Newest For Sharing Reviews
Mmm...Let's Eat! by Libby Koponen
Children often have a tendency to end up eating brown and white foods, not wanting to branch out into any more colourful territory for fear of the unknown of purple aubergines or blue blueberries. This book aims to get children thinking a little bit more about the colours of foods, perhaps encouraging them to try something a little bit out of the ordinary one day. Full review...
Stick Man's First Words by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Does your child roam the house dressed as the Gruffalo? Do you know the words to Tiddler off by heart? Have you read and loved Stick Man as we at The Bookbag have? Well, this is one for the fans, a first words book full of wonderful illustrations by Axel Scheffler and based on the Stick Man story. Full review...
Squiglet Pig by Joyce Dunbar and Tim Hopgood
Squiglet Pig is based on a real deep sea creature, the piglet squid. This is one of those creatures you have to see to believe. It honestly does look like it always smiling, and very much like the main character in this book. Full review...
Wild by Emily Hughes
Wild is the story of a girl who has grown up in the forest with only the animals to care for her, but this is where she belongs and she is happy. All of the animals love her and she loves them. She learns how to speak from the birds, what to eat from the bears, how to play from the foxes, and the deer and the rabbit keep her company as she sleeps. She has no clothing, nor does she need it, Her long mane of unruly green hair covers the important bits and gives her the appearance of something that has sprung to life from the forest itself. She is creature of pure innocence. Full review...
Trumpety Trump by Steve Smallman and Adria Meserve
Two subjects guaranteed to have any nursery age child in stitches are bums and farts. This book has plenty of both, along with some other very rude behaviour which will have children begging to hear this again and again. Although the book reads like a non stop riot of rude and raucous behaviour, it does teach children about friendship and manners as well. Adults will appreciate the moral to the story, but children will be so busy laughing, they'll hardly notice that they are learning at the same time. Full review...
My Zoo by Rod Campbell
My children have always been drawn to Rod Campbell's simple but appealing illustrations, so I was delighted to have a chance to review this book, even though my boys are now older than the expected age range. This is a very simple book. There are fifteen large die cut animals on a pastel coloured background. The illustrations have a unique quality to them that I can only describe as Rod Campbell. The animals all have friendly appearance, and a kind of gentleness to them. The front view of each animal has only the animal's name in bold black print. When you turn the page, there is a single sentence about the animal in smaller print. With a very young baby, the parent can read only the animals name, perhaps adding the sound for each animal. As the child grows older, the parents can begin reading the extra line on each animal. The fact the animals are larger than usual in these pictures, and on sturdy pages that are perfect for little hands, means this book would be ideal for babies as young as six months. I feel this would make a lovely first book for young child. As much as we loved Dear Zoo, I feel this book is even better for infants. Full review...
Robot Rumpus by Sean Taylor and Ross Collins
My sons tore open the parcel with Robot Rumpus and were already reading it themselves before I could even get the tape from the rest of the box, so they had one up on me when we settled down to read it later as a family. We began looking through the robot models on the inside of the front of cover, and as I mentioned which ones I wish we could have, the boys were already laughing with a just wait and see look on their faces. Full review...
Baggy Brown and the Royal Baby by Mick Inkpen
Baggy Brown had the best possible start in life. He was the first bear off the production line at Better Bears Limited and was destined for The Palace. Baggy was to be the bear of Princess Sophinyiniannia - that's Sophie to you and me - but life went disastrously wrong for Baggy before he reached the end of the conveyor belt. A NOT FOR SALE notice was stuck on his nose and a NO 1 tag in his ear, but it was the NOT FOR SALE notice which proved his undoing. He didn't line himself up correctly, and fell straight off the end of the conveyor belt and into the big red teddy bear machine. Full review...
The Radically Awesome Adventures of the Animal Princess: Balloon Toons by Pranas T Naujokaitis
I know so many parents who are completely fed up with the stereotyped role of little girls and especially princesses in stories. If you are looking for stories with a totally different type of princess, then this book is for you. The little princess, or Animal Princess as she is known, is most certainly not a damsel in distress. She is an active heroine boldly seeking adventure, and the messier the better. Rather than looking like a beauty pageant winner in a formal gown, the little Animal Princess looks refreshingly child like in the illustrations. I am delighted to see a princess drawn with the proportions of an ordinary child rather than a Barbie doll. She also prefers nice comfortable animal pyjamas to ball gowns. Full review...
My Friend Fred (the Plant) by Daniel Cleary and Kanako Usui
I loved comic books as a child. As an adult. I love them even more as wonderful way to encourage literacy in young children. Unfortunately comic books for children are hard to come by now, and there are very few books in this format for children under age 8. Ballooon Toons seems poised to change this with a delightful new series of children's books printed in comic book style format, but with a sturdy hardback binding. Full review...
The Belly Book by Fran Manushkin and Dan Yaccarino
The formula for the perfect children’s picture book may go something like this:
Simple Theme + Rhyming Text + Memorable Phrases + Great Illustrations = Happy readers.
In which case, it would seem that the authors of 'The Belly Book' have followed this blueprint to the letter, resulting in a delightful book that is perfect for cosy snuggle time on the sofa. Full review...
My School Day by Ellen Crimi-Trent
The feature that initially attracted me to My School Day was the huge, interactive clock face on the front cover. Learning to tell the time is such an important life skill, but sometimes young children can struggle with the concept. A hands-on approach, combining the senses of sight and touch can be an effective method of teaching. The child is learning through play and having lots of fun at the same time. Full review...
Little Owl's Orange Scarf by Tatyana Feeney
Little Owl's Mummy knitted him a scarf. A long, itchy, orange scarf, and Little Owl does not like it! He tries to get rid of it, using it as wrapping for a gift, and hiding it in a suitcase bound for Peru, but no luck! Mummy finds it every time. Then one day, Little Owl goes on a school visit to the zoo and he comes home without his scarf. What will Mummy say? Full review...
The Hundred Decker Bus by Mike Smith
Can you imagine if one day, you're on the bus to town and suddenly the driver decides to take a different road? Perhaps he carries on down this road, just to see where it might go. I know what I'd be doing, and it isn't sitting happily in my seat waiting to see where we end up! However, in fiction anything can happen and in this story, when the driver heads off on his own little jaunt, his passengers come along quite happily with him! Full review...
Elephantantrum! by Gillian Shields and Cally Johnson-Isaacs
Ellie is one of those children. You know, the sort you see lying on the floor in the supermarket screaming that they won't go anywhere until you buy them the pink fairy doll with the flashing wand. We've all been there, or at least I have an awful memory of trying to fold my daughter back into her pushchair in M&S and her going stiff as a board and screaming a high pitched scream for what felt like 5 hours rather than 5 minutes! Anyway, Ellie gets whatever she wants when she wants it, and this time she's decided that she wants an elephant. Her dad manages to get her one, but once the elephant arrives Ellie finds that sometimes getting what you wish for isn't quite what you actually wanted... Full review...
Llama Llama Shopping Drama by Anna Dewdney
It's a few months since we first met Llama Llama. At the time he was suffering from night-time terrors, but today Mama is taking Llama Llama shopping and she promises that there'll be a treat when it's all finished. Llama Llama was happily playing in the sun: he doesn't want to go shopping and the trip doesn't begin well. It's a big building, with lots of signs and lots of aisles. He doesn't like the music, the ladies around all small far too sweet and he's staring at their knees. And that's before he gets to the agony of trying on sweaters and shoes. You know what's going to happen, don't you? Well, Llama Llama does it big time. Full review...
Bang by Leo Timmers
It all starts with a deer in a bright yellow car. He has a stack of books tied to the back of his car, but couldn't resist reading one while he drives. It might have been OK if a bin had not fallen from the lorry in front of him, but engrossed in his book he never notices until with a very loud bang he comes crashing to a stop. This sets off a chain reaction resulting in a ten-car pile up as every car but one comes crashing into the car in front of it. The quick thinking of Mr Gecko means he is able to stop just in time with a screech of the brakes, but Mr Penguin in the ice cream van is not so lucky, crashing into the gecko and his truck load of multi coloured paint and forcing the Gecko forward to smash into the last car in the pile up. Full review...
Akissi by Marguerite Abouet and Mathieu Sapin
Many parents are becoming upset with the over sexualisation of female characters in children's films and books. I know many are also fed up with the stereotyped princess character. If you are looking for a book for a little girl who doesn't suit the stereotypes, Akissi is absolutely perfect. In addition to breaking stereo types in children's literature, this book gives children a first hand look at life in another country. I have often read that children exposed to stories of other cultures usually grow up more tolerant. Whether it is the stories themselves, or simply the type of parent who chooses that type of story, I don't know. Still I have always gone out of my way to make sure my children have books which depict children from a wide variety of locations and cultures. This book gives the reader a very realistic vision of what life in Africa might be like. Best of all though, this book lets the children just be children. They don't look like adults and they don't act like adults. I think we need more books like this. Full review...
The Toucan Brothers by Tor Freeman
I hate to mention illustrations before mentioning the story with a children's book, but the illustrations are clearly the first thing you will notice with the book. My children, drawn by the illustrations, had this pulled out of the box of books it came in and were sitting down reading it before I could even sort through the rest. As soon as I saw this, I thought of Richard Scarry. The illustrations are highly reminiscent of Scarry's work, but if anything these are bolder, brighter and busier. If you have a child who is a visual learner, or who needs plenty of visual cues when reading, this book is definitely one you want to take a closer look at. The expressions on the characters faces are perfect and each page literally seems to come to life with so many activities going on. Full review...
The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water by Gemma Merino
'The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water' begins with a Mother crocodile carrying a basket of blue eggs. But one of the eggs isn't quite like the others, and when the little crocs hatch, one crocodile isn't quite like the others. All of the other crocodiles love the water, but the odd one out prefers to climb trees. The other crocodiles were not cruel, but he felt left out as they all played water games. He tried to fit in, but he just wasn't meant to be a water creature. His attempts to be something other than what nature intended are touching, but also terribly funny. Soon the reason for the little crocodile's dislike of water becomes apparent - he isn't a crocodile at all and he wasn't meant to swim - he was meant to fly. Full review...
Nanny Fox by Georgie Adams and Selina Young
Everyone knows that foxes eat chickens. It's a storybook standard. But here, in this story, Arnold the Fox likes chickens to be his friends, not his dinner. He'd rather have a peanut butter sandwich instead! Full review...
One Night, Far From Here by Julia Wauters
I didn't think they made books like this any more. It's very rare to see a book with transparent pages nowadays. I have literally searched for years, snapping up the odd one from used book sellers. These may have gone out of style now in favour of books with batteries, buttons and bells, but these engage a child in a way no battery operated contraption possibly could. Children are fascinated by the pages, not just my own children, but every child I have seen with these. This book is wonderful for story time, but it is also the type of book that children seek out, quietly turning the pages, lost in their own imagination. Experts are beginning to recognise playing with books as a crucial step in emergent literacy. This is a book children will turn to again and again, experiencing a different adventure each time they lose themselves in the pages, and learning that books offer excitement and adventure. Full review...
Babies, Babies, Babies! by Catherine Anholt and Laurence Anholt
This book is one of those lovely books that covers an awful lot in just a few pages. Full of sweet pictures and gentle rhyming text it takes you on a journey through the sort of things that babies' lives revolve around - food, animals, family, clothes and playing. You can read the text as it's written or you may find that your little ones are happy to just look through the book, talking to you about what they can see, what it reminds them of, and what they'd like to do that day. Full review...
Zoe and Beans: Hello Oscar by Chloe Inkpen and Mick Inkpen
Zoe and her dog, Beans, are in the garden when Beans sniffs out a guinea pig. Fortunately Beans is a very unaggressive-looking dog who seems unlikely to finish off any small rodent in one excited bite. His curiosity allows the story to accumulate an ever-more exciting set of roaming pets for Zoe to discover, including, surprisingly, a chameleon. By the time Zoe gets to shouting out her name to a parrot, who insists on calling her Oscar, Beans has disappeared through a hole in the fence. That’s when Oscar, the owner of all these wonderful animals, crawls backwards through the fence and how the friends meet, so I’m guessing this is the first of a series of stories featuring Zoe and Oscar. Full review...
