Review: There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly

There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly

Retold by Sally Hopgood

Illustrated by Marina Le Ray

Publication date: 2010
Publisher: Tide Mill Press
ISBN: 978-1-74248-176-0

Summary/Back cover:
Join the old lady as she swallows every animal in sight!
Children will love this classic comic song with a modern twist and a surprise ending.
Eight humorous pop-ups bring the antics of the eccentric old lady to life

Review:
Lucy (21months) got this for Christmas, although she is not allowed it at the moment as she is way too rough and this is a beautifully illustrated book with awesome pop-ups.

Adam (3 3/4yrs) loves it... every page is so bright and the pop ups are really amazing, so nice to have a new spin on a classic.

My rating: 4.5 out 5 - recommended for over 3's - or younger if they are gentle with pop-up books.

Review written by Pineapple

Review: The Twelve Days of Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Illustrated by Jane Ray

Publication date: 2011
Publisher: Orchard books
ISBN: 978-1-40830-703-8

Summary/Back cover:
On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.
This sumptuous edition of one of the most-loved and best-known traditional songs has been illustrated with exquisite style by Jane Ray.  A charming Christmas classic to be treasured for years to come.

Review:
The words in this book are simply the lyrics to The Twelve Days of Christmas, that we all love and/or hate!  The illustrations are a story in their own right though - we see the gift giver sneakily looking as his true love receives the gifts each day, and then he finally approaches her on the twelfth day.  The faces of the people in the book are a little bit odd-looking to me, but nothing that worries children at all.  They are lovely bright pictures that become increasingly cluttered as the song becomes cluttered, and then finishes on a much less cluttered note - very fitting for the song lyrics.

This book, being a Christmas song, has a limited lifespan each year in our house, but has been well received by both my 1 year old and 3 year old - my 3 year old has gone to bed singing the song to himself - usually with different lyrics though ("Five Thomas trains, four pillows, three bananas, two potties and a c-a-a-a-a-a-a-t").  However, it is a book that will be pulled out in December every year for a few weeks, and would make a lovely gift book.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this book, you can find it here on Fishpond.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Review written by Bronwyn

Review: Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

Written and Illustrated by Dr. Seuss

Publication Date: 1990 (originally published in 1957)
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN-13: 978-0-00-786026-5

Summary/back cover:
From bang-ups and hang-ups to lurches and slumps, Dr. Seuss takes a hilarious look at the mishaps and misadventures that life may have in store for us.

Review:
Okay, if I could take a moment to amend an earlier review, this book is the one you should be sure to give your kids when they leave home. I wish it had been given to me as a burgeoning adult. It’s fantastic for putting life’s ups and downs into perspective and filling the reader with a strong sense of self:

“Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.”

This story is as beneficial to us parents as it is to our kids. In fact, it’s possible I enjoy reading this story more than my two year olds enjoy listening to it. I think some of the illustrations weird my kids out a bit! I do feel this story is a bit more grown-up than some of the others by Dr. Seuss (ie. The Cat in the Hat). It is a yellow back book, which in the Dr. Seuss collection is considered to be ideal for those children who can already read fluently.

A classic Dr. Seuss story that deserves to be included in your children’s book collection, next to Green Eggs and Ham, and The Cat in the Hat.

My rating: 4.8 out of 5

Review written by team_s

Review: Quaky Cat

Quaky Cat

Written by Diana Noonan

Illustrated by Gavin Bishop

Publication Date: 2010
Publisher: Scholastic New Zealand Limited
ISBN: 978-1-77543-029-2

Summary/back cover:
“On a cold Christchurch morning, while the city was sleeping,
before the birds roused him with twitters and cheeping,
curled up on the end of his friend Emma’s bed,
Tiger woke with a start… and a feeling of dread.”


Written in response to the Canterbury earthquake of 2010, Quaky Cat is an evocative, uplifting story that will touch the hearts of all who read it.

Review:
The earthquakes we’ve experienced, here, in Canterbury, over the past 12 months have had a profound impact on our family. My kids’ grand-dad lost his job and him and Nana moved away. My kids no longer wave Daddy ‘good-bye’ at the front door because his building was in the cordon and he now works out of our third bedroom. The kids tell us the washing machine is “noisy like ur-cake (earthquake)”, and they are often subjected to the sight of crumbled remains of demolished buildings around the city.

It’s difficult to fully understand the emotions of children who were only a year old when the first earthquake struck last September, but my best deduction is that they’ve found the earthquakes and associated events both scary and intriguing. Those seem to be their emotions about Quaky Cat, too.

Quaky Cat is a regularly requested story in our house. The illustrations are quite unique, often depicted through paint-splattered silhouettes. I wasn’t sure what the kids would make of them, but my boys love the illustrations. I think they love the character of Tiger, the cat, too. I get the impression they feel they can relate to his fears and confusion over what’s happening around him. I think this book has given the kids a way to understand what’s happened to their city and to give them a way to discuss what happened through the careful use of images and language that bring the impact of this natural disaster within the scope of a child’s limited vocabulary and comprehension.

The flip-side is that the book appears to remind the kids of the earthquakes and sometimes seems to upset them by reliving the trauma.

Despite that, I still think this story is important and would recommend it to all families in New Zealand as a sweet story of what’s really valuable in life, and a way to approach the discussion of earthquakes with the littlies.

My rating: 4.8 out of 5

Review written by team_s



Side note from Bronwyn:
If you're interested in purchasing a copy of this book, you can find it here at Fishpond.

Review: 1001 Animals to Spot

1001 Animals to Spot

Written by Ruth Brocklehurst

Illustrated by Teri Gower

Publication date: 2002
Publisher: Usborne Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4095-0864-9

Summary/Back cover:
Teeming with animals to find, count and talk about, this bright picture book provides hours of puzzle-solving fun. It also helps develop basic word and number skills. The busy scenes bring to life different habitats from around the world. Children will delight in finding all kinds of familiar and exotic animals – from lambs on the farm to armadillos in the rainforest.

Review:
This book has busy and bright illustrations that encourage conversation about various animals. Each page has 10 animals to spot and count. It encourages 1-1 matching and number recognition. My son loves this book as he is really into counting at the moment. Some animals are easy to find and others are not so it provides challenges as well as some guaranteed success. There are several other titles in this series including 1001 Things to Spot on the farm, 1001 things to Spot around town, and even a fairy and a pirate version.

5/5

Review written by Judith

Review: We're Going on a Bear Hunt

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Written by Michael Rosen

Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury

ISBN: 9781406316285

Summary/Back cover:
We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

A beautifully simple rhyming book with evocative illustrations. My nearly 3 year old loves it and I have used it in classroom situations with 8 year olds and they loved it as much. After reading it once or twice Monkey picked up on the rhythm and the repeated sounds. He has started incorporating the story in his imaginative play.

I use the illustrations as talking points and I like how you can go deeper into the story using them.

This is also available with a DVD of the story which takes the story to a whole new level!

My rating would be 4.5/5

Review written by LatteJunkie

Review: Green Eggs and Ham

Publication Date: 1962
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-0-00-715846-1

Ratings:
amazon.com: 4.7 out of 5 (246 ratings)
goodreads.com: 4.28 out of 5 (59,031 ratings)

Summary/Back cover:
When Sam-I-am pesters a grumpy grouch to eat a plate of green eggs and ham, we soon find we can't know what we really like until we have tried it!
By combining the funniest stories, craziest creatures and zaniest pictures with his unique blend of rhyme, rhythm and repetition, Dr. Seuss helps children of all ages and abilities learn to read.

This is one of those classics that every child should read - I'm a huge Dr. Seuss fan, and am forever adding to my (ahem, I mean, my childrens') collection of Dr. Seuss books.

Green Eggs and Ham is probably one of the best known books that he wrote, and is now catering to it's 3rd or 4th generation of readers. Dr. Seuss is well known for making up words and creatures in his stories, but this books is not one of them - all the words and creatures will be familiar to children.

Dr Seuss' books are split into three groups: the blue back, the green back and the yellow back books. This is one of the green back books, which are "for children just beginning to read on their own" - other books in this group include Fox in Socks, The Cat in the Hat, and Ten Apples Up on Top (yes, all of which we have in our collection!)

I thoroughly recommend Dr. Seuss in general (I'll be reviewing more of his books in the future), and particularly recommend Green Eggs and Ham - we probably all read it as children, and our parents probably read it too. It's only fair that our own children get to know the classics of the children's book world too!

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 - one that should be bought and read until the parents have it memorised!

Review written by Bronwyn