Newest For Sharing Reviews
The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing by Bob Hartman
From the Montagues and the Capulets to the Sharks and the Jets, there are some groups who just can't mix without fireworks resulting. A sheep making friends with a Wolf was never going to end well. The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing tells the tale of one little lamb who decides to go to Wolf school. She's bored of the day to day routine of being a sheep. The daily dips, the badminton playing, the endless knitting. Mum's knitting comes in handy though as a wolf suit flies off her needles. This enables Little Sheep, suitably disguised, to trot off to Wolf School and learn that it's ok to be friends with someone who is outwardly quite different to yourself... Full review...
The Dinosaurs are Having a Party! by Gareth P Jones and Garry Parsons
You've hired the clown, there appears to be enough food and goodie bags for everyone, but have you made one fatal mistake? Is the venue big enough, this is after all a party for dinosaurs. 'The Dinosaurs are Having a Party!’ tells of one such party fully populated by our extinct friends; apart from one small boy and his dog. Everything at the party appears to be fine, but where is the food? Full review...
Mungo Monkey Goes to School by Lydia Monks
Going to school is a huge milestone for any child, and it can be scary. This book works hard to stop it seeming so daunting, pitching itself really well to make school feel fun, exciting and like a very appealing adventure. Full review...
Mine! by Jerome Keane and Susana de Dios
Horse and Fox are really bored. Nothing had happened for ages, until the egg arrived. In this lovely book, they are forced to try and share, but they aren't particularly good at it. I really love the style of this book, it uses bold, different colour schemes to make it instantly eye catching and engaging. The text has an immediately obvious sense of humour whilst still managing to be simple enough for early readers to grasp. Full review...
Bocchi and Pocchi and the Bird by Noriko Matsubara
Bocchi and Pocchi are a pair of fluffy, colourful socks, and the leads in this book. I suppose talking socks is no different from talking monkeys or talking robots or aliens. This a book for pre-schoolers. Anything goes. And it's not like they're not happy, friendly, helpful socks. Full review...
My New Home by Marta Altes
We moved house a lot when I was a child. I became an accomplished letter writer in a desperate attempt to keep in touch with old friends. I wish I had had a book like this one. It's hard moving home as a child, and as much as grown ups can tell you it's exciting and wonderful and won't it be marvellous to have a new pink bedroom it actually leaves you feeling very lost and scared and alone. This story introduces us to a little raccoon who has moved house and who is struggling a little bit with missing her old friends and making new ones. Full review...
Freddy and the Pig by Charlie Higson and Mark Chambers
When Freddy send a pig to school in his place, wearing his school uniform and not looking entirely dissimilar to him, he thinks he's hit upon the perfect plan! The pig can work all day in school whilst he stays at home and plays his console game and eats and eats, and no one will ever know! Full review...
What I Think About When I Think About... Swimming by Eleanor Levenson and Katie O'Hagan
On the face of it, this is a very simple book. Straight forward images and very few words would lead you to believe that this was a book for a very young audience. This is not, however, the case. While it does work well for a younger reader, it also manages to raise some very interesting questions, such as that of climate change or 'what it will be like to be old'. This makes for an intriguing read, as there are times where the juxtapositioning of the images and text make it a little difficult to pitch. Full review...
The Life of a Car by Susan Steggall
As the daughter of a car worker and the mother of a little boy who is fascinated by wheels, The Life of a Car stood out on the shelf. Part of the Busy Wheels series, this non fiction picture book illustrates the life cycle of a car from manufacture to scrapping with the help of just the odd word or two or three. Full review...
S is for South Africa by Beverley Naidoo and Prodeepta Das
Beverley Naidoo is best known for her award winning fiction for older readers but in this title in the World Alphabet series she brings her native country of South Africa to life for younger children. Starting with A for the Apartheid Museum and finishing with Zoo Lake in Jo’burg she covers many different aspects of life including traditions, food, landscape, animals, music and family life and each subject is accompanied by one of Prodeepta Das’s stunning photos. The poetic text flows and this would work well read aloud. Full review...
The Almost Fearless Hamilton Squidlegger by Timothy Basil Ering
Little froglet Hamilton Squidlegger prides himself on his bravery. Armed with his wooden sword and shield, he loves to battle imaginary monsters, such as the skelecragon, bracklesneed and fire-breathing frackensnapper. Hamilton fears nothing. Nothing that is, except BEDTIME. As soon as the sun goes down he jumps from his own mud bed and clambers in with mum and dad. Full review...
