Nine Words Max by Dan Bar-El and David Huyck
Some children talk lots and some talk quite little. Some jabber away incessantly, while others prefer contemplative reflection. It’s the same the world over, and it’s true whoever you are, from an average Joe to a member of the Royal Family. Prince Max is a talker, full of fun, interesting facts and observations he’s keen to share with everyone around him. His brothers, on the other hand, are boys of fewer words, and don’t have much time for Max’s waffling on. Full review...
None The Number (The Hueys) by Oliver Jeffers
A Counting Adventure! the subtitle of this book boasts. How exciting! I love numbers and counting, and so does a little boy I know. This one’s a bit old for him just yet – he’s the wrong side of 24 months – but I can’t wait to share it with him in the future. The item of question here is whether 0 is a number. After all, a number is something you can count. And if there’s 1 of something and you take 1 away, you’re left with a different number: 0 Full review...
The Very Noisy House by Julie Rhodes and Korky Paul
I might live in the middle of the country now, with nothing but pheasants and the odd wild turkey for neighbours, but I remember well what it’s like to live in the hustle and bustle. In fact, unless you too have lived on the main artery of Mexico City in a single glazed apartment, you’re going to come 2nd in the Who’s lived in a noisier house? competition. Well, it would have been second, but after reading this, I think we’d both have to bump down a spot, because nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to this house. Full review...
Betsy Goes To School by Helen Stephens
What a lovely book! Betsy is a big grown up girl so it’s time to start school, but that’s a scary thing to do. There are so many other boys and girls there, and she doesn't know any of them. Will she make it through the first day with no tears? Full review...
Dylan's Amazing Dinosaurs - the Tyrannosaurus Rex by E T Harper and Dan Taylor
Everyone love dinosaurs, that is as long as they stay millions of years in the past and don’t suddenly turn up in the park next time I am having a picnic. Dylan is a character who certainly loves dinosaurs, enough so that he is able to travel back in time to answer any questions he may have about their existence. Seems a little dangerous to me, especially when he comes up against the king of lizards in E T Harper and Dan Taylor’s, ‘Dylan's Amazing Dinosaurs - the Tyrannosaurus Rex’. Full review...
Children are Naughty by Vincent Cuvellier and Aurelie Guillerey
Children are naughty. You don't have to tell me that. I have two monsters, one of whom I found this very morning standing on top of the toilet and putting nappy cream all over himself (fully clothed, of course!) I only left the bathroom for a moment! Anyway, this story tells you all about the naughty antics that children can get up to, with everything from biting to throwing food on the floor! Prepare yourself, things could get messy...! Full review...
Have You Seen My Dragon? by Steve Light
You’d think a dragon would be hard to lose. This one is bright green and hiding in the city streets. A little boy sets out to find him. Visiting all the dragon’s favourite haunts, the boy counts objects, from one to twenty, as he goes. Follow his route, enjoy the journey and practise your counting skills. Full review...
The Short Giraffe by Neil Flory and Mark Cleary
Anyone who has ever been to a Wedding and saw the photographer trying to wrangle the bride and groom’s families together for a group shot will know all about the perils of mass photography. Neil Flory’s new children’s book, ‘The Short Giraffe’ suggests that the issue is not only human based, but also happens in the animal kingdom. Full review...
Two Giants by Michael Foreman
In this reissue of a book first published in 1967, the Two Giants live in a nice world where things are lovely and they get along brilliantly. What fun it must be to have your best friend around all the time. Until, that is, they have a fight. Before they can think about reconciling, they are separated and forced to live apart. Their animosity grows. Will it be possible for them to ever be friends again? Could something as simple and insignificant as sharing a pair of socks make it all ok? Full review...
Teddy Bedtime by Georgie Birkett
I haven’t much hands on experience with young children and bedtime, but from various alleys and avenues of my family I have a seen a few do and do nots. One thing I have learnt is that routine can be a vital tool in getting a child to bed. Whilst one set of Nephews come up to you and ask to go to bed at 7pm, the other are bouncing off the walls at 1am. Children’s books can be a great way to entertain and teach younger children a bedtime routine and Teddy Bedtime by Georgie Birkett may just be the best example I have seen. Full review...
Hilda and the Black Hound by Luke Pearson
Hilda and the Black Hound is the fourth book in the “Hildafolk” series, each of which is a self-contained tale about a highly inquisitive little girl and her adventures. This time Hilda joins the Sparrow Scouts and befriends a house spirit whilst in the meantime a mysterious beast stalks the town of Trolberg. Full review...
Baby's Got The Blues by Carol Diggory Shields
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been toting my baby in my arms, pushing him in his buggy or carrying him in his baby back pack and strangers have remarked ooh – lovely! I wish I was a baby! Well, do you think babies have it easy? Really? Well, listen up because the apple cheeked, down in the mouth hero of Baby’s Got The Blues is going to set you right. Full review...
Little Frog's Tadpole Trouble by Tatyana Feeney
I’m the little sister. I never had to deal with the threat of an impending arrival to unsettle my world, but I can’t imagine it’s always fun. There are, of course, lots of books on the subject, seeing as it’s a big topic that affects lots of families every day, but here’s a new book on the market. Can it add anything to the existing stack of Becoming a big sibling books? Full review...
Macavity,the Mystery Cat by T S Eliot and Arthur Robins
There’s nothing my little boy likes more than to sit down with a tome of good poetry. Currently he is reading T.S. Eliot. Well, that’s what I will be telling them down at playgroup anyway. No need to add that it’s not ‘The Wasteland’. The poem in this volume is actually just one from ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ and features the inimitable scoundrel of the title, Macavity. Full review...
The Queen's Hat by Steve Antony
A naughty gust of wind comes along and blows the Queen’s hat right off her head. Her Majesty simply cannot be seen bare headed, and so she follows it in hot pursuit. Full review...
The Farmer's Away! Baa! Neigh! by Anne Vittur Kennedy
Flobba dob. Eh-oh. Or should I just stop the words completely and communicate with a swanee whistle? From the Flowerpot Men to the Teletubbies via the Clangers, the substitution of ‘real’ words with made up language and sounds has always been controversial. So I’ll level with you straight away and spoil the ‘surprise’ of The Farmer’s Away! Baa! Neigh! by revealing that, bar the title, there are no proper words in this book. When this book is described as being told in the animals’ own words it means quite literally that. Barks. Hisses. Neighs. Cheeps. And lots of them. For 32 pages. Full review...
Eric the Boy Who Lost His Gravity by Jenni Desmond
Everyone gets angry sometimes. Maybe all it takes is someone queue-jumping, or in the case of my toddler, all it takes is the wrong colour cup, or someone playing with the one toy in the world that he wants right at that moment! The challenge for children growing up (and for adults too sometimes!) is how to deal with that anger. This story is about what happens when a little boy called Eric gets angry. Full review...
How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers
The boy makes various attempts to catch his star. He spends most of the day waiting for a star to appear, and when one finally does he tries climbing a tree, or dragging his father's lifebelt to lasso the star down. Each attempt, however, fails. Finally, down by the shore, he sees a star that has fallen into the sea. He walks along the beach, hoping that the star will wash up on the sand and, finally, it does! They boy and the star walk away together, hand in hand. Full review...
Rex by Simon James
Tyrannosaurus Rex is the scariest dinosaur around. He can pull whole trees out of the ground, crush boulders with his bare claws and chase away the other dinosaurs with his mighty roar! Everything changes one night when he finds an abandoned egg in a cave. A baby dinosaur pops out and decides that T.Rex is his Dadda. Full review...
The Big Splash! by A H Benjamin and Jon Lycett-Smith
The forest animals are all quietly minding their own business when:
DA-DUMP! DA-DUMP! DA-DUMP!
Something big causes the ground to shake, the trees to tremble and the rocks to rattle. It was a terrible noise! Full review...
When Angus Met Alvin by Sue Pickford
Angus is not like other aliens. He is a peace-loving little fellow, who likes nothing better than sitting in his garden watching the flowers grow and sipping a nice cup of tea. Unfortunately, one day, a strange spaceship crash lands in his garden and out pops a cheeky, hyperactive green alien called Alvin who is rather a show-off. It’s time for Angus to teach Alvin a lesson about manners. Can the two aliens put their differences aside and become friends in the end? Full review...
Secrets of the Seashore by Carron Brown and Alyssa Nassner
This book starts in a rock pool. It’s not a boring, quiet, calm place, though, it’s bustling with life, and with every page that turns we learn more about the mysterious creatures that live within it. You might not see them at first, but with a hint of magic they appear. Full review...
Tilly's At Home Holiday by Gillian Hibbs
Tariq is going to India. Chanel is going to Spain. And Paris, of course, is going to Paris. Poor Tilly. She’s not going anywhere. Not even to Grandma’s. Mum thinks that they can still enjoy themselves at home. Tilly’s not so sure. Can a visit to the library, the swimming pool, the park and a market really be as much fun as a proper holiday? Full review...
