View source for Stick Man's First Words by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

{{infobox2
|title=Stick Man's First Words
|author=Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1407137353
|pages=14
|publisher=Alison Green Books
|date=June 2013
|aznuk=1407137352
|aznus=1407137352
|cover=1407137352
|website=http://www.juliadonaldson.co.uk/
|video=
|summary=Perfect for toddlers who are already fans of the wonderful 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 by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler|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.

I think it's worth mentioning first of all that there's nothing special about the text within this book.  Although I was hoping for some fun rhymes from Julia Donaldson, this really is just a 'first words' book, and so apart from a brief introduction to each page such as ''Stick Man likes going to the park.  What can he count there?'' there are no funny little verses to enjoy along the way.  Because of that, there is a slight something lacking to the book, although that might just be my own grown-up opinion since my little boy certainly enjoyed looking through, pointing at animals and flowers and bees!

Still, if the text is somewhat dry the illustrations won't let you down.  There is Stick Man, on every page, sometimes with pictures I recognise from the original story, but then there are other panel pictures to tie in with the first words being shown.  The book is divided into 6 sections, beginning with the fairly standard counting (up to five), then colours and then we move on to more interesting territory with a seaside scene, a variety of animal noises to identify, a snow scene and finally a page of opposites.  I like the range of different words being introduced, particularly the opposites at the end which is a nice concept to teach a small toddler.

The words we're being introduced to are fairly typical.  There are plenty of animals, which always seem popular with toddlers.  There's only one vehicle (a plane) which was probably a disappointment to my boy who is obsessed with cars right now, but we can't have everything!  The two scenic pictures, of the beach and the snow, allow for a bit more chat about what you can see in the picture, what it reminds you of, places you might have been together yourselves, which is always nice in one of these sharing books, and of course, the animals page allowed me to make lots of loud animal noises, which usually goes down well.

The original Stick Man is a Christmas Story, and there is a glimpse of Father Christmas at the end in the 'opposites' section where he is awake whilst a little girl is fast asleep in bed.  So, you can enjoy this at Christmas, but also any time of year really since it isn't heavily Christmassy.  My favourite pictures in these stories are generally the animals, and this is true of this book too.  I love the cheeky snail at the end who is slow compared to Stick Man who is fast.  I also really like the snowy rabbit, and the three happy bees right at the beginning.

This is a lovely first words book, especially if you already have a collection of the Donaldson and Scheffler books.  It's a very sturdy board book, with lovely tabs along the edge that help you identify each section.  It has a nice weighty feel to it, and I had no qualms about leaving it with my 13-month-old for him to enjoy by himself as well as with me.  Great to share with older babies and young toddlers."

You might also enjoy [[The Selfish Crocodile Counting Book by Faustin Charles and Michael Terry]] and [[Kipper's A To Z by Mick Inkpen]].  You might also enjoy [[Can You Say It Too? Brrr! Brrr! by Sebastien Braun]].

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[[Category:Julia Donaldson]]
[[Category:Axel Scheffler]]