Elephant by Suzi Eszterhas
Elephant is part of the wonderful Eye on the Wild series by award-winning wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas. The book follows the journey of a young bull elephant calf from birth through adulthood. The vivid full-page photographs show heartwarming snapshots of life in the herd; a purely matriarchal society where strong females form a close family bond and work hard rearing and protecting their young. Full review...
That's What Makes a Hippopotamus Smile! by Sean Taylor and Laurent Cardon
All hippopotamuses want to do is play in the bath and eat salady things. If you follow these instructions then any hippopotamus who turns up at your house will be thrilled to call you their friend; just don't forget to open the door very w i d e when they arrive, otherwise they'll never get in! Full review...
Tiger by Suzi Eszterhas
Tiger is a simply stunning picture book following the lives of a tiger family from birth to adulthood. Each page is filled with enchanting pictures of the tigers in the wild, taken by award-winning photographer Suzi Eszterhas. Full review...
Katie's Picture Show by James Mayhew
Can there be a better way of bringing the world of art and the classic masterpieces alive for children than the charming Katie series? This particular story is the one that started it all twenty five years ago and this celebratory issue has been beautifully re-illustrated by James Mayhew throughout and is also in a slightly larger format too. As the tiny figure of Katie stands dwarfed on the steps of the grand National Gallery with her Grandma, her happy attitude and cheerful disregard for rules such as Please do not touch teaches children not to be afraid of art and gently encourages a curious attitude not only to paintings but to all their surroundings. The formal atmosphere of an art gallery is made more engaging and child friendly as the paintings come to life with a friendly tiger, tea and cakes and a new playmate for Katie. Full review...
A Big Day for Migs by Jo Hodgkinson
It's summer which means new school uniforms are in the shops, new stationery is on every shelf, and for those starting school for the first time, there's a wealth of Starting school books to ease the transition. This is a fun new addition to the shelves that ticks all the boxes: colourful, inventive, sweet and, best of all, told in rhyme. I love rhyme. Full review...
The Flying Bath by Julia Donaldson and David Roberts
It’s long been accepted that when you go to school and your parents are at work, your toys come alive and have adventures until you return. EVERYBODY knows that. But have you ever thought about the other things in your house and whether they have a second life? Here’s a hint: they DO. Welcome to the Flying Bath. Full review...
Milly and the Mermaids by Maudie Smith and Antonia Woodward
Mermaids are a great way to stretch young imaginations. Imagine living in an underwater world, swimming with the fishes in a pleasant way (rather than in a Mafioso way). This is exactly the type of excitement that Milly longs for in ‘Milly and the Mermaids’ by Maudie Smith and Antonia Woodward. When her parents take her on a trip to the seaside, all she can think of is finding a Mermaid, but do they really exist? Full review...
My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.) by Peter Brown
School can be a difficult place for children, especially if your teacher is a stomping, roaring monster like Miss Kirby. Bobby spends most of his time worrying about what to do about his monster of a teacher, and the best place for him to think about it is in the park. He goes there one day to contemplate the situation, but who does he meet? Miss Kirby! She isn't stomping or roaring though, she is feeding the ducks. Full review...
Fiddlesticks! by Sean Taylor and Sally Anne Garland
This is the story of a Mouse with very helpful friends, maybe even a little too helpful! Each time they fix something in his new, almost perfect house, they break something else. Things escalate until there is almost nothing left of the house at all and poor Mouse is despairing. What will he do to make things better and, more to the point, where will he live?! His friends soon come to the rescue and manage to make amends. Full review...
Marshmallows for Martians by Lee Wildish, Adam Guillain and Charlotte Guillain
What kid doesn't like sweets or aliens? This book combines the two as George packs up and leaves his house on a mission to Mars to find out what sweets aliens love best. He builds a spaceship and takes off, meeting some very surprising aliens along the way. From the first page, I knew I would enjoy this story and I wasn't disappointed at all. I laughed throughout and looked forward to turning each page to find out what happened next. Full review...
Cat and Dog by Michael Foreman
Cat is only doing the motherly thing and looking after her kittens when tragedy strikes. As she goes off to find them food, she accidentally gets whisked away in the fishmonger’s van. How will they survive? When night falls, who will protect them from the baddies that lurk on the streets? Sometimes, though, friends can come in the most unlikely of forms, and in this case it’s Dog. He’s no substitute mum, though. Will Cat find her way back to her brood? Full review...