Zoe and Beans: Look at me! by Chloe Inkpen and Mick Inkpen
This is the first board book in a Zoe and Beans series in development, so it will be played with and handled by very young children. Babies and toddlers will like the cheery pics, friendly faces and Beans, the faithful playmate-dog. I loved Beans. He conveyed all the resignation of a household mutt dominated by an ever-demanding toddler. Full review...
Monster, Be Good! by Natalie Marshall
No-one need be frightened of these beasties, and it’s not a story about conquering fears. Instead, these are miscreant monsters who are put in their places with some very firm guidance. Children will recognise the orders instantly, for parents come out with them in varying tones of tiredness, resignation or irritation on a daily basis. In fact, I have the sneaky feeling that the author is on the side of the adults. Full review...
Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam by Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton
Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam are two dogs with half baked idea for what thy think will be the perfect crime - despite their previous failures. The dogs prepare a wonderful feast to lure their intended victims out, making cupcakes, pies, buns and every sort of baked treat you can imagine. They have a wonderful time baking, but all the while they are planning to rob all of their guests when the party is in full swing. The feast is a huge success, but the robbery is another disaster. A small act of kindness and a heart felt apology results in forgiveness, and a wonderful idea for a new career. Full review...
It's a Little Book by Lane Smith
Lane Smith's blockbuster hit 'It's A Book' spent six months on the New York Times bestsellers list. Her new 'It's a Little Book' provides a very similar story, but on a level better suited to very young children. Both books feature a very computer-literate donkey and a quiet thoughtful monkey. In both books, donkey has never seen a book before and has all sorts of questions to which monkey always replies no or it's a book. Donkey doesn't seem able to quite figure out why monkey is so interested in this thing with no whistles and bells or lights or action, or to understand why monkey likes this strange thing so much - until monkey shows him the magic of books as well. Full review...
Ping and Pong are Best Friends (mostly) by Tim Hopgood
Ping and Pong are best mates, but Ping feels that he is always in Pong's shadow. Anything Ping can do, Pong can do better. Ping is learning to skate, taking baby steps on the ice while Pong twirls and zooms around him. Ping paints a colourful canvas with bright coloured splodges while Pong paints a lovely vase with flowers. No matter what he does, Pong can do it so much better that poor Ping gives up and decides to do nothing at all. But perhaps there is something that Ping can do better than anyone else, and that it just to be a friend. This is a fun book to read that had my four year old laughing out loud, but there is a lot more to this book than humour; it has a lovely heart warming message about friendship as well. Full review...
Mabel and Me by Mark Sperring and Sarah Warburton
Good children’s books open new windows on the world. This title did just that.
The viewpoint character is a sharp-tongued mouse with Attitude. His best friend is Mabel, a kindly little girl of few words. The two friends are discussing why they are bestest, bestest friends as they stroll in an unguessable Euro-city. Their discussion is interrupted by Monsieur Famous French photographer, then Senora Prima Ballerina. The mouse misinterprets their criticisms and blows his top in defence of his friend, Mabel. But he’s got it wrong, they are talking about him. Fortunately the mouse’s own high self-esteem and Mabel’s sympathetic realism defuse the crisis. It was nicely unpredictable. Full review...
Mrs Vickers' Favourite Knickers by Kara Lebihan and Deborah Allwright
Mrs Vickers' Favourite Knickers have an adventure of their own, flying high above town over the sea, before finally making a rather unusual landing right back were they started from. Children of a certain age love knickers, and I'm certain this book would be a smash hit with a nursery or reception class, and even children up to about 7or 8 are likely to enjoy reading this once. This book is quite short, and ideal for children with very short attention spans, and considering the subject matter is almost certain to hold the attention of a large group of children easily. Full review...
