Monday 18 July 2011

The Fearsome Beastie


I am a member of The Baby Website and they recently sent me The Fearsome Beastie  by Giles Paley-Phillips to review.



The Fearsome Beastie is a great read with fantastic illustrations and is written in rhyme which makes it really easy to read. I found the style was very similar to Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes as you find yourself reading faster when you reach a scary bit which adds to the excitement. The twist at the end is very cleverly done, my sons thought it was hilarious! The illustrations in the book are excellent, we spent ages looking at all the different pictures and Gabriele Antonini (the illustrator) has really captured the fear on the children's faces. This is a brilliant book and we have read it at least once a day, usually more, since we received it.

Sunday 17 July 2011

I Love Dinosaurs Giant Activity Book.

This is a fantastic book and it kept my two sons occupied on a long car journey recently. Dinosaurs are always a favourite subject and this book did not disappoint. William who is 9 liked reading about the different types of dinosaurs and kept Luke, who is 5, entertained with his amusing dinosaur voices!
There is a good mix of activities in this large paperback book, stickers are always a favourite activity and this book has 200 of them so there was plenty to keep my two boys occupied. A wide range of puzzles, colouring pages and writing activities add to the enjoyment of this book. Luke is in Reception and especially enjoyed tracing over the outlines of the letters and numbers. It is a great way for children to learn without them actually realising it!
The illustrations are superb, they are colourful and detailed and William, who is a bit of a dinosaur expert, really enjoyed looking at the dinosaurs and reading the quirky rhymes about them.
This would be a great book to take on holiday as it would be good for entertaining children at the airport, on a plane or in a caravan as there are so many activities that appeal to children.

Tuesday 5 July 2011

AnimaI A - Z


Animal A – Z is a large hardback book and has 26 fantastic photographs of animals, one for every letter of the alphabet. The colours in the photographs are amazing and you really feel as if you are there with the animals!



The book is full of facts about the animals like how big they are, where they originate from and what they eat. I like the way that arrows point to the animal and give useful information about that part of the body as my 5 year old son will try to read those comments, whereas he wants me to read the longer paragraphs to him.
This is a great book for all ages as younger children enjoy looking at the pictures of animals whilst older children can read all about the animals themselves. My 5 year old son has spent ages looking at the animals and telling me about them and we have also enjoyed sitting down and reading the book together. I can see that it will become a useful book for homework as he gets older.
There is also a useful glossary at the back of the book which explains the terms simply, so children can understand them.
I really enjoyed reading this book with my son and learnt quite a few facts about the animals that I didn’t know before!