Tales From Hans Christian Andersen by Naomi Lewis and Emma Chichester Clark
As a child, fairy tales for me were synonymous with the Ladybird Classics series. Whilst the memory of the stories and the accompanying paintings remains very fresh, I don’t recall any mention being made of the original authors. I was eager then to read Tales from Hans Christian Andersen, a collection of nine stories, and identify which classic tales from my childhood he wrote. Full review...
My Amazing Dad by Ross Collins
Snip the little crocodile is worried. He doesn't know what his dad does all day. All his friends seem to have really cool dads. Monkey's dad is super fast at swinging through the trees. Little zebra's dad is excellent at hiding, and Snip's elephant friend's dad is amazing at spraying water higher than the highest tree. Poor Snip doesn't think that his dad can do any of those things. Full review...
Supertato by Sue Hendra
Oh my goodness, whatever can we do? There's an evil pea on the loose in the supermarket, causing havoc wherever he goes! He has sticky-plastered poor carrot to the conveyor belt, and drawn a mustache and glasses on broccoli, and poor old cucumber has been mummified with a bandage! Still, try to calm your frayed nerves because, never fear, Supertato is here to save the day! Full review...
Chicken Clicking by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
Chick has a problem. Every night, when the farmer and his wife are asleep, she sneaks into their house and goes online on their computer to order things. She starts with a teapot, and a motorbike! Soon she's buying diamond watches and a hundred handbags, for which the farmer blames his wife - she, of course, gets angry and blames his dodgy software since she certainly didn't order those things! Chick starts to buy gifts for all her farm animal friends, but all too soon she realises she's alone on the farm and in need of a friend. Can she find one online? Full review...
The Secret Dinosaur: Giants Awake by N S Blackman
When Marlin Maxton goes on a school visit to the local museum, he is looking forward to seeing Protos - the dinosaur that his Uncle Gus remembers so fondly. But Protos is nowhere to be seen and the museum's Mr Grubbler seems to be doing his utmost to take all the fun out of the school visit Marlin had been anticipating with such excitement. So Marlin sneaks off to explore by himself... Full review...
Light-Fingered Larry by Jan Fearnley
Larry the Octopus has eight tentacles, and each and every one is used to half inch other people's stuff. As he travels through Bottlenose Bay, he fills his net with more and more loot until everyone has just had enough. Officer Pavani comes to the rescue, but will Larry manage to escape? Full review...
The Lazy Friend by Ronan Badel
In a remote jungle, near the top of the forest canopy, Sloth, Snake, Frog and Bird hang out together. Whilst his pals play cards, Sloth does what he does best, sleep. When a lumberjack fells the tree that they are sitting in, three of the friends make a hasty escape but Sloth just carries on snoozing. Luckily Snake acts fast and slithers aboard the truck carrying their tree trunk away with Sloth still in it. Can Snake save the day and get them both back home? Full review...
Hogs Hate Hugs by Tiziana Bendall-Brunello and John Bendall-Brunello
Little Hog is the cutest little thing you ever did see. And that’s a bad thing. Because he never gets peace. Everyone wants to hug him ALL THE TIME. What’s a poor, over-hugged hog to do? Well, in this case, Little Hog has a solution. He makes a bold sign and hangs it on the tree. HOGS HAT HUGS! it reads. And that’s that. Full review...
My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.) by Peter Brown
School can be a difficult place for children, especially if your teacher is a stomping, roaring monster like Miss Kirby. Bobby spends most of his time worrying about what to do about his monster of a teacher, and the best place for him to think about it is in the park. He goes there one day to contemplate the situation, but who does he meet? Miss Kirby! She isn't stomping or roaring though, she is feeding the ducks. Full review...
Greek Myths: Stories of Sun, Stone and Sea by Sally Pomme Clayton
University Challenge questions frequently have me stumped, but it’s ones on Greek mythology that highlight a gap in my knowledge and make me yearn for the classical education that I never had. Who or what is Erato? Should I be concerned if I meet Kerberos? And why did a delivery company decide to call itself Hermes? Consequently, I had high hopes for Greek Myths: Stories of Sun, Stone and Sea, a collection of ten myths retold for children. Full review...
Sir Scallywag and the Deadly Dragon Poo by Giles Andreae and Korky Paul
King Colin has spent his fortune on a giant sweet machine, which he guzzles from each and every day. The entire kingdom has grown fat and lazy, except for Sir Scallywag. It's lucky somebody in the castle still has their wits about them, because Baron Greedyguts has heard all about their sweet machine, and he's coming to get it! Full review...
Bob and Rob by Sue Pickford
Rob is a burglar who is very, very bad. Bob is his dog, who is very, very good. Well, as good as a dog whose owner is a burglar can be... Full review...