The Ice Bear by Jackie Morris
Long, long ago in the mists of time in an icy and barren landscape a bear gives birth to two cubs. While curled up close together the raven tricks the bear and steals one of the cubs away. The mother bear grieves and never forgets her loss. However the raven drops the bundle in the path of a hunter and he and his wife discover a longed for child. Seven years pass and the child wanders from his home and finds himself back in the land of the bears. He loves both families and both families love him so they must find a way to resolve this dilemma and learn to live together in harmony. Full review...
This Is Me Eating by Neal Layton
Babies love books and babies love eating, so a book about eating is bound to be a hit with the toddler brigade. This book comes to life the moment you pick it up and feel like someone is watching you. As the cover baby’s eyes roll ominously from side to side you feel a frisson of excitement. What more fun is hidden within the pages? Full review...
Boom, Baby, Boom, Boom! by Margaret Mahy and Margaret Chamberlain
Aeroplane noises, choo-choo sounds, demonstrations of mouth opening wide. I’ve heard them all suggested to help with weaning reluctant baby eaters. Never though, has it crossed my mind to bang a drum set whilst lunch time is in session. Not even at my lowest point, when I made the rookie error of crouching to pick up dropped food enabling baby to lovingly ruffle my hair with his sweet, tiny, and Weetabix concreted fingers, did this occur to me. Obviously I’m not as cool a Mama as the Mama in 'Boom, Baby, Boom Boom!'… Full review...
Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton
When four friends go out together to hunt a bird they have a specific plan in mind as to how they will do it. One of the friends, however, isn't really in on the plan and is just tagging along for the fun of it, and he finds himself getting shushed along the way each time he shouts out 'hello birdy!' Full review...
So What! by Tracey Trussell and Neil Price
Girls can be horrid sometimes. You know how it is - one girl in the playground says quite innocently that their mum bought them some new sandals at the weekend and another, louder, bigger, bossier one says 'so what!' And then perhaps every time that quieter girl opens her mouth to say something the other girl is there to shout her down with a 'so what!' This book captures those feelings, and demonstrates a way to deal with any 'so what' nonsense that comes your way! Full review...
Barbapapa's Ark by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor
Barbapapa’s Ark is the fourth book in the popular series about a shape-shifting pink blob, his wife and seven children. It follows on from the previous book, in which Barbapapa and his family built themselves a beautiful house in a peaceful valley. One day, after a picnic, the family decide to take a leisurely ride along the river, but are horrified to see sick and injured animals suffering from the effects of pollution. Over time, more and more animals come to Barbapapa for help. He decides that the only way to teach the humans a lesson is to take the animals to a new, green planet where they will be safe. Full review...
A First Book of Nature by Nicola Davies and Mark Hearld
There is a difference between a book for children that the kids themselves will like and one that adults will like. A more mature person may like some interesting illustrations or imaginative story, but most of the children I know are happy just to see some dinosaurs in their pants. However, there are books that transcend this and can appeal to both groups. Books that may have slightly dry reading for the very young, but illustrations that will transfix and amaze – introducing ‘A First Book of Nature’ written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Mark Hearld. Full review...
Grandma by Jessica Shepherd
Oscar loves his Grandma very much so it’s scary and frightening when she starts forgetting things and acting differently. She has to go and live somewhere else and it smells funny and is full of new people. Full review...
The Way To The Zoo by John Burningham
It’s easy to lie in bed and see shadows on the wall and imagine what they could be. I still do it now though I know better than to think something that looks like, say, a door in the wall, might be a portal to another universe. Sylvie, though, wants to double check when SHE sees what looks like a door and it’s just as well she does, because lo and behold it IS a door and it DOES lead somewhere. It goes all the way to the zoo! All the animals look nice and friendly so because it’s getting late and she has school in the morning, Sylvie heads back to bed and invites a little bear to come with her for the night. She has her own real live teddy. What fun. Full review...
Mrs. Mo's Monster by Paul Beavis
What would you do if you answered the door one day, only to find a mini monster standing there? Most of us wold probably weep a little and find somewhere to hide, but not the brave Mrs Mo. She appears to know this monster and will do anything to keep him entertained. Will he help round the house? Nope? How about baking a cake? That may just get anybody’s attention, but will this book capture your little monster’s imagination? Full review...
A Day At The Airport by Richard Scarry
Father Cat was taking the kids sailing, but it started to rain so they had to call it off. On the way home, though, they bump into Rudolph Von Flugel who suggests a detour to the airport as there’s lots of things to see and do there. Full review...