|title=No, No, No!
|author=Justine Avery and Naday Meldova
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=A sunny, positive way to send messages about good manners and safety to errant toddlers. Lovely stuff.|rating=4|buy=Yes|borrow=Yes
|pages=26
|publisher=Suteki Creative
|aznus=1638820457
}}
WeThey 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'll soon have s it! But, like all the best picture books, this tiny snippet of text is a review veritable tardis - so much bigger on the inside that it appears on the outside. The basic premise of ''No, No, No!'' is to show all sorts of naughty or unsafe behaviours by toddlers - the ''No, no, no!'' - and replace them with better behaviours - the ''Okay, okay. Yes, you may.'' So our naughty toddler is redirected from digging in the cat litter tray to digging in a sandpit, from picking its nose to using a tissue, and from climbing up to the hob to playing with a toy kitchen. The naughty things are naughty but it's key to Avery's work that they're not presented as dire warnings of danger and catastrophe but humorous mistakes that are easily rectified. Her mission is to make children feel positive and optimistic about the world and this holds true even when communicating vitally important safety messages to them. The book's also about good manners - don't throw your food about so that Mum or Dad has to clear it up; use your napkin - and again, this message is presented in a sunny way, nothing to sulk about; just a way to make your interactions with others more positive and mutually beneficial. This simple format and repetition of rhythmic text reinforces the gentle messages about safety and civility in a humorous way. And the illustrations by Naday Meldova are wonderfully funny! Baby's tongue slipping out in concentration as he naughtily snips Dog's fur with his purloined scissors made me laugh out loud. But it's much safer - and kinder to poor Dog - to use proper children's scissors with blunt ends to cut craft paper while supervised by Mum. It also looks more fun. Meldova's images are clear and simple with gentle but clear colours and expressive faces. It's easy to see what's going on. Yep. The simplest picture books are always the best. There are hours of shared fun growing out from just eight words of text. And some sensible messages about considering others and keeping yourself safe to boot. Another fabulous contribution from Justine Avery, who goes from strength to strength with every new book. A completely different take on the misadventures of naughty little ones can be found in [[We Are Wearing Out The Naughty Step by Mick Inkpen]]!
You can read more about Justine Avery [[:Category:Justine Avery|here]].
