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

Winnie the Witch is always popular with Bryn & Freya; they enjoy her mad cap adventures and this book was no exception. Proud of her cardboard robot creation Winnie decides to turn it into a real robot. The real robot turns out to be a big bad robot and chaos ensues when he gets hold of Winnies magic wand.

The illustrations bring this story to life especially when the robot causes havoc turning ducks, frogs, Winnie’s house & even Winnie into robots. The transformation from one picture to the next is as magical as Winnie’s wand.

The mix of magic with familiar activities, such as going to the library, provides a comforting start before the roller coaster adventure begins. A great story to share with the children.

Freya & I wrote this for the Guardian Children’s Books Family Reviews

This book both surprised and delighted us. Bella takes her dog for a walk only to find it disappears off the page. The same fate awaits all who come to help and even Bella herself. Luckily this is the perfect opportunity for the reader to come to the rescue and Freya had great fun lending a helping hand.

This is an inventive book making use of the guttering to make the characters disappear then inviting the reader to give the book a good shake to get everyone out again. Freya was very pleased with herself when she shook the book and turned the page to see all the characters re-appear. I liked the cheeky nature of the book especially the ending.

A perfect smile inducing book.

Freya & I wrote this for the Guardian Childrens Books Family Reviews

A fabulous treasury of well loved stories & poems for every month of the year.

Each month introduces you to a flower or plant, and suggests play and craft activities. The ‘Things to do’ often echo activities from the stories, such as making a scrapbook, blowing bubbles, playing thumb wars: charming simple games that have stood the test of time.

The treasury includes stories featuring familiar characters such as Alfie & Lily; Alfie’s Feet, Alfie Wins a Prize, Don’t Want To Go, Bobbo Goes to School.

An instant hit was the spectacularly stylish Ella’s Big Chance, a reworking of Cinderella, while the wordless A Midwinter Night’s Dream gave us plenty to talk about & pour over.

Since this treasury arrived Freya has shown no interest in her other books & has requested one story after another. So far she’s enjoyed every one.

Bryn & I wrote this for the Guardian Childrens Books Family Reviews

This book is stuffed with facts either bursting out of pages or hidden behind flaps. I particularly like the mix of high quality photography & illustrations alive with colour & vibrancy. The book also quickly caught Bryn’s eye and he happily dived in confidently reading out the facts, planning experiments etc.

The books covers core National Curriculum content in science which meant some of the information was familiar to Bryn and it was good to hear him remember some of his lessons from school.

The success of this book was that the content & presentation of the information was a good level for Bryn. As well as reading about science the practical ‘Do try this at home’ experiments meant he was able to see the science in action under his own steam.

His verdict was it’s such an interesting book it makes him want to be a scientist when he grows up.

Bryn, Freya & I wrote this for the Guardian Childrens Books Family Reviews

“Its bonkers” declares Bryn. “Its silly” says Freya. I say “its funny”.

When two brothers decide to collect 100 coupons from cereal boxes so they can have their own lion, things don’t go to plan. Due to a shortage of lions the boys are provided with a series of alternatives.

A wacky take involving a host of wild animals set amongst the backdrop of daily suburban life. My favourite spreads are the vignettes of the small boys full of comical recognisable behaviour; looking bored, picking noses & making a mess.

It starts out as a cautionary tale advising against saving coupons for a lion but it’s so much fun that by the end both kids wanted a lion. Luckily the book comes with coupons!

Freya & I wrote this for the Guardian Childrens Books Family Reviews

Wolf man is causing havoc through the town, scaring people, eating trees & finally comes knocking on the chief of police’s door, but what does he want? It’s a funny romp with fantastic illustrations.

I liked the scary looking wolf man, and the illustrations of his shadow looming on the wall and his eyes peering through the letterbox inject the perfect amount of tension which is then released by the laugh out loud ending.

Having requested the story a number of times, Freya is now adept at delivering the final great punchline with aplomb. A great story to read aloud & for the kids to join in.

The book uses uncluttered backgrounds and text in clear lines with slightly more spacing than usual to make it more accessible, especially to dyslexic readers.

Freya & I wrote this for the Guardian Childrens Books Family Reviews

This stunning picture book is a wonderful introduction to famous works of art including Constable’s Hay Wain & Rosseau’s Surprised.

I am very fond of the titular Katie, an independent, adventure seeking, inquisitive feisty young girl with a fondness for cakes. Her disregard for the ‘Do not touch’ notices leads to her falling into the paintings and meeting the characters in the paintings.

Seeing these paintings from a different perspective helped bring them to life & encouraged the children to look for stories within the pictures. I am looking forward to our next visit to a gallery, although I suspect Freya may try diving into a painting if I let her out of my sight.

Bryn, Freya & I wrote this for the Guardian Childrens Books Family Reviews

Freya gave this book 2 thumbs up and a smile, well deserved praise for this lovely book, which had us both feeling happy, a little worried & finally happy again.

A bear finds a lost toy bunny & sets out to find its owner covering the forest in ‘Found’ posters. As they become friends Bear soon discovers what he will lose once the bunny is found.

I really liked the black bold outlines of the illustrations & we were both swept away with the mood of the story depending on the expression on the bears face. The double page spread of ‘Lost’ posters provided plenty of humour for an older reader, Bryn especially liked the one with Peter Pan’s shadow.

This is a book we are very happy to have found.

Bryn & I wrote this for the Guardian Children’s Family Reviews

My Pop Up City Atlas is a treasure trove of information focusing on cities across the world. Each double page spread looks at a themed group of cities such as coastal cities & religious cities. Aside from a pop-ups there are also flaps to lift & wheels to turn.

Our first reading of the books was to race through admiring the pop ups & to uncover all the flaps. We then moved onto the text which is full of bite sized interesting facts, like the city with the most bridges or the city with the most billionaires, accompanied with bright colourful illustration. ‘A fun way to learn’ Bryn declared.

We all enjoyed this introduction to some marvellous cities.

Bryn, Freya & I wrote this for Guardian children’s books family reviewers

This was a favourite from my childhood so I was excited to share it with Bryn & Freya.

The Barbapapas are a fantastical surreal family each with they own special characteristics & the ability to change into any shape. In Barbapapa’s New House we get to see them build a family home together which they then have to defend against developers.

Bryn & Freya were fascinated with the Barbapapas especially spotting what they had changed into, from snails to catapults. We had lots of fun reading this story & can’t wait to see what other adventures the Barbapapas get up too