Father's Day is fast approaching (15th June this year here in the UK) and so it's the perfect time for children to find a book to share with their dad and to help them realise just what makes their Dad so special. My Amazing Dad is exactly that book. Snip the crocodile isn't too sure what his dad does all day. His best friend Max's dad swings through the jungle. Stripe the zebra's Dad is the best at hiding. Trunkle the elephant's dad can spray water higher than the tallest trees. Max, Stripe and Trunkle all want to be like their dads when they grow up. But what about Snip and his dad? Is he ... read more
The Sleepy Train – Mark Marshall
I've said it many time on here, but I love books that promote conversation and prompt Little Miss C to ask questions and discover new things. The Sleepy Train is a sweet book in which Bear and his friends take a journey on the sleepy train all the way to the Land of Nod. Written in rhyming couplets it's got a good rhythm to read out loud at bedtime and has lovely illustrations with lots for young children to recognise and spot, especially in terms of animals. I did have to explain the whole concept of the Land of Nod to LMC as it was a phrase that she wasn't at all familiar with. What ... read more
The Mouse Who Ate the Moon – Petr Horacek
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about the benefits of reading with young children. In fact, Chris Evans wrote about it beautifully in the run up to last week's 500 words competition that he ran on Radio 2 in conjunction with the Hay Festival. I love reading with my children, not just at bedtime, but what fascinates me most is how their thoughts and questions are influenced by what we've been reading. So often we'll be reading one book and Little Miss C will reference back to another one and talk about how they're similar or different. She'll even spot themes that I haven't even really ... read more
Little Lou and the Woolly Mammoth – Paula Bowles
Is it just me, or are Woolly Mammoths just the sort of animals that you don't really think about much? Certainly I don't, yet Little Lou and the Woolly Mammoth is the second book that we've been sent to review featuring one (the last being How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth) so Little Miss C is becoming quite familiar with them. Little Lou is bored playing with her toys and wants someone to play with instead. She suddenly sees something move in her pile of toys and goes to investigate. Then she finds a woolly thread, so she following it and her adventure with her new woolly thread begins. A ... read more
Dinosaur Roar! – the app version
Little Miss C loves dinosaurs, loves books and loves apps on my iPad. It was therefore a bit of a no-brainer that she fell completely and utterly in love with the new Dinosaur Roar! app that has been created based on the best-selling picture book of the same name by Paul and Henrietta Stickland. The classic Dinosaur Roar was originally published 20 years ago and the combination of Paul Stickland's dinosaur artwork and Henrietta Stickland's rhyming text led to it selling over five million books worldwide. A new 20th anniversary edition has now been published by Random House in collaboration ... read more
Bunny Loves to Learn – Peter Bently, Emma Foster and Deborah Melmon
Now that Little Miss C knows that she's got a school place at the same school where she currently attends pre-school we're starting to prepare her for what it will be like to go to Reception in September and therefore the arrival of Bunny Loves to Learn couldn't have come at a better time. Peter Bently has also been responsible for a couple of other books that we've reviewed (Meet the Parents and Underpants Wonderpants) so it was also interesting to explain to LMC the concept of people writing many books and comparing them. Buster Bunny's teacher has announced that all the children in the ... read more
Mummy’s Little Sunflowers – Angela McAllister and Alison Edgson
With mother's day fast approaching it's time to feature some more of the pile of "mum" books that I've been sent to review. Next one in my list is Mummy's Little Sunflowers which actually goes much further than just looking at the relationship between child(ren) and their mummy. Instead this book looks at the dynamics of the relationship between siblings and in particular how a younger sibling can cause problems for their older brother or sister, yet they still need their help and support so that they can work together in a team. Scurry comes out of ... read more
Olly the little white van books
I find that most of the children's books I review here on Being Mrs C are aimed at Little Miss C's age, so it was particularly nice recently to get a book review package that appealed to both kids. Olly the little white van is the star of a children's TV show where we follow Olly's adventures with his driver Stan and his other vehicle friends in Bumpton. Olly is voiced by children's TV super star Justin Fletcher (does that man ever have time to sleep???) and he's incredibly energetic - much like Justin himself. Now, we don't actually have the right channels at home ... read more
New Titles from The Wonderful World of Simon Abbott
The children and I are incredibly fortunate that we get to review lots of fantastic children's books together. To date though the majority of these are fiction books so I was particularly interested when TickTock (the children's imprint of Octopus Books) asked us to review some of their new non-fiction titles. The Wonderful World of Simon Abbott series is designed to put the fun back into children's non-fiction by creating a bright and colourful witty presentation of all the information they could ever want to know about their favourite subjects, aimed at 5-7 year olds. The two latest titles ... read more
I Want My Mummy! – Tracey Corderoy and Alison Edgson
With Mother's Day fast approaching it's the time of year when publishers bring out a variety of mummy related books. Many of these are along the theme of how wonderful mums are (and there's certainly nothing wrong with that) but what I particularly liked about I Want My Mummy! is that it seems to go a bit further. Arthur (a toddler mouse - if that's the correct terminology!) is going to spend the day at his Granny's house. He's not spent a whole day apart from his mummy before so he's understandably a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. Dressed ... read more