We wrote this for the Guardian Children’s Books Family Reviews I am completely smitten by this sumptuous & stylish book. Jill spots that its not ‘happily ever after’ for all the characters at the end of the story and so invites the captured dragon to live with her. However her attempts to cheer Dragon up by showing it how to do all her favourite things don’t go to plan. Luckily she discovers that Dragon has a hidden talent and manages to arrange a truly happily ever after for everyone.

From the picture on the title page of a girl sitting on a pile of books with her head in a book, Freya and I knew we would like this book. Freya especially loves Dragon and the exciting fold out flap when Dragon is breathing out fire. I adore the striking artwork and also have a soft spot for Dragon whose large frame is often spilling off the edge of the page. Having a pet dragon is one of Freya’s ultimate dreams so this was a perfect read in our house.

We wrote this for the Guardian Children’s Books Family Reviews  
Both kids were instantly drawn to this book with its vibrant illustrations & charming story. They happily pored over the cover & end papers spotting the different vegetables and chuckled at the idea of a t-rex not eating meat. However my hope that seeing their favourite dinosaur eating a massive slice of avocado pie would entice them to be more adventurous has not been met!

T-Veg a ‘carrot crunching dinosaur’ is teased by his friends for his vegetarian ways and runs away to make friends with some herbivores but this doesn’t go to plan. Its not long, however, before his friends begin to miss him & when he reappears to save the day everyone learns the important lesson of ‘being happy being you’.

This jewel of a book exploding with colour & warmth has been a hit with the children. The story told in rhyme is a joy to read aloud. The pages, teeming with brightly coloured dinosaurs, are captivating and the heartwarming message is an important one to remember.

We wrote this for the Guardian Children’s Books Family Reviews  
This hilarious books has become a regular bedtime favourite. Not only does it leave the kids rolling on the floor laughing but has sparked their imagination.

The book opens with declarations of how easy it is to be a zookeeper & farmer and so begins our first introduction to the fun of mashing up words & ideas. Zoomers look after these ‘animals-in-between’ each of which is a combination of a farm & zoo animal.

What we all love about this book is not only how funny the pictures of these strange animals are but also their odd names & characteristics. For example it warns you against letting a Shicken eat corn from you hand, a cross between a chicken & a shark means they are some sharp teeth to deal with.

The kids’ favourite creature was the ‘polar cow’ who had the perfect ability of making ice cream. Reading about such strange & funny creatures led to the children (with the help of some animal pictures and some tracing paper) making their own amazing creatures including a Pibear & a Jellurkey. Now the hardwork of being a Zoomer and looking after them can begin.

We wrote this for the Guardian Children’s Books Family Reviews
  This is the perfect activity book for half term. It is jam packed with pages to colour, mazes, puzzles, stencils, stickers, drawing activities & models to make. Such an appealing book that Freya takes it with her everywhere dipping into it whenever we have a spare moment.

The illustrations are adorable & with such a variety of activities its a great source of entertainment. In between stencilling & colouring in her own ninjas Freya also likes jumping up & copying the poses of the ninja characters in the book.

A fabulous book full of engaging activities.

We wrote this for the Guardian Children’s Books Family Reviews

You Are An Artist by Marta Altes is a jam packed activity book which has kept me and Freya amused for days.

It is based on the picture book I Am An Artist and we are fortunate enough to have the “artist” be our guide in the book helping us to think creatively.

Activities in the book include drawing a self portrait, creating patterns, using shapes to make pictures, turning scribbles into pictures etc.

Initially I was worried that these might be too challenging but actually Freya really enjoyed the variety. It was great to see her confidence grow as she tried out new things. The hundreds of stickers in the book were a great way to help finish some of the activities when we started to run out of steam.

One of our favourite spreads was filling in a picture of a cat with patterns, lots of fun to do together & feel proud of our efforts.

A fun and inspirational activity book.

We wrote this for the Guardian Children’s Books Family Reviews 

  This book makes a fabulous addition to the dressing up box. A brilliantly designed wearable book with each double page spread offering a new mask, such as super hero, wrestler, ninja etc.

There were peals of laughter from the kids as they tried out the different masks. They also spotted that there were others in the series, Book-o-Beards, Book-o-Hats & Book-o-teeth which they were keen to try out. The Superhero mask was a favourite with the children & provided plenty of fun photo opportunities.

A fun novelty book which we all enjoyed playing with.

We wrote this for the Guardian Children’s Books Family Reviews 

  
We received this book just as Freya was learning the collective nouns for different animals at pre-school so was very timely. Aware of common terms such as swarm of bees & litter of kittens we had fun discovering some more obscure ones such as mischief of mice & ostentaion of peacocks.

The highlight of the book for us however was the striking illustrations. We loved how some of the animals were a mixture of drawing & collage. My favourite spread was the flock of sheep with patterned wool for bodies with the odd bit of unravelled yarn. We were so inspired by the pictures the children created their own groups of animals.

An interesting,stylish & inspiring book that captivated us all.

We wrote this for the Guardian Children’s Books Family Reviews 

This book is based on an exhibition, ‘Tell Me A Picture’ curated by Quentin Blake when appointed Children’s Laureate in 1999. The pages are filled with pictures by illustrators, modern painters & some of the old master paintings from the national gallery. Each picture in the exhibition has been chosen as it has some kind of story in it.

The drawings of children chatting and asking questions on the page facing the picture helped encourage Bryn to explore & talk about the pictures. He enjoyed discovering pictures where he recognised a character like Hunuman or St George or ones with lots of detail to study. There are also useful pages at the back providing a brief description of each picture & details of where you can find it.

I also found having only the prompts & name of artist on the page great for focusing on the picture & enjoying the art.

A great art book for children perfectly pitched to engage, enthuse & inspire.