We were pleased to hear that Julia Donaldson is the new Children’s Laureate, we really enjoy her stories & have a number of her books. They have been read to Bryn many many times. Some of his favourite include Tiddler, Smartest Giant in Town, Charlie Cooks Favourite Books & of course the Gruffalo.

I read Cave Baby to Freya which has Donaldson’s trademark lyrical rhyming text. The illustrations were done by Emily Gravett (see previous post) and are beautiful. The tale is of a little baby who having discovered a paintbrush adds to the painting on the cave only to be told off by his mother. At night he is taken by a mammoth & paints his cave walls. The baby covers the walls in brightly coloured fantastical pictures a contrast to his mothers realistic monochrome pictures.

I especially liked the night time illustrations as the colours were rich & help depict the fear & wonder of the baby. For me the story was a good reminder of painting without any rules & just enjoying the colours & shapes, something I hope both son & daughter will do.

While it is a lovely read this however is not one of my favourites. I think I had high expectations from this collaboration and for me it lacked some of the wit & musicality of the other books.

I am looking forward to the work of the new laureate & was pleased to see her back the campaign for libraries. Her latest book ‘The Highway Rat’ is already on our wish list.