I remember buying this nearly 4 years ago as one of the 3 for 2 Waterstones offers, Oliver Who Would Not Sleep was the second book (more of that another time) & I can’t remember the third.

We are big fans of Emily Gravetts work & this is a great book for young children. Monkey & Me is a story of a girls trip to the zoo with her stuffed monkey & the animals she encounters. I love the drawings of the little girl impersonating the animals, they provide a great sense of energy & fun, this high energy winds down as she returns home begins to rub her eyes & slowly nods off at the kitchen table.

As with her other book ‘Blue Chameleon‘ while simple in text & illustration this really delivers an engaging fun read aloud book. The rhyming refrain Monkey & Me is repeated helping build up tension as to what animal will be show overleaf & at the end of the story it is used with long pauses to slow down the pace, creating a sense of tiredness. I also like the contrast of lots of white space on the double pages with the drawings of the girl compared to the busy drawings of the animals taking up all the pages, it provides a real impact after the suspenseful build up. The colour palette is muted aside from the flashes of red stripes on the girls tights & her red jumper, which add to the mood of the book. My favourite page is the depiction of a very familiar sign of tiredness, the little girl rubbing her eyes, signalling the end to such an exciting day

When reading this to Freya it seems she enjoys the repetition of Monkey & Me followed by my impression of the animal (I’ve not mastered a great impersonation of a Bat as yet). I am looking forward to her growing with this book & in time being able to guess which animal is coming next with her own animal impressions as her brother did.

Monkey &ME

All illustrations © Emily Gravett

We recently decided to turn one of our rooms into a pirate school for the day, with a ship, crocodile infested waters and treasure (assemble all pirate related toys & mix with lots of imagination). I made sure we also included a book corner for more piratical adventures & here are our favourites

Thats Not My Pirate by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells

I have to confess on not being so keen on this whole series of books, but it was definately a favourite with Bryn when he was a little & he loved all the different textures, silky shirt, shiny cutlass etc. A nice gentle introduction to pirates

That's my pirate, her smile is so sweet

The Troll by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by David Roberts

Bryn got this book last Christmas it has been consistently read ever since and enjoyed by the whole family. It’s such a clever story, intertwining the tale of a troll who lives under bridges looking for a goat & pirates hunting for treasure. The quirky sophisticated illustrations complement the story perfectly while the split panels gives the story a comic book feel & adds some pace. This has been one of those books with many layers which Bryn has enjoyed discovering as he grows, a real gem of a book.

Captain Abdul’s Pirate School by Colin McNaughton

A rollicking read, with sullen protagonist, larger than life pirates, skulduggery, mutiny and plenty of ooh-arrgh. The story is told via the diary pages of Pickles & her days at Captain Abdul’s Pirate school. On stumbling upon a kidnap plot Pickles & fellow classmates show their true pirate colours & declare mutiny. I think Bryn enjoys the familiarity of a school setting especially as his current favourite game is playing nursery & taking the role of teacher. His favourite page is when the cast of teachers are introduced. Personally I feel I don’t do justice to the story when reading it aloud, with so many colourful characters they all deserve a special voice. Each double page spread illustration is also packed with humorous detail and plenty of action.

My name is Captain Bryn the Chatty, I'm a teacher so they say, of pirate stories & sword play

Pirate Pete by Nick Sharratt

This is a ‘change your own story’ with cardboard cut outs of a range of objects which can be inserted into this short simple tale. A year on & I am still amazed that we still have all the cut outs in one piece & still in the book. Originally Bryn was happy just adding the pieces in like a puzzle, he is now appreciating be the creator of funny sentences such as “She had a cake on her head” . Am looking forward to the next stage when Bryn wants to make up his own suggestions for the text & truly begin to create funny stories.

Otto the Book Bear is a tale of a bear from a book who gets left behind in a house move, after wondering around the city he finds confort & friends at the public library.

I was excited to buy this after having read a great review (Library Mice) & a little about it’s creation on the authors site, after such investment I had high hopes and I wasn’t disappointed. The simple illustration with muted colours provide a gentle background to the heartwarming tale. I have to confess after reading the Box of Tricks I was expecting a similar style of illustration & my favourite page is the bear looking out of the window in the rain. Bryn liked the page when the bear sees the light in the library, the point where the bear senses some hope is a welcome contrast to the busy city.

Otto the Book Bear

Seeing the characters out of the book playing is such a lovely idea, reminding me of a fun activity over on blog ‘Playing by the Book’. I think we invest a lot in the characters within the stories so the idea of them popping out is charming, much like the idea of toys coming to life when not being played with. I also loved the idea of the characters from the books reading other stories, I wonder if they were ever tempted to swap places.

The love of books & stories shines throughout this book. I imagine it will become a firm favourite in this house.

Bryn's bear on an outing while Bryn slept

All illustrations  © Katie Cleminson