Review: Miki and the Moon Blossom

Miki and the Moon Blossom

by Stephen Mackey

Publication date: 2010
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
ISBN: 978-0-340-95067-8

Summary/Back cover:
A long time ago and very far away, Miki, Polar bear and Penguin wish for a gentle breeze.  But when their wish comes true they begin a journey to a strange new world full of weird and wonderful creatures.  Will the friends ever make it back home?

Review:
This is such a gentle, sweet wee story, that is perfectly suited as a bedtime book.  At first, the story looks like it's going to take a Jack and the Beanstalk type turn (a plant grows up tall overnight), but then it turns into a gentle story involving blossoms and clouds.

My 3 year old son didn't quite "get" the story, and was looking for a solution of how to get Miki home the entire time (and was quite concerned that she hadn't found her house by the last page of the book), but I think that young girls would certainly appreciate the soft tones of this book.  It's not overly "girly" but is probably more suited to the sensitive souls more than rough-and-tumblers.

I love this book, and it's one that I will continue to read to my rough-and-tumblers, as it's a story that is best-read at the quiet wind-down time just before bedtime.  If you are interested in buying a copy of this book, you can find it here at Wheelers.

My rating: 4 out of 5.

Review written by Bronwyn

Review: Mad About Minibeasts

Mad About Minibeasts

Written by Giles Andreae

Illustrated by David Wojtowycz

Publication date: 2011
Publisher: Orchard Books
ISBN: 978-1-40830-947-6

Summary/Back cover:
The sun is in the sky
And it's a lovely Summer's day.
The minibeasts have seen you
And they want to come and play!
Come into the garden for lots of noisy, rhyming creepy-crawlie fun from the award-winning creators of Rumble in the Jungle  and Commotion in the Ocean.


Review:
I was always going to like this book, before I even saw it, as it comes from my favourite author/illustrator team.  And it didn't fail to impress - it is written in very much the same style as Commotion in the Ocean, as a series of little poems.

The bugs in each poem are becoming familiar to my 1 year old and 3 year old now, and they enjoy telling me what each bug is before we start the poems - and we have been 'lucky' enough to find some of the same bugs in our own garden, which makes my 3 year old very excited - he has been known to tell a worm that "we have a book all about you!"

Having the story broken into individual poems works well for us, as it means there is space for questions about each bug, without feeling like I'm breaking the 'flow' of a rhyming story.

This has already become a much-requested book from the bookshelf, and is one that I enjoy reading as much as my sons enjoy listening to it.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Review written by Bronwyn