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
{{newreview
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|title=Murray and Bun
|author=Fin Gypsy, Zoa Gypsy and Monika Suska
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|rating=4.5
|title=The Dog Detectives: Lost in London
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|genre=Confident Readers
|rating=4
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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…
|genre=For Sharing
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|isbn=0008561249
|summary=There are six ravens kept in the Tower of London and they hold a magical spell which stops the city falling into ruin, but only so long as they stay in the Tower. So what happens when they decide to have a game of hide and seek? Luckily Detective Jack and Deputy Poco Loco, The Dog Detectives, are on hand to help. Will they find all six before afternoon tea?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848860692</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1732898766
|author=Luana Rinaldo
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|title=The Adventures of Birpus and Bulbus: Book One: The Sour Milk Dragon
|title=Who Am I? This is My Mouth
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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=Who am I?  Well, I'm a very sturdy board book, but forget any idea of just having eight to twelve pages with pictures and an elementary story for the youngest childrenOn each double page spread we have an animal and a rhyme which gives a hint as to who the animal might be – but the mouth obviously belongs to another animal altogether. So – on the first page we have an animal with long teeth which are used to eat hay – but the snout is green and appears to be underwater! Pull the slide at the side of the page and the correct body part appears along with the word 'horse'.
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|summary=When we first meet Birpus and Bulbus they're running for their lives in the Forest of Fine ReputeTheir 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>1408315092</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Albert Uderzo and Renee Goscinny
 
|title=Where's Asterix?
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=Following in the tradition of 'Where's Wally' books here we have 'Where's Asterix?' There are 12 different scenes from the Asterix stories where you have to find not just Asterix but a whole range of other characters hidden throughout as well. Turn it into a competition as you win a laurel wreath for each character you find!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444004441</amazonuk>
 
 
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B0CC9W7GLR
|author=Andrew Weale and Ben Cort
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|title=On the Beach: The Winter Visitor
|title=Nora: The Girl Who Ate and Ate and Ate
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|author=Chris Green and Jenny Fionda
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary='Nora, the girl who ate and ate and ate...' is a fabulously funny book.  Before you even open it, you can tell that Nora is a small child with a huge appetite as on the front cover her plate is piled high with all manner of food that she appears extremely eager to devour. Throughout the story, Nora eats more and more but when she scoffs all of the 'hugest gooey chocolate cake' that her mother has just made, she is sent to her room. It doesn't stop there though as Nora hunts round for more things to eat and I am not just talking about food. She eats everything including her teddy bear curled up in her mattress in order to make a sandwich! After finally eating her clothes she lets out an almighty burp that has the most surprising but happy consequence for this hungry heroine! She whizzes into Space like a balloon and ends up on the moon which, of course, as we all know, is made of cheese!
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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>1849390517</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1913839656
|author=Ann Bonwill and Simon Rickerty
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|title=Let's Celebrate Being Different
|title=I Don't Want To Be A Pea!
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|author=Lainey Dee
|rating=5
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|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Hugo is a hippo and Bella is a bird and they belong to each other because all hippos have birds and all birds have hippos. They are all set for a very special night as they get ready to attend the very exciting Bird-Hippo Fairytale Fancy Dress Party but first they need to decide on what costumes they will wear in order to go as a pair. Hugo's first suggestion is that they should go as the princess and the pea but Bella does not want to be a pea because it is too small and green. She suggests that they go as a mermaid and her rock, but this time Hugo objects to being the rock as it is too grey and blobby. They continue in this way making and rejecting suggestions until it looks as if they have reached a stand-off with neither willing to give in. This situation makes both Bella and Hugo miserable though so at last they agree to a rather surprising and ingenious solution and end up having great fun at the party after all.
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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>0192780174</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1529504775
|author=James Mayhew
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|title=The Toy Bus (The Repair Shop Stories)
|title=Boy
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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=Boy is chilly, and looking for somewhere cosy to snuggle upHe doesn't want to share with his parents though so he goes off exploring by himself to find the perfect cosy spotSeveral times he thinks he's discovered somewhere, but then it turns out to be where a sabre-toothed tiger lives, or the home of a woolly mammothWill he ever find the place that's perfect just for him?
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|summary=Elsie and her little brother David loved to go to the park and watch the red buses drive pastElsie 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 homeGradually, David learned to stand up, use the bus for support, and walk behind itMany 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>1408314096</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1529504767
|author=Mat Head
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|title=The Christmas Doll (The Repair Shop Stories)
|title=Warduff and the Corncob Caper
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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=There's trouble on Corncob FarmA fox is coming round for tea and poor old Fefferflap is all a flutter because she suspects that she, and all the other farm animals, are on the menu! Can Warduff save the day?
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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 herShe 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>1849392269</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1916459943
|author=Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz
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|title=Squeakily Baby
|title=Mad About Minibeasts!
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|author=Beth Webb
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Is your little one mad about minibeasts? Are they forever summoning you to come and see the spider in the bathroom or the ladybird on the log? If so then this rhyming book is perfect to read with them!
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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>1408309467</amazonuk>
 
