtime story. My children enjoyed the story and thought it was funny when the other animals were making Brian jump. My 5 year also enjoyed trying to read this book for herself.

Thanks, Wendy, and thanks to Jo for sending us a copy.

Today we’ve a review by Wendy, for little ones..

Cyril the Squirrel – Jo Wright

A picture story book about a squirrel called Cyril and his 5 acorns.

The story is very nicely illustrated with a cartoon type squirrel and uses 5 round holes to show the acorns and other animals on each page. Once the squirrel has eaten one of the acorns the holes reduce to 4, 3 etc and then increase again when the new tree starts growing. The premise of the story is that Cyril buries his acorns under a tree that is sparkly and shining brightly as he thinks he won’t lose them under it. However when he goes back he can’t find it until the same time the next year when it is again all lit up and decorated. One of the acorns eventually grows into a little tree with acorns and the process of burying them begins again.

My children enjoyed counting the acorns and looking through the holes to see what was in them. The book is written in a rhyming style and is longer than the average picture book.

Thanks Wendy and thanks to Jo for sending us a copy to review.