Difference between revisions of "Newest For Sharing Reviews"

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[[Category:For Sharing|*]]
 
[[Category:For Sharing|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|For Sharing]]
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[[Category:New Reviews|For Sharing]]__NOTOC__
==For sharing==
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{{Frontpage
__NOTOC__
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|author=Adam Stower
 
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|title=Murray and Bun
{{newreview
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|rating=4.5
|author=Mara Bergman and Cassia Thomas
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|genre=Confident Readers
|title=Lively Elizabeth!
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|summary=Murray is supposed to be a humble, tidy and friendly cat, one who is able to sleep and eat and eat and sleep and, well, whatever takes his fancy next of the two. But he's a bad magician's cat, so his favourite bun has been turned into a hyperactive sticky rabbit called Bun, and the catflap they both use can chuck them out, not into the regular back garden, but into a world of frightening adventure and whiffs. This time round it drops them into a Viking land, where a troll hunter is expected – well, one much bigger than Murray was, to be honest, but he's turned up and he'll have to do…
|rating=4
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|isbn=0008561249
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Elizabeth is a lively little girl. She loves stomping around, making a racket and creating an awful kerfuffle. One day she does the thing that she knows she should never do: she pushes Joe Fitzhugh. Joe tumbles into Jonny, who knocks into another child, and on and on and on. Oh dear, Elizabeth! What have you done?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340988045</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1732898766
|author=Ellie Bethel and Alexandra Colombo
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|title=The Adventures of Birpus and Bulbus: Book One: The Sour Milk Dragon
|title=Litterbug Doug (A Michael Recycle Adventure)
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|author=Wynn Everett-Albanese, Michael Albanese and Indre Ta (Illustrator)
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Litterbug Doug lives on a hill, just outside a beautiful town. His home is an absolute dump, with rubbish strewn everywhere, rats scurrying through the mess, and he won't tidy up his bloomin' bedroom. It's disgusting. Utterly utterly disgusting. His mess spreads and spreads and spreads and spreads. Thankfully, Michael Recycle is on hand to teach Doug the error of his ways.
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|summary=When we first meet Birpus and Bulbus they're running for their lives in the Forest of Fine Repute. Their greatest fear has come about: the Sour Milk Dragon is chasing them.  He's right behind them, spewing hot, sour milk from his nostrils.  (Please don't try this at home: it won't end well.)  Fortunately, they were nearly at Nobby Lob-lolly - and when a ladder of moss and vines was lowered for them, they escaped. They climbed up to the Tree Wee homes high up in the tangled woods where they lived with their Grand Wees, Nester Nook and Granny Cranny.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845394151</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B0CC9W7GLR
|author=Lucy M George and Rachel Swirles
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|title=On the Beach: The Winter Visitor
|title=The Elves and the Shoemaker
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|author=Chris Green and Jenny Fionda
|rating=4
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|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=The shoemaker grows older and older. Where he once made the finest shoes in town, he's now struggling to make ends meet. With only enough money for the leather for one pair of shoes, he's on his last legs. He leaves the leather on the table, ready to assemble the next morning, but when he comes down, the elves have made the most beautiful shoes ever.
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|summary=Kit and Teal were just beginning to wonder whether it was better to be at home, bored but warm, or frozen cold and building sand sculptures on a snowy beach when a large slab of silvery ice drifted onto the shoreline. On top of the ice was a polar bear.  As the ice bumped onto the sand, the bear woke and with wobbly legs moved from the ice. Kit was all for making a run for it, but Teal knew that the bear was hungry and gave him one apple and then another. He obviously needed to be taken home on the bus and given a good meal and somewhere to sleep. What else would you do?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845394135</amazonuk>
 
 
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1913839656
|author=Kari-Lynn Winters and Christina Leist
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|title=Let's Celebrate Being Different
|title=On My Walk
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|author=Lainey Dee
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=A little girl is going for a walk with her mummy and her dog. They hear a horse saying clippity-clop and a frog saying frippity-frop. They enjoy all the sights and sounds of the beautiful summer's day, until it starts to rain, drippity-drop, drippity-drop...
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|summary=Todd was excited about spending the weekend with his grandmother, not least because she made the best beetle juice.  He packed two pairs of dungarees and his favourite hat and then gathered together his button collection to show his grandmother. She had promised to take him to the Friday Night Club at the local community centre and Todd was pleased about this as he wanted to make new friends.  At home, his only friend was his mum and he wondered why that could be. Grandma thought that it might be because he looked different.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1896580610</amazonuk>
 
 
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1529504775
|author=David Lucas
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|title=The Toy Bus (The Repair Shop Stories)
|title=Something To Do
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|author=Amy Sparkes and Katie Hickey
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=The little bear is boooored. He's desperate for something to do, but he lives in a monochrome line world, with nothing around except the horizon, and a couple of simple seagulls. He and the big bear go on an adventure to amuse and entertain themselves, and then create new surroundings by drawing them with a stick.
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|summary=Elsie and her little brother David loved to go to the park and watch the red buses drive past. Elsie would race the buses along the side of the park but David couldn't - he'd been born with cerebral palsy and even just standing up was very difficult.  One day Elsie spotted a bus in the toy shop window which would help David - and was happy to use the coins from her money box to pay for it as cash was tight at home.  Gradually, David learned to stand up, use the bus for support, and walk behind it. Many decades later, Elsie brought the bus, now damaged and rusted, to the Repair Shop, hoping that the experts there could make it so that her grandchildren could play with it.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1862337268</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1529504767
|author=Amy Husband
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|title=The Christmas Doll (The Repair Shop Stories)
|title=Dear Miss
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|author=Amy Sparkes and Katie Hickey
|rating=4
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|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=It's Michael's first day back at school and he really doesn't fancy sitting through maths and double geography. He writes a letter to his teacher, explaining that the secret service have recruited him to rescue a missing explorer. Letter after letter of his adventures follow, until Miss counters with a letter of her own...
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|summary=Susan was very young when she was evacuated from London in 1939 and nervous about how she would be greeted when she got to her final destination.  She needn't have worried though as she went to the home of Mr and Mrs Russell, who couldn't have been kinder to her. She even had her own room - all to herself.  Gradually she relaxed and began to enjoy her life. She'd help Mrs Russell with the baking and when it came to Christmas Eve Susan and Mr Russell put the decorations on the Christmas tree. The best surprise happened the following morning.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845393732</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1916459943
|author=Gill Linder
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|title=Squeakily Baby
|title=Little Sapling
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|author=Beth Webb
|rating=2.5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Little Sapling is growing up, bit by bit. Like any plant, she stretches out into the sunlight. She competes with bindweed, and then is transplanted by a forester. On the way, she comes into contact with a number of animals, like Rabbit and Hedgehog.
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|summary=Much as mothers love their babies, there's something they all dread - a squeakily baby. He's so tired but he can't - or won't - go to sleep: instead, he just lies on his blanket and ''wails''.  The sea offers to help.  It rocks Baby gently and the waves sing ''hush, hush''. Think of gentle wavelets falling onto a sandy beach and you have the sound perfectly.  The mermaids join in - ''la lou, la lay...''  And for a moment it seems to have worked as Baby closes his eyes. Then a seagull '''shouts''' and we know exactly what's going to happen next.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312721</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=140639131X
|author=Xavier Deneux
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|title=A Practical Present for Philippa Pheasant
|title=My Circus
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|author=Briony May Smith
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=An utterly gorgeous board book that everyone will love to pore over, from the very youngest right on up.
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|summary=Philippa Pheasant was ''tired'' of nearly getting squished as she tried to cross the Old Oak Road.  She wrote to the mayor about the problem but didn't even get a reply.  Philippa wasn't a bird to sit back on her tail feathers when there was a problem which needed solving: she saw the benefits of the lollipop lady at the school crossing and decided that she would set up something similar herself.  Her uniform and lollipop stick were both a little amateur to start with but the benefits were obvious.  All the animals used the crossing and Hedgehog was even trained up to provide a safe path overnight.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408807009</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1776574338
|author=Maureen Roffey
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|title=Leilong's Too Long!
|title=Bedtime (Slip-and-Slide Books)
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|author=Julia Liu and Bei Lynn
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=''Bedtime'' is a pull-the-tabs book about - unsurprisingly - bedtime. Page by page reveals child after child rubbing their eyes, changing into their pyjamas, kissing mummy goodnight, and cuddling up with teddy. Each pulled tab changes that picture, much like a before and after shot.
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|summary=Every morning Leilong, the brontosaurus school bus, makes his way through the city, picking up children as he goes.  Children who live at the top of tower blocks don't even need to go downstairs – they simply climb out of the window and slide down his neck.  It's perfect, isn't it?  What could be a more fun way of going to school?  There is a problem, though.  Leilong isn't happy in the city: he's always having to be careful about where he puts his feet and – because he's longer than a tennis court – he often causes damage without intending to and traffic regularly gets snarled up. The school decides that he can't be the bus anymore.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747599386</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1776574028
|author=Jim Helmore and Karen Wall
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|title=Bumblebee Grumblebee
|title=Hold On Tight, Stripy Horse!
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|author=David Elliott
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Stripy Horse and his friends live in a bric-a-brac shop. One day, they discover that it's raining ''inside''. Ella, the pink flamingo umbrella, keeps them dry for a bit, but then she's caught by a gust of wind and Stripy Horse is pulled up into the air. Will they discover the source of the rain? Will the shop ever get dry again? And what's the deal with that weathervane parrot that keeps spouting proverbs?
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|summary=I love a good board book!  ''Bumblebee Grumblebee'' is aimed at quite a niche market: it's for the child who still enjoys board books (er, see my first sentence) but has mastered sufficient language skills to have realise that you can ''play'' with words and make something quite different from each one. We have the elephant who dons a tutu - and becomes a ''balletphant''.  The buffalo who has had a bath (complete with yellow duck) and then dries off with a hair drier becomes a ''fluffalo''.  The rhinoceros who drops his ice cream cone is a ''crynoceros'' (think about it!)  The pelican who sits on his potty changes into a ''sm.......''  OK, let's not go there  Some people are eating!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405248262</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1838226834
|author=Jonathan Shipton and Francesca Chessa
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|title=Carried Away With the Carnival
|title=Baby Baby Blah Blah Blah!
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|author=Ed Boxall
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Emily loves making lists. When her mummy gets pregnant, Emily makes a list of all the good things about a new baby, and another list of all the bad things. Emily's worried that she's going to have to wear babygros to school and eat left-over squish. Her daddy decides to set her straight about what a new baby will mean.
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|summary=It was one of those memories we treasure from our childhoods: an outing with our grandparents. They're there to undo all the good that parents do, so the trips out were always so much fun. A young boy was going to the carnival with his Grandad, who told him:
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1862337799</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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''It'll be brilliant, just remember, don't let go of my hand.''
|author=Gillian Shields and Liz Pichon
 
|title=Don't Let Aliens Get My Marvellous Mum!
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=A young girl imagines how awful life would be if aliens got her marvellous mum. She pictures all manner of ooky space monsters tucking her up in bed, giving her green eggs for breakfast, and scaring all the other parents at school. She (and the readers too) realise just how lucky she is to have such a lovely mum. Aww, bless!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1862337780</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B09MYXSRV4
|author=Eva Montanari
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|title=Otter's Coat: The Real Reason Turtle Raced Rabbit: A Cherolachian Tortoise and Hare
|title=The Alphabet Family
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|author=Cordellya Smith
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Mummy A wants to write a story, but she can't think what to write. She sees what her children (b, c, d and so on) are up to. Some are playing musical instruments, some are running races, and some are playing in the garden. With plenty of ideas to hand, Mummy A writes her story, and then tells it to all her children and Daddy Z.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845394054</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Poly Bernatene
 
|title=When Night Didn't Come
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=One night, after the sun has gone to bed, the night doesn't come. There's no darkness, no moon and no stars. Someone's going to have to do something about it, so the man in charge rouses a group of children and they do what they can to bring the night.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845394925</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham
 
|title=Cloud Tea Monkeys
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Tashi and her mother live below a tea plantation in IndiaUsually Tashi goes along with her mum, and whilst mum picks tea leaves with the other women, Tashi sits under a tree and plays with a group of monkeys, sharing her fruit with them, allowing them to groom her and playing with the little baby monkeysOne morning, Tashi's mum is too poorly to go to work, so Tashi struggles with the big tea basket herselfThe plantation owner derides her, saying she is too little to pick the tea, and Tashi is worried about how she and her mother will cope with no money to get her mum a doctor, or to buy foodShe shares her worries with her monkey friends and somehow, at the end of the day, Tashi's basket is full of beautiful, fresh, fragrant tea leaves that are a very rare type of tea called 'Cloud Tea'.
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|summary=When the world was made, the animals were given gifts.  Bear was given strength so that he could become a protector.  Water Spider received a strong web that even fire could not burnOwl had excellent sight so that he could see the present ''and'' the futureRabbit developed intelligence - but, unfortunately, not the ability to use it wellHe liked to trick other animals.  He was also jealous which was how he came to be in a race with TurtleYou might think that's not a fair contest but wait and see. Things are not always as they seem. I'll tell you how it came about.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406300926</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=David Conway and Dubravka Kolanovic
 
|title=The Secret To Teddy's Happiness
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=When the toys discover an old, bedraggled teddy bear, they rack their brains to find a way to mend his broken heart, to make him smile again. The velvet rabbit who knows everything offers to tell them the secret of Teddy's happiness, but he wants them to do him a favour first.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1862337624</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Rob Keeley
|author=Jill Newton
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|title= Carrots Don’t Grow On Trees!
|title=Crash Bang Donkey!
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|rating= 4
|rating=3
 
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Farmer Gruff spends all his time chasing the crows from his corn. Eventually he needs to sleep, so all the animals tiptoe around, making no noise whatsoever. What's this coming over the hill with a crash and a bang? Oh no! It's a donkey with a drum. How's Farmer Gruff going to get his sleep? If he can't sleep, how's he ever going to be able to keep the crows from his corn?
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|summary= Lily loves eating fruit and vegetables. She likes carrots, broccoli, cabbage and aubergines. When her friends at school turn up their noses, Lily is keen to explain how good they are for you and how nice to eat. One day, poor Lily gets tricked by Jordan, who tells her that carrots grow on trees. Infuriated, Lily checks with the teacher, who explains that fruits grow on trees and vegetables, like carrots, grow in the ground. Jordan says, "I did try to tell her, Miss!" and everyone laughs at poor Lily.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1862337209</amazonuk>
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|isbn= B09HHN541V
 
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B09FFJF8YS
|author=Mark Sperring and Leo Timmers
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|title=You Can't Wear Panties! (No More Nappies!)
|title=Green
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|author=Justine Avery and Kate Zhoidik
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Clive loves wearing green. It's all he ever wears. He thinks he looks mighty snazzy, but his big sister (boo! hiss!) takes every opportunity to call him a cabbage, moss, a sprout or a toad. Clive keeps wearing his green clothes, certain that he'll have the last laugh and get one over on his sister.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845394534</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ian Whybrow and Lynne Chapman
 
|title=Stinky! Or How The Beautiful Smelly Warthog Found A Friend
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Stinky the warthog lives in a neighbourhood with the Crocodile family, the Monkey family and the Littlebird family. One by one they invite Stinky round to play with their children, but his foul odour and the flies buzzing around him cause all manner of problems. Will he be able to find a friend? ...Well, yes, it says so in the title.
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|summary=''For the big, grownup girls out there, the potty masters in training, "You Can't Wear Panties!" is a cry (the big-girl kind!) of toilet triumph and persevering panty pride.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1862337594</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Preston Rutt and Ben Redlich
 
|title=Tortoise vs. Hare - The Rematch!
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Harry 'The Hurricane' Hare has been licking his wounds since 'Steady' Eddie Tortoise beat him in the famous race. It's time for a rematch, and Harry's been training hard. Eddie couldn't possibly win again, could he?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845394186</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
 
|author=Allan Manham and Penny Dann
 
|title=The Giant Carrot
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Jack is quite the gardener. All his hard work means his vegetable patch is awash with lucious veggies. One day, he decides to pull up some carrots and make soup, but the biggest carrot just wouldn't budge. He's going to have to get some chums to help him.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1843625911</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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And so it is! This latest book from Justine Avery celebrates a little girl's final goodbye to nappies and pull-ups and graduation to "proper" pants by following her around as she proudly explains to her dog, her cat, her stuffed rabbit and her baby sibling that ''she'' can wear super-duper proper pants, while they cannot. Neither can the flowers, nor the fish, nor the birds. Boy's certainly can't. She's a big girl now and she wants everyone to know it!
|author=Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz
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}}
|title=Commotion In The Ocean
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{{Frontpage
 +
|author= Justine Avery and Naday Meldova
 +
|title=Everybody Toots! (Everybody Potties!)
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=There's a commotion in the ocean: the dolphins are squeaking, the jellyfish are jiggling, and the lobsters are clippetty-clapping snippety-snapping. Animal by animal, Giles Andreae (best-known for [[Giraffes Can't Dance Magnet Book by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees|Giraffes Can't Dance]]) takes us through the underwater adventures, with short, snappy poems.
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|summary= Toots, trumps, farts. Whatever your word for them, find us a child that doesn't find them irresistibly funny. Funny to talk about and joke about, that is. But horribly embarrassing if you let one go at the wrong time. In class, say, when everyone will hear it and everyone will laugh. At you. Justine Avery's latest entry in her ''Everybody Potties!'' series takes aim at any shame associated with tooting and gently and calmly, with the familiar humour attached, explains that tooting is perfectly normal. Everybody does it: ''Everybody Toots''!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408308452</amazonuk>
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|isbn= B09C2RVJ2W
}}
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn= B09BG8V3Q6
|author=Roger Hargreaves
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|title= Who Needs Nappies? Not Me! (Everybody Potties!)
|title=Mr Nobody (Mr Men and Little Misses)
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|author= Justine Avery and Seema Amjad
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Mr Nobody is... well, he's somebody who sort of is and sort of isn't. Mr Happy comes across him one day, and does his best to cheer him up. Who could possibly help a person who's sort of there and sort of isn't? Ah, the Wizard!
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|summary= ''Who Needs Nappies? Not Me!'' is the latest release in the ''Everybody Potties!'' series from Justine Avery. This series of fun picture books aims to take the pain out of potty training children and replace it with some fun. It's a worthy aim, as any frustrated parent will tell you.  .
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405251425</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B07GZ81J7C
|author=Tony Mitton and Guy Parker-Rees
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|title=When Fred the Snake Got Squished and Mended
|title=Jolly Olly Octopus
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|author=Peter Cotton
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Jolly Olly Octopus is giggling underneath the sea. He's soon joined by two tickly turtles, three smiley seahorses, and so on through the numbers. The large cast of underwater animals are having a jolly ol' time, until a shark appears...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846166861</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ellie Sandall
 
|title=Birdsong
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=One by one the birds land on the branch. Each is a different species, each has different plumage, and most importantly each has a different call. The chorus of birdsong builds up and up and up until the biggest bird of all lands on the branch, with his loud shriek. Ah, but who's this about to land on the branch with him?
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|summary=Meet Fred.  Well, actually, you're going to be meeting Fred-Fred for reasons which will become all too obvious very quickly.  But I'm getting ahead of myself: I'd better tell you a bit more about Fred. Fred is a snake and even those of us who have a phobia about snakes are going to warm to him. He arrived as a present in a box with holes so that he could breathe and immediately became part of the family, to the extent that they would take Fred out with them when they went out for a walk. And that was where the problem started.  Fred didn't have any road sense.  Or brakes.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405247371</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author= Justine Avery and Naday Meldova
|author=Anu Stohner and Henrike Wilson
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|title= Everybody Pees! (Everybody Potties!)
|title=Charlotte and the Wolves
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|rating=4
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Hot on the heels of her adventure in [[Brave Charlotte by Anu Stohner and Henrike Wilson|Brave Charlotte]], the brave little sheep is back. She's as bold as ever, and the older sheep have stopped worrying about her wild ways. Added into the mix are a gang of teenage sheep who call themselves The Wolves and worry the lambs. When real wolf howls can be heard, but not by the shepherd or Jack the old sheepdog, it's down to Charlotte to save the day again.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408802589</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Hiawyn Oram and Sarah Warburton
 
|title=Rumblewick and the Dinner Dragons (The Rumblewick Letters)
 
|rating=3.5
 
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Haggy Aggy is an unscary witch and decides she wants to make friends with dragons. Her cat, Rumblewick Spellwacker Mortimer B, is a little unsure of this, so writes to his friend Grimey for advice. Their correspondence fills this latest book in the ''Rumblewick Letters'' series, following on from [[My Unwilling Witch (The Rumblewick Letters) by Hiawyn Oram|My Unwilling Witch]].
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|summary= Can potty training ever be joyous? It often isn't, as any parent will tell you. But really, why shouldn't it be? We all have to learn about our bodily functions just as we have to learn about everything else when we are small. Why shouldn't potty training be as much fun as, say, learning about why the sun and the moon take turns in the sky?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846160642</amazonuk>
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|isbn= B098BJZYHH
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Justine Avery and Naday Meldova
|author=David Conway and Melanie Williamson
+
|title=No, No, No!
|title=The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Little Miss Muffet is fed up of being constantly scared by a spider, so she ups sticks and heads for a different page of the book, to see if the characters of another nursery rhyme will let her join in. She tries one rhyme after another, but things never quite work to plan. Will she find a nursery rhyme that suits her to a T?
+
|summary=They say the best picture books are the simplest ones. And nothing could be truer of this latest from Justine Avery, a Bookbag favourite.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340945087</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Emily Gravett
 
|title=Blue Chameleon
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=The chameleon is feeling blue because he's lonely, so he goes and visits a yellow banana, pink cockatoo, swirly snail, brown boot, and so on. Each time, not only does he change his colour to match the object or animal, but he also contorts himself into a shape that matches them.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230704247</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
''No, No, No!'' is based around the simplest text imaginable.
|author=Inga Moore
 
|title=Six Dinner Sid - A Highland Adventure
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Sid the cat has six owners in six different houses, and he munches his way through six dinners a day. This big ol' greedyguts has a great life, but then one day his owners all decide they want to go on holiday. They consider putting him in a cattery, but they have strange rules like one meal per cat, not six. They give it some thought, and eventually decide to all go on holiday together, taking Sid with them.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340988940</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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''No, no, no! Okay, okay. Yes, you may.''
|author=Michael Foreman
 
|title=Why The Animals Came To Town
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=A young boy looks out of his bedroom window and sees a parade of animals walking up his street. They've come to show him the deserts and ice caps, to warn him of the importance of taking care of Earth. Without the animals, he realises the world would be a much more desolate place.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406318019</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Chris Wormell
 
|title=One Smart Fish
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Many, many, many years ago, the ocean was full of amazing fish. The most amazing fish was a boring-looking silver fish, who was smarter than all the others. He played chess (against himself), drew pictures and performed plays. One day, he decided to see what life was like on land, so he invented feet and went for a walk. Yep, you've guessed it: it's a picture book about evolution.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224083546</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jean Reidy and Genevieve Leloup
 
|title=Too Purply!
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=It's time for school, but the young girl and her tortoise don't want to wear any of their clothes. They're too purply, too tickly, too puckery, too prickly, and so on. You get the idea. Adjectives abound in this fun getting dressed book.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408803151</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
That's it! But, like all the best picture books, this tiny snippet of text is a veritable tardis - so much bigger on the inside that it appears on the outside.
|author=Rachel Isadora
+
|isbn=1638820457
|title=The Twelve Dancing Princesses
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Bookbag recently loved Rachel Isadora's take on [[The Night Before Christmas by Rachel Isadora and Clement Clarke Moore|The Night Before Christmas]], which put the classic Christmas poem in an African setting. This time round, she has turned her eye to the Grimms' ''The Twelve Dancing Princesses''.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0142414506</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=194812467X
|author=Angela McAllister and Alex T Smith
+
|title=The Farm Shop
|title=My Mum Has X-Ray Vision
+
|author=Devon Avery, Justine Avery and Ema Tepic
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Milo suspects his mum has x-ray vision. She can see through the ceiling downstairs when he's jumping on her bed. She can see through the outside wall when he's making potions in the garden in her saucepans. Is she really a superhero? Milo puts her to the test...
+
|summary=Kirelle and her best friend Sam the cat decide to go for a walk. Kirelle is dressed for all weathers in her bright yellow wellies and Sam is perfectly turned out as ever in his smart grey fur coat. As they walk to the top of the hill, they see a big barn with a sign outside. It's a farm shop! But this is a farm shop with a difference: all the stallholders and customers are farmyard animals. There are sheep and ducks and cows, goats and chickens, and even some mice. Excited, Kirelle and Sam go shopping.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407105388</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
What will they buy?
|author=Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
 
|title=How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=[[How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen|How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?]] was a witty and visually creative tale of Very Bad Bedtime Behaviour for modern children enamoured of dinosaurs. 'How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?' continues the formula, this time with table manners.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007216092</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0995647895
|author=Kate Lum and Sue Hellard
+
|title=Sadie and the Sea Dogs
|title=Princesses Are Not Perfect
+
|author=Maureen Duffy and Anita Joice
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Princesses Allie, Mellie and Libby love baking, gardening and building respectively. The day before the big summer party, they suddenly fancy a change and all swap jobs. With a hundred punnets of blueberries to pick, a hundred cupcakes to make, and a hundred chairs to build, the children are going to be awfully disappointed if the princesses' new-found interests aren't successful.
+
|summary=Sadie's mother always said that she was a dreamer, her mind never on what she should be doing. She lives by the River Thames at Greenwich and she loves to spend hours at The Maritime Museum or gazing at Cutty Sark.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747599297</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
''Her class had gone one rainy afternoon''<br>
|author=Ursula Dubosarsky and Andrew Joyner
+
''When all the houses cowered in the gloom,''<br>
|title=The Terrible Plop
+
''To the Maritime Museum''.  
|rating=3.5
+
|genre=For Sharing
+
Her imagination was fired.  She'd love to sail the oceans on an ancient sailing ship and went back regularly. One day she fell asleep under a glass case (it's the one where Nelson's Trafalgar breeches are on show) and missed the closing bell and the attendant's warning shout. When she woke (hard floors don't make comfy beds) she was in the midst of an adventure that she could never have imagined in a world of dolphins, pirates, mermaids and treasure.
|summary=The rabbits are sitting by the lake, munching on cake and carrots. An apple falls in, with a terrible plop, and they scamper off scared. All the other animals join in the stampede and get as far away as they can from the terrible plop. Bear is far too big and grumpy to be scared, so he gets the littlest rabbit to show him just where the scariness lies...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405251379</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1782227741
|author=Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
+
|title=Little Gold Ted
|title=Emily and the Big Bad Bunyip
+
|author=Vanessa Wiercioch, Poppy Satha and Sasha Satha
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=The author-illustrator partnership that created the 'Diary of a Wombat', [[Pete the Sheep by Jackie French|Pete the Sheep]] and 'Josephine Wants to Dance' bring all their Aussie characters together in a Christmas book with a Antipodean twist.
+
|summary=One day, Gold Ted falls into a puddle. It's quite a deep puddle and the water is swirling. Poor Ted starts to spin around and around and is sucked down a drain on the side of the street. Finding himself  down in the sewer, Ted starts to panic. ''OH HELP ME PLEASE'' he cries and alerts the attention of Reg the sewer rat, who plucks him out of the dirty water using his cane, which might look just a bit like an old cricket bat. Reg is a kind soul and he dries Ted off and warms him up with a nice bowl of broth.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007324278</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Graham Oakley
 
|title=The Church Mouse
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Arthur the church mouse lives in peace with Sampson the meek church cat, but he gets lonely from time to time. He hits on a great idea: he'll invite all the other mice of the town to come and live with them. The parson agrees, as long as they agree to do a few odd jobs around the place. Then one day, a burglar breaks in and there's no-one around to stop him but Arthur, Sampson and the mice...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1840116102</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B08R7LXQ9S
|author=Janet Charters and Michael Foreman
+
|title=Remy: A book about believing in yourself
|title=The General
+
|author=Mayuri Naidoo and Caroline Siegal
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=General Jodhpur keeps his soldiers busy, polishing their boots and practising shooting. He wants to become the most famous general in the whole world. One day, he's thrown off his horse, and discovers the joys of lying in the grass. On his walk home, he gets a chance to smell the flowers, and soon sets about putting his soldiers to more peaceful activities.
+
|summary=Remy is feeling miserable. He's let himself down ''again''. The school bully Jayden,  together with his sidekicks Ryan and Brandon, have been laughing at Remy, calling him names because he is short and has small eyes. They are mean but they are not stupid. They are careful to wind up Remy when nobody can see and then push him just that little bit further when the other kids are around. So, when Remy reacts, it looks as though he was the instigator. And then he gets into trouble at school and the teachers don't believe him when he tries to explain what happened.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0763648752</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1471191303
|author=Alison Jackson and Keith Graves
+
|title=The Invisible
|title=Desert Rose
+
|author=Tom Percival
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Desert Rose is mucking out the pig stalls, when she stumbles across a giant gold nugget. She decides to buy the fattest hog in Texas, so she can win first prize at the state fair - a gal's gotta have a dream. However, she gets one highfalutin hog who won't do as it's told, so she ropes in all the other inhabitants of Laredo to help her out, and win the prize.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408802198</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jane Ray
 
|title=Snow White
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Jane Ray has taken the classic fairy tale of Snow White, the dwarves and the wicked queen, and created beautiful three-dimensional tableaux. It's a much-loved story that everyone is familiar with, and this is a great opportunity to rediscover a classic in an interesting new way.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406311839</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Chris Van Dusen
 
|title=The Circus Ship
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=When a circus ship sinks off the coast of Maine, the animals escape and make their home in a nearby town. They soon enchant the locals, who in turn decide to protect the animals from the greedy circus-owner. Very loosely based on the sinking of the ''Royal Tar'' in 1836, ''The Circus Ship'' is a fun picture book that animal-lovers will enjoy.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>076363090X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Rachel Isadora and Clement Clarke Moore
 
|title=The Night Before Christmas
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Everyone knows and loves Clement Clarke Moore's poem ''A Visit From St Nicholas''. Even if you don't go the whole hog, gathering the family round by the log fire, and reading it together, its opening line of '''Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...'' fills you with a warm glow. You can practically smell the mulled wine and hear the snores of Auntie Gertrude during the Queen's Speech. It's an absolute classic.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0399254080</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Karen Sapp
 
|title=Christmas Is...
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Christmas is looming and thus the market for picture books featuring santas, presents and Christmas trees. It's hard to come up with anything new here, and it's rather not the point - is it? Christmas is, after all, about annually repeated celebration of traditional rituals that add delight and nourishment to the spiritual, emotional and social fabric of life.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007303750</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jill Tomlinson and Paul Howard
 
|title=The Penguin Who Wanted To Find Out
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Otto the penguin lives on his father's feet at the bottom of the world. He's an inquisitive little thing and wants to know why they haven't fallen off the world. His dad explains that they won't Because I say so. Otto and his friend Leo gradually expand their horizons from their fathers' feet - they meet other penguin chicks, get to know their aunts who watch them when their fathers are away, and eventually grow feathers so they're big enough to toboggan on their bellies and swim in the sea.
+
|summary=This is the story of Isobel, a little girl who made a big difference. Isobel lived with her parents in a house - a very cold house, because her parents couldn't afford to put the heating on:
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140523041X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
''Ice curled across the inside of the window and crept up the corner of the bedpost.''
|author=Patrick O'Brien
 
|title=You Are The First Kid On Mars
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=It is a sci-fi future of no danger whatsoever, with no technological breakdown, and no fatal meteor strike, but that of course is only to be expected for this market.  I say it more to highlight how well the book has been illustrated.  Digital airbrush techniques and more have taken the antiseptic sheen off the whole experience, but have still allowed for a great detail in the machinery, and also a lovely warmth in the face of the lad we're empathising with.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0399246347</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
The family didn't go to the cinema or on holidays but they had each other and they were happyThen the day came when they couldn't afford the rent for the house and they had to move to the far side of the cityThis part of the city was cold, sad and lonely and Isobel felt invisible.
|author=John Abbott Nez
 
|title=Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Meet Cromwell Dixon.  He's a real tinkerer, forever in a barn or somewhere building something manically unusualLuckily - although his long-suffering mother may disagree with that word - he's around at the birth of powered flightWill his plans for a pedalled air machine work?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0399250417</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Nick Jones and Si Clark
|author=Jim Helmore and Karen Wall
+
|title=One Night in Beartown
|title=Oh No, Monster Tomato!
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Marvin is entering the Great Grislygust Grow-Off, but just like him, his tomatoes aren't growing very big. He takes the only sensible course of action: he sings his tomatoes a song. The results are spectacular. Victory is surely within his grasp.
+
|summary= Many children have an obsession and Sandy Lane, who lives in Beartown, is obsessed with bears. She collects books about bears. Her favourite toy is Berisford, a teddy bear passed down by her grandmother. Every night, she looks out of her bedroom window and says goodnight to the bear statue outside. Every morning she says hello to Bee Bear, a colourful painted bear that lives at her school. She even has bears on her bedroom wallpaper!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140524741X</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=B08NFH7H9X
}}
+
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Iain Smyth and Michael Terry
 
|title=The Wide-Mouthed Frog
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Do you know the joke about the wide-mouthed frog? You must have heard it. It's a classic. It's one that you really need to tell in person, with your fingers pulling your mouth wide open, but to hopefully spark your memory, the wide-mouthed frog introduces himself to a number of animals until he finally comes across a crocodile who eats wide-mouthed frogs, and the frog does his best to disguise who he is whilst saying ''Ooh, you don't see many of those round here, do you?'' I'm hardly doing it justice, but it's very cheesy and funny. Anyway, this is a book of that joke.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408804964</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest General Fiction Reviews]]
|author=Ursula Jones and Sarah Gibb
 
|title=The Princess Who Had No Kingdom
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=The princess who has no kingdom wanders around in a cart pulled by her horse Pretty. She's very polite, friendly, and kind-hearted, but she feels like something is lacking because she doesn't have a kingdom of her own. The other royals she meets treat her nicely enough, but there's always a feeling that she's not quite as good as them because she isn't the princess of anywhere.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846160421</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 09:24, 2 December 2023

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Review of

Murray and Bun by Adam Stower

4.5star.jpg Confident Readers

Murray is supposed to be a humble, tidy and friendly cat, one who is able to sleep and eat and eat and sleep and, well, whatever takes his fancy next of the two. But he's a bad magician's cat, so his favourite bun has been turned into a hyperactive sticky rabbit called Bun, and the catflap they both use can chuck them out, not into the regular back garden, but into a world of frightening adventure and whiffs. This time round it drops them into a Viking land, where a troll hunter is expected – well, one much bigger than Murray was, to be honest, but he's turned up and he'll have to do… Full Review

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Review of

The Adventures of Birpus and Bulbus: Book One: The Sour Milk Dragon by Wynn Everett-Albanese, Michael Albanese and Indre Ta (Illustrator)

4star.jpg For Sharing

When we first meet Birpus and Bulbus they're running for their lives in the Forest of Fine Repute. Their greatest fear has come about: the Sour Milk Dragon is chasing them. He's right behind them, spewing hot, sour milk from his nostrils. (Please don't try this at home: it won't end well.) Fortunately, they were nearly at Nobby Lob-lolly - and when a ladder of moss and vines was lowered for them, they escaped. They climbed up to the Tree Wee homes high up in the tangled woods where they lived with their Grand Wees, Nester Nook and Granny Cranny. Full Review

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Review of

On the Beach: The Winter Visitor by Chris Green and Jenny Fionda

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Kit and Teal were just beginning to wonder whether it was better to be at home, bored but warm, or frozen cold and building sand sculptures on a snowy beach when a large slab of silvery ice drifted onto the shoreline. On top of the ice was a polar bear. As the ice bumped onto the sand, the bear woke and with wobbly legs moved from the ice. Kit was all for making a run for it, but Teal knew that the bear was hungry and gave him one apple and then another. He obviously needed to be taken home on the bus and given a good meal and somewhere to sleep. What else would you do? Full Review

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Review of

Let's Celebrate Being Different by Lainey Dee

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Todd was excited about spending the weekend with his grandmother, not least because she made the best beetle juice. He packed two pairs of dungarees and his favourite hat and then gathered together his button collection to show his grandmother. She had promised to take him to the Friday Night Club at the local community centre and Todd was pleased about this as he wanted to make new friends. At home, his only friend was his mum and he wondered why that could be. Grandma thought that it might be because he looked different. Full Review

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Review of

The Toy Bus (The Repair Shop Stories) by Amy Sparkes and Katie Hickey

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Elsie and her little brother David loved to go to the park and watch the red buses drive past. Elsie would race the buses along the side of the park but David couldn't - he'd been born with cerebral palsy and even just standing up was very difficult. One day Elsie spotted a bus in the toy shop window which would help David - and was happy to use the coins from her money box to pay for it as cash was tight at home. Gradually, David learned to stand up, use the bus for support, and walk behind it. Many decades later, Elsie brought the bus, now damaged and rusted, to the Repair Shop, hoping that the experts there could make it so that her grandchildren could play with it. Full Review

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Review of

The Christmas Doll (The Repair Shop Stories) by Amy Sparkes and Katie Hickey

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Susan was very young when she was evacuated from London in 1939 and nervous about how she would be greeted when she got to her final destination. She needn't have worried though as she went to the home of Mr and Mrs Russell, who couldn't have been kinder to her. She even had her own room - all to herself. Gradually she relaxed and began to enjoy her life. She'd help Mrs Russell with the baking and when it came to Christmas Eve Susan and Mr Russell put the decorations on the Christmas tree. The best surprise happened the following morning. Full Review

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Review of

Squeakily Baby by Beth Webb

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Much as mothers love their babies, there's something they all dread - a squeakily baby. He's so tired but he can't - or won't - go to sleep: instead, he just lies on his blanket and wails. The sea offers to help. It rocks Baby gently and the waves sing hush, hush. Think of gentle wavelets falling onto a sandy beach and you have the sound perfectly. The mermaids join in - la lou, la lay... And for a moment it seems to have worked as Baby closes his eyes. Then a seagull shouts and we know exactly what's going to happen next. Full Review

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Review of

A Practical Present for Philippa Pheasant by Briony May Smith

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Philippa Pheasant was tired of nearly getting squished as she tried to cross the Old Oak Road. She wrote to the mayor about the problem but didn't even get a reply. Philippa wasn't a bird to sit back on her tail feathers when there was a problem which needed solving: she saw the benefits of the lollipop lady at the school crossing and decided that she would set up something similar herself. Her uniform and lollipop stick were both a little amateur to start with but the benefits were obvious. All the animals used the crossing and Hedgehog was even trained up to provide a safe path overnight. Full Review

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Review of

Leilong's Too Long! by Julia Liu and Bei Lynn

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Every morning Leilong, the brontosaurus school bus, makes his way through the city, picking up children as he goes. Children who live at the top of tower blocks don't even need to go downstairs – they simply climb out of the window and slide down his neck. It's perfect, isn't it? What could be a more fun way of going to school? There is a problem, though. Leilong isn't happy in the city: he's always having to be careful about where he puts his feet and – because he's longer than a tennis court – he often causes damage without intending to and traffic regularly gets snarled up. The school decides that he can't be the bus anymore. Full Review

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Review of

Bumblebee Grumblebee by David Elliott

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I love a good board book! Bumblebee Grumblebee is aimed at quite a niche market: it's for the child who still enjoys board books (er, see my first sentence) but has mastered sufficient language skills to have realise that you can play with words and make something quite different from each one. We have the elephant who dons a tutu - and becomes a balletphant. The buffalo who has had a bath (complete with yellow duck) and then dries off with a hair drier becomes a fluffalo. The rhinoceros who drops his ice cream cone is a crynoceros (think about it!) The pelican who sits on his potty changes into a sm....... OK, let's not go there Some people are eating! Full Review

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Review of

Carried Away With the Carnival by Ed Boxall

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It was one of those memories we treasure from our childhoods: an outing with our grandparents. They're there to undo all the good that parents do, so the trips out were always so much fun. A young boy was going to the carnival with his Grandad, who told him:

It'll be brilliant, just remember, don't let go of my hand. Full Review

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Review of

Otter's Coat: The Real Reason Turtle Raced Rabbit: A Cherolachian Tortoise and Hare by Cordellya Smith

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When the world was made, the animals were given gifts. Bear was given strength so that he could become a protector. Water Spider received a strong web that even fire could not burn. Owl had excellent sight so that he could see the present and the future. Rabbit developed intelligence - but, unfortunately, not the ability to use it well. He liked to trick other animals. He was also jealous which was how he came to be in a race with Turtle. You might think that's not a fair contest but wait and see. Things are not always as they seem. I'll tell you how it came about. Full Review

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Review of

Carrots Don’t Grow On Trees! by Rob Keeley

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Lily loves eating fruit and vegetables. She likes carrots, broccoli, cabbage and aubergines. When her friends at school turn up their noses, Lily is keen to explain how good they are for you and how nice to eat. One day, poor Lily gets tricked by Jordan, who tells her that carrots grow on trees. Infuriated, Lily checks with the teacher, who explains that fruits grow on trees and vegetables, like carrots, grow in the ground. Jordan says, "I did try to tell her, Miss!" and everyone laughs at poor Lily. Full Review

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Review of

You Can't Wear Panties! (No More Nappies!) by Justine Avery and Kate Zhoidik

3.5star.jpg For Sharing

For the big, grownup girls out there, the potty masters in training, "You Can't Wear Panties!" is a cry (the big-girl kind!) of toilet triumph and persevering panty pride.


And so it is! This latest book from Justine Avery celebrates a little girl's final goodbye to nappies and pull-ups and graduation to "proper" pants by following her around as she proudly explains to her dog, her cat, her stuffed rabbit and her baby sibling that she can wear super-duper proper pants, while they cannot. Neither can the flowers, nor the fish, nor the birds. Boy's certainly can't. She's a big girl now and she wants everyone to know it! Full Review

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Review of

Everybody Toots! (Everybody Potties!) by Justine Avery and Naday Meldova

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Toots, trumps, farts. Whatever your word for them, find us a child that doesn't find them irresistibly funny. Funny to talk about and joke about, that is. But horribly embarrassing if you let one go at the wrong time. In class, say, when everyone will hear it and everyone will laugh. At you. Justine Avery's latest entry in her Everybody Potties! series takes aim at any shame associated with tooting and gently and calmly, with the familiar humour attached, explains that tooting is perfectly normal. Everybody does it: Everybody Toots! Full Review

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Review of

Who Needs Nappies? Not Me! (Everybody Potties!) by Justine Avery and Seema Amjad

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Who Needs Nappies? Not Me! is the latest release in the Everybody Potties! series from Justine Avery. This series of fun picture books aims to take the pain out of potty training children and replace it with some fun. It's a worthy aim, as any frustrated parent will tell you. . Full Review

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Review of

When Fred the Snake Got Squished and Mended by Peter Cotton

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Meet Fred. Well, actually, you're going to be meeting Fred-Fred for reasons which will become all too obvious very quickly. But I'm getting ahead of myself: I'd better tell you a bit more about Fred. Fred is a snake and even those of us who have a phobia about snakes are going to warm to him. He arrived as a present in a box with holes so that he could breathe and immediately became part of the family, to the extent that they would take Fred out with them when they went out for a walk. And that was where the problem started. Fred didn't have any road sense. Or brakes. Full Review

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Review of

Everybody Pees! (Everybody Potties!) by Justine Avery and Naday Meldova

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Can potty training ever be joyous? It often isn't, as any parent will tell you. But really, why shouldn't it be? We all have to learn about our bodily functions just as we have to learn about everything else when we are small. Why shouldn't potty training be as much fun as, say, learning about why the sun and the moon take turns in the sky? Full Review

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Review of

No, No, No! by Justine Avery and Naday Meldova

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They say the best picture books are the simplest ones. And nothing could be truer of this latest from Justine Avery, a Bookbag favourite.

No, No, No! is based around the simplest text imaginable.

No, no, no! Okay, okay. Yes, you may.

That's it! But, like all the best picture books, this tiny snippet of text is a veritable tardis - so much bigger on the inside that it appears on the outside. Full Review

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Review of

The Farm Shop by Devon Avery, Justine Avery and Ema Tepic

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Kirelle and her best friend Sam the cat decide to go for a walk. Kirelle is dressed for all weathers in her bright yellow wellies and Sam is perfectly turned out as ever in his smart grey fur coat. As they walk to the top of the hill, they see a big barn with a sign outside. It's a farm shop! But this is a farm shop with a difference: all the stallholders and customers are farmyard animals. There are sheep and ducks and cows, goats and chickens, and even some mice. Excited, Kirelle and Sam go shopping.

What will they buy? Full Review

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Review of

Sadie and the Sea Dogs by Maureen Duffy and Anita Joice

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Sadie's mother always said that she was a dreamer, her mind never on what she should be doing. She lives by the River Thames at Greenwich and she loves to spend hours at The Maritime Museum or gazing at Cutty Sark.

Her class had gone one rainy afternoon
When all the houses cowered in the gloom,
To the Maritime Museum.

Her imagination was fired. She'd love to sail the oceans on an ancient sailing ship and went back regularly. One day she fell asleep under a glass case (it's the one where Nelson's Trafalgar breeches are on show) and missed the closing bell and the attendant's warning shout. When she woke (hard floors don't make comfy beds) she was in the midst of an adventure that she could never have imagined in a world of dolphins, pirates, mermaids and treasure. Full Review

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Review of

Little Gold Ted by Vanessa Wiercioch, Poppy Satha and Sasha Satha

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One day, Gold Ted falls into a puddle. It's quite a deep puddle and the water is swirling. Poor Ted starts to spin around and around and is sucked down a drain on the side of the street. Finding himself down in the sewer, Ted starts to panic. OH HELP ME PLEASE he cries and alerts the attention of Reg the sewer rat, who plucks him out of the dirty water using his cane, which might look just a bit like an old cricket bat. Reg is a kind soul and he dries Ted off and warms him up with a nice bowl of broth. Full Review

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Review of

Remy: A book about believing in yourself by Mayuri Naidoo and Caroline Siegal

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Remy is feeling miserable. He's let himself down again. The school bully Jayden, together with his sidekicks Ryan and Brandon, have been laughing at Remy, calling him names because he is short and has small eyes. They are mean but they are not stupid. They are careful to wind up Remy when nobody can see and then push him just that little bit further when the other kids are around. So, when Remy reacts, it looks as though he was the instigator. And then he gets into trouble at school and the teachers don't believe him when he tries to explain what happened. Full Review

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Review of

The Invisible by Tom Percival

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This is the story of Isobel, a little girl who made a big difference. Isobel lived with her parents in a house - a very cold house, because her parents couldn't afford to put the heating on:

Ice curled across the inside of the window and crept up the corner of the bedpost.

The family didn't go to the cinema or on holidays but they had each other and they were happy. Then the day came when they couldn't afford the rent for the house and they had to move to the far side of the city. This part of the city was cold, sad and lonely and Isobel felt invisible. Full Review

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Review of

One Night in Beartown by Nick Jones and Si Clark

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Many children have an obsession and Sandy Lane, who lives in Beartown, is obsessed with bears. She collects books about bears. Her favourite toy is Berisford, a teddy bear passed down by her grandmother. Every night, she looks out of her bedroom window and says goodnight to the bear statue outside. Every morning she says hello to Bee Bear, a colourful painted bear that lives at her school. She even has bears on her bedroom wallpaper! Full Review

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