 
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=140639131X
|author=Emily Bearn
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|title=A Practical Present for Philippa Pheasant
|title=Tumtum and Nutmeg: Trouble at Rose Cottage
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|author=Briony May Smith
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=Mysterious things are afoot in Rose Cottage.  It appears that some new mice, one with golden teeth, have moved into the kitchen and are threatening the tranquil lives of Tumtum and Nutmeg who live in Nutmouse Hall.  After some investigation they discover the new mice are town mice, intent on causing trouble.  Will the children discover who has been stealing their things, or discover a way to stop their father from selling Rose Cottage before it's too late and their lives, as well as Tumtum and Nutmeg's, are changed forever?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405256559</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Francesca Simon and Pete Williamson
 
|title=The Parent Swap Shop
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Ava's parents like to nagThey nag her about her spelling, about eating with her knife and fork, or sitting straight on her chair, or going to bed on time...nag, nag, nag! But then one day she finds a card advertising 'The Parent Swap Shop' and when her parents nag her one more time she packs them off and sets out to find herself a new set of parents!
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|summary=Philippa Pheasant was ''tired'' of nearly getting squished as she tried to cross the Old Oak RoadShe 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 obviousAll the animals used the crossing and Hedgehog was even trained up to provide a safe path overnight.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444002678</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1776574338
|author=Alexander McCall Smith
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|title=Leilong's Too Long!
|title=Precious and the Monkeys
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|author=Julia Liu and Bei Lynn
|rating=4.5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Someone has been stealing food at Precious' schoolThere are suspicions about who it might be, but no one is sure so Precious sets out to try and discover the truth as to just where all those snacks are disappearing off to...
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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 neckIt'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>1846972043</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1776574028
|author=Marta Altes
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|title=Bumblebee Grumblebee
|title=No!
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|author=David Elliott
|rating=4.5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=''No!'' is all about one family pet's desperate attempts to please his owners.  He helps with the laundry, tastes their food before they eat it to make sure it's all right, and even warms up their beds for them before they go to sleep...the poor deluded pup thinks his family love him very much since they're always calling out what he thinks is his name, 'Noooooo!'
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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>1846434173</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1838226834
|author=Rebecca Elliott
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|title=Carried Away With the Carnival
|title=Sometimes
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|author=Ed Boxall
|rating=4.5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Clemmie is Toby's big sister.  Sometimes she has to go and stay in hospital.  This story tells us all about the fun Toby and Clemmie have in hospital together, and some of the harder parts of being poorly too.
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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>0745962696</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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''It'll be brilliant, just remember, don't let go of my hand.''
|author=Hannah Cumming
 
|title=The Lost Stars
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Everyone in the world is terribly busy, rushing around, using all their gadgets and gizmos and lights, far too busy to look up into the night sky and see the stars.  The stars get fed up and so they decide to go away on holiday for a while.  No one notices until one day the power runs out and suddenly everyone is in the dark...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846434165</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B09MYXSRV4
|author=Claudia Boldt
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|title=Otter's Coat: The Real Reason Turtle Raced Rabbit: A Cherolachian Tortoise and Hare
|title=Uugghh!
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|author=Cordellya Smith
|rating=3.5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=I like it when I find a completely different style in this genre of book as it reminds me that picture books are not just for the under fives, they can reach a much wider audience as well as giving out strong and important messages. This book is an interesting one; it is obviously giving a very clear message about self perception and image, which implies that everybody is special to somebody and you can always find beauty in the world, even if not everybody find beauty in you.
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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 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184643372X</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Rob Keeley
|author=Caryl Hart and Leigh Hodgkinson
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|title= Carrots Don’t Grow On Trees!
|title=Don't Put Your Pants on Your Head, Fred
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|rating= 4
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=This is a gem of a book. Fred just can't get to grips with his underwear; pants and vests alike, it's taking him most of the day to get dressed and it's going to take much more than his sister's endless advice to help. Caryl Hart and Leigh Hodgkinson have made a great job of turning what is just a nice premise into a brilliant book. Though some might suggest that pants have been overdone in the world of picture books, I think I could find a few thousand five year olds who would disagree.
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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>1408309165</amazonuk>
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|isbn= B09HHN541V
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B09FFJF8YS
|author=Bob Hartman and Krisztina Kallai Nagy
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|title=You Can't Wear Panties! (No More Nappies!)
|title=The Lion Storyteller Book of Animal Tales
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|author=Justine Avery and Kate Zhoidik
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=If you want to know how the turkey got its spots, or what advice was given by a lion, or even why the tortoise has no hair, then this is the book for you. It holds a collection of thirty six enchanting stories that will answer these questions and many many more. There are well known fables from Ancient Greece such as The Fox and The Crow and The Boastful Toad, and many other traditional tales from countries such as Japan, Indonesia, Peurto Rico, Syria and India to mention just a few. As you would expect, with tales from so many different parts of the world, there is great variety within this collection which also enables children to read about many different cultures, beliefs and ways of life.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0745961312</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
 
|title=Dr Xargle's Book Of Earth Tiggers
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=We have met Dr Xargle before, telling his class all about 'earthlets' and 'earth hounds', so now we see him again bumbling through his lesson with highly amusing misinformation about Earth Tiggers, or cats as we like to call them. As with many books by these authors, ''Dr Xargle's Book of Earth Tiggers'' is very witty indeed. The illustrations are funny as ever and work together with the words incredibly well, as without the correct pictures, this style of books can fly over the heads of little readers.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849392978</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Peter Schossow
 
|title=My First Car Was Red
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=A young boy receives a pedal car from his grandpa, but it's old, rusty and needs work. They tinker with it, do it up, and paint it bright red. Grandpa gives the young boy instructions on how to use it, then the boy and his brother, Cornelius, go off for an adventure in the car. They careen round corners, barrage through wasp nests, duck low branches in the forest, and nearly go flying off a cliff, before crashing into a creek and pushing the car back home, exhausted.
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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>1877467685</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=David McKee
 
|title=The Conquerors
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=The General rules the country, with his strong army and large cannon. The army stomps from country to country, conquering other people, until they've conquered all the countries except one. Rather than fighting back, this tiny little country treats the army as friends, welcoming them into their homes, with warmth and kindness.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842704680</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Fiona Roberton
 
|title=Wanted: The Perfect Pet
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=What Henry wants most in the world, more than chips, more than a trip to the moon, is a dog.  He has 27 different sorts of frogs but they, he claims, are boring.  What he really, really wants is a dog, and so he decides to advertise to try and find one.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444902628</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Kes Gray and Mary McQuillan
 
|title=Get Well Friends
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Nurse Nibbles has a hospital full of patients - who can we see who is poorly?  There's a hamster whose whiskers got caught up in his wheel, and a centipede who sprained 98 ankles playing hockey!  Will Nurse Nibbles be able to make them feel better?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444903810</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Mark Birchall
 
|title=Copy Cat
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=''Copy Cat'' begins with the reader being told that:
 
  
''Cat was small and Dog was big;''<br>
 
''and whatever Dog did, Cat did too''.'
 
  
We soon learn that this involves very exciting activities such as dinosaur hunting, balancing on a high wire, digging for pirate treasure and deep sea diving. Although it is perfectly understandable that Cat should want to join in all the fun, Dog does start to get fed up with him always tagging along. That is why, when she decides to explore Space, she makes sure that there is only room for one on her spaceship. You can imagine her annoyance though when Cat shows up in his own spaceship and this leads to her telling him off for being such a copycat.
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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!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846433673</amazonuk>
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{{Frontpage
 
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|author= Justine Avery and Naday Meldova
{{newreview
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|title=Everybody Toots! (Everybody Potties!)
|author=Jill Newton
 
|title=Don't Wake Mr Bear!
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Dormouse is the leader of the woodland orchestra, and it is time for the lullaby of the forest to begin. Softly, gently the animals play and off goes Dormouse to hibernate for the winter, departing with the strict instruction ''remember, WHATEVER you do, don't wake Mr Bear!'' It's not hard to guess what happens next, is it?!
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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>1405249668</amazonuk>
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|isbn= B09C2RVJ2W
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn= B09BG8V3Q6
|author=John Yeoman and Quentin Blake
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|title= Who Needs Nappies? Not Me! (Everybody Potties!)
|title=Beatrice and Vanessa
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|author= Justine Avery and Seema Amjad
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Beatrice (the sheep) and Vanessa (the goat) live together on a farm, staying in the same field, looking out at the same view, and talking together about the same things day after day.  One day they find they've run out of things to say, so they decide to take a holiday together.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849392692</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Kallie George and Abigail Halpin
 
|title=The Melancholic Mermaid
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=Maude is a mermaid who was born with two tails.  Her parents tell her it makes her special, stronger and faster, but amongst the other mermaid children it makes her an outcast.  She is lonely, and she longs for a friend.  Feeling sorry for herself one day she isn't paying attention and she is captured by a fisherman who sells her to a circus.  On the same day that Maude was born, Tony was born in a cottage by the sea.  He has webbed hands and, like Maude, is teased at school and left lonely and sad.  His parents send him to live with the circus, believing he will be accepted and happy there but Tony is still lonely and he misses the sea.  But then one day he is put in charge of a new attraction for the circus.  A mermaid with two tails...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1897476531</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Neil Griffiths and Janette Louden
 
|title=Sock It!
 
|rating=3
 
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Sock It! is a bit like ''Pants'' by Nick Sharratt, which makes it more of a long entertaining rhyme than a story as such. Because of this I'd say it's one to read together with your child when you want a bit of fun, as opposed to a bedtime story, as it has a very loud feel, with bright illustrations and silly rhymes to make kids giggle and want to join in.
+
|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>1905434820</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B07GZ81J7C
|author=Steve Webb and Katharine McEwen
+
|title=When Fred the Snake Got Squished and Mended
|title=Tigerbear
+
|author=Peter Cotton
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=I'm a sucker for a good bedtime story and to me ''Tigerbear'' is just that. With the perfect tone for a bedtime read, a small amount of adventure, a nice rhyming pattern and friendly illustrations, I can see this book sending many children off to sleep to have their own adventure in years to come.
+
|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>184939007X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author= Justine Avery and Naday Meldova
|author=Simona Sanfilipo
+
|title= Everybody Pees! (Everybody Potties!)
|title=Rapunzel
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=A poor villager and his wife are expecting a baby. However, when the man steals some rapunzel from a witch's garden and is caught, she insists that she be given the baby when it is born. That baby turns out to be a girl called Rapunzel, and as she grows up she is imprisoned in a tall tower by the witch. Her hair grows incredibly long and the witch uses this as a means of reaching Rapunzel in her room at the top. A passing prince hears her sweet singing and seeing what the witch does, also calls to Rapunzel to let down her hair. They form a friendship but before the prince can help Rapunzel to escape, the witch discovers what has been going on and cuts off Rapunzel's hair and banishes her to a lonely desert. The prince searches for her, albeit rather hazily, as he has lost his glasses. Will he find her so that they can live happily ever after? Well it is a fairy tale so what do you think?
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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>1846432499</amazonuk>
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|isbn= B098BJZYHH
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Justine Avery and Naday Meldova
|author=Neil Griffiths and Janette Louden
+
|title=No, No, No!
|title=Sneezy Bear
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=At the beginning of 'Sneezy Bear', we meet Bear who is enjoying a soak in the river. Although he would be happy to luxuriate in the water all day, he starts to feel hungry so decides that he needs to go in search of some food. First he spots some tasty looking salmon but just as he is about to grab one, he lets out an almighty sneeze that causes a huge splash which allows all of the fish to escape. Next he spots a cherry tree, but before he can taste the juicy fruit, he sneezes yet again and the cherries explode everywhere leaving nothing to eat.
+
|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>190543426X</amazonuk>
+
 
}}
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''No, No, No!'' is based around the simplest text imaginable.
 +
 
 +
''No, no, no! Okay, okay. Yes, you may.''
  
{{newreview
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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=Hiawyn Oram and Satoshi Kitamura
+
|isbn=1638820457
|title=In The Attic
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=''I had a million toys and I was bored,'' exclaims the unnamed protagonist of ''In The Attic''. Rather than moaning about his boredom, he does something about it, so he climbs into the attic and into his imagination. He finds little creatures, miraculous worlds, an old engine, and a tiger to be his friend. He fills his day with miraculous and dreamy adventures, then heads back home to report back to his mum.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849392986</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=194812467X
|author=Rebecca Elliott
+
|title=The Farm Shop
|title=Zoo Girl
+
|author=Devon Avery, Justine Avery and Ema Tepic
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Zoo girl was not what I expected. I was anticipating your average rhyming story aimed at preschoolers with the usual obsession over zoo animals. What I got was a very deep, moving tale aimed above the usual picture book age that will resonate with people who read it from children to adults.
+
|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>074596270X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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What will they buy?
|author=Nick Butterworth
 
|title=Tales From Percy's Park: Percy's Bumpy Ride
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=At the start of 'Percy's Bumpy Ride', all the park animals are puzzled by the strange noises coming from Percy the Park keeper's workshop. They cannot guess what Percy is up to, but soon all is revealed when the doors open and Percy drives out on a spanking new machine. It's a new lawn mower and when Percy claims that it will help him fly around the park he is not joking. He and the animals roar around the park cutting the grass speedily and efficiently. However, before long the mower literally takes off and it looks as if they are all heading for a nasty accident until some very friendly sheep help to soften their landing. Percy decides that maybe his exciting new mower is perhaps not up to the job of keeping the park's grass in trim, but luckily, the sheep have given him another idea...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>000715514X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0995647895
|author=Nat Lambert and Andrea Petrlik
+
|title=Sadie and the Sea Dogs
|title=Colours Sticker Activity Book
+
|author=Maureen Duffy and Anita Joice
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=It's lovely to find a book – and even better to find a series of books - which allow parents and children to do something constructive together.  The first book which we looked at was ''Colours''.  On each double page spread there are plenty of things to talk about with your child, stickers to find and put in the appropriate spaces and then a game or an activity to completeYou'll find songs to sing, pictures to colour in and join-the-dot pictures to complete. There are even some smiley faces so that you can reward your child for what they've achievedThey're suitable for the three plus age group and will be enjoyed by both boys and girls.
+
|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>1849562938</amazonuk>
+
 
 +
''Her class had gone one rainy afternoon''<br>
 +
''When all the houses cowered in the gloom,''<br>
 +
''To the Maritime Museum''.
 +
 +
Her imagination was firedShe'd love to sail the oceans on an ancient sailing ship and went back regularlyOne 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 shoutWhen 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.
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1782227741
|author=Robin Tzannes and Korky Paul
+
|title=Little Gold Ted
|title=When Chico Went Fishing
+
|author=Vanessa Wiercioch, Poppy Satha and Sasha Satha
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Chico wants to go fishing with his father very much, and begs him, but dad says no, he will make too much noise and scare away the fish. In the end, Chico sets out to go fishing on his own, and he does really well. This is a very simple story. It is accompanied though by fascinating, detailed illustrations. In fact, it is billed as a Korky Paul picture book, one in which illustrator Korky Paul has done the drawings. I think this is really interesting as often illustrated children’s books are sold on the basis of the author of the text.
+
|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>0192729942</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=B08R7LXQ9S
|author=Richard Byrne
+
|title=Remy: A book about believing in yourself
|title=This Book Belongs To Aye-Aye
+
|author=Mayuri Naidoo and Caroline Siegal
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Aye-Aye goes to Miss Deer's Academy For Aspiring Picture-Book Animals. Dontcha just love that concept? He's desperate to be in a book of his own, but he's not quite ready yet. Miss Deer announces that there's going to be a very special prize for the most helpful animal of the week. However, as the week goes on, the parameters of the competition seem to change, and the Rabbit Twins are up to their usual cheeky shenanigans.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192756192</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jan Ormerod and Lindsey Gardiner
 
|title=The Animal Bop Won't Stop
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=The words are easy to read aloud and would be fun, perhaps, to share with a small group of co-operative pre-school children and try out the suggested movements. If you want to get your kids dancing, this might not be the best choice at bedtime, and my boys are a bit wary of directed activity (so we exercise them in the park).
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>019278014X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Sally Gardner
 
|title=Snow White
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Having read many retellings of Grimms' tales, it is refreshing to read one that expands the story familiar into six short chapters while remaining faithful to the original narrative. Gardner adds some detail to the story (the Seven Dwarfs try to protect Snow White by inventing some alarm systems to warn of the queen's approach, and Snow White is making an apple pie when the queen disguised as an old woman arrives with the poisoned apple) but does not remove or prettify the more violent aspects of the story; the huntsman kills a deer and persuades the queen that its heart is Snow White's, and the queen is ''smashed to smithereens'' on rocks as she tries to escape from the dwarfs . The prince arriving and Snow White returning to life after the piece of poisoned apple is jolted from her mouth is the resolution to the story, but the dwarfs being the guests of honour at the wedding is a nice touch.
+
|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>1444002430</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1471191303
|author=David Bedford and Julian Russell
+
|title=The Invisible
|title=Bouncy Bouncy Bedtime
+
|author=Tom Percival
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=At the very start of this book it is bedtime, but before going to sleep, the author asks the young reader:
+
|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:
  
'Have you ever wondered what the animals do?<br>
+
''Ice curled across the inside of the window and crept up the corner of the bedpost.''
Do they go to bed like me and you?'
 
  
and then we are asked to imagine...
+
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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405257423</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Nick Jones and Si Clark
|author=John Hegley and Neal Layton
+
|title=One Night in Beartown
|title=Stanley's Stick
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Stanley loves his stick and carries it everywhere. He loves to play with it and finds all sorts of uses for it. Forget all those expensive plastic toys; the stick is the best toy he could have. (It is nice to see a child in a book playing with something that doesn’t cost money).
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340988185</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Laura Barella
 
|title=The Little Mermaid
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=I've always found the story of the Little Mermaid to be a rather strange choice for a toddler's picture book since it doesn't have the expected happy ending. Of course that means that usually the ending gets altered, to make it palatable for little ones. This particular retelling for younger children is unusual as it steers clear of a romantic happy ending in Disney-style and actually ends on quite a solemn, sad note.
+
|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>1846433258</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=B08NFH7H9X
}}
+
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest General Fiction Reviews]]
|author=Carol Thompson
 
|title=Snug!
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=What makes you feel snug?  Tucked up like a bug in a rug?  Being as snug as a mole in his underground hole?  This story looks at all different ways that make us feel cosy and warm.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846433738</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

5star.jpg For Sharing

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

3.5star.jpg For Sharing

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

5star.jpg For Sharing

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

4star.jpg For Sharing

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

4.5star.jpg For Sharing

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

4star.jpg For Sharing

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

4star.jpg For Sharing

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

4star.jpg For Sharing

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

4star.jpg For Sharing

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

4.5star.jpg For Sharing

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

4.5star.jpg For Sharing

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

4star.jpg For Sharing

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

4star.jpg For Sharing

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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