Category

Interactive Books

Beast Feast
by Emma Yarlett

When a bright pink Beast catches a little boy he is very excited about the prospect of eating him all up. He names the boy ‘Dinner’ and sets about inviting all of his friends to a very special feast.

Naturally Dinner is a little worried, but when the RSVPs start to arrive he proves himself to be very smart indeed.

The Beasts friends turn out to be very picky and they have lots of dietary requirements which they want Beast to consider. Sir Gutguzzler can’t eat anything scrawny so he suggests that Beast fatten Dinner up a little bit. Madam Gargoyle requests that Dinner is served extra salty and Giant Grumbo needs Dinner to be slimy!

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Taco Tuesday by Brick Puffinton & Amy Blay

This is easily the smallest book on our shelves but it has had a huge impact on Ivy since it arrived last week. She is obsessed with it!

Taco Tuesday is a tiny, chunky board book which is perfect for little hands. There’s a Taco finger puppet built in to the middle and you use him to read the rhyming story.

As you move through the pages the Taco does everything within his power to convince you not to eat him. He says he’s not delicious. He claims his cheese is suspicious. He tries to point out that pizzas and hamburgers are far tastier than he. Why on earth would you want to eat a spicy little Taco when there are so many other options out there? But then he realises it’s Taco Tuesday – will you choose to eat him or set him free?

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Turn and Learn: Our World by Isabel Otter & Hannah Tolson

Technically this book is a little old for Ivy – the publisher recommendation is 6 to 8 years  – but she’s had so much fun with it this week that it really doesn’t matter!

Our World by Isabel Otter and Hannah Tolson is a fantastic book of facts with an interesting interactive twist. It takes five different habitats – desert, rainforest, polar, savannah and sea – and teaches you about the flora, fauna, animal life and indigenous people.

Despite the slightly older age bracket, Ivy has shown lots of interest in what the book has to say. Her favourite section is about the arctic and antarctic and she has learned that penguins and polar bears actually live on opposite sides of the world (something i’m ashamed to say I didn’t realise until I was in my twenties!)

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Poor Little Rabbit! by Jörg Mühle

Ivy fell over at nursery today and came home with two badly grazed knees. She was feeling very sorry for herself but we popped this gorgeous little board book off the shelf and her sniffles soon turned to giggles.

Poor Little Rabbit has taken a tumble and he has a big ouchy on his elbow. It’s up to your little one to help him out and make him feel better!

First the book suggests blowing on the elbow. This helps a tiny bit but Little Rabbit doesn’t like the fact he can see blood. Perhaps a plaster might help? Your child is then invited to try singing a song, stroking his ears and then wiping away his tears.

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There’s An Alien In Your Book by Tom Fletcher & Greg Abbott

Ivy and I are big fans of ‘There’s A Monster In Your Book‘ so I pre-ordered this new one from Tom Fletcher and Greg Abbott as soon as I heard about it. We were both super excited when it arrived and it has definitely not disappointed.

The story is about a little alien who has crash landed in your book.  It’s up to you to try and get him back home where he belongs – but how? By wriggling and jiggling the book around, blowing on the pages, making loud noises and conjuring up some scary faces!

This is a raucous read which has Ivy hooting with laughter every single time. She has declared the alien ‘adorable’ and adopted his little catchphrase – ‘Zaa – Zee – Zoo!’ – which she has decided means ‘I Love You’ in ‘alien language’.

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Where’s Mrs Zebra? by Ingela P. Arrhenius

Earlier this week we visited London Zoo as a half term treat for Ivy. The highlight of her day was undoubtedly seeing the giraffes up close, but for me it was our visit to the gift shop as they had a phenomenal selection of books. From baby books right through to detailed encyclopedias, there was definitely something for every child to enjoy.

Ivy was allowed to select one title from their shelves and she headed straight for this beautiful board book from Ingela P. Arrhenius and Nosy Crow.

She’s three and a half now, but we’ve seen renewed interest in board books of late because she likes to try and read them herself by guessing what is going on in the pictures. This book is perfect for this type of game and as a result I honestly think we’ve read it 50+ times in the last few days!

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The Big Blue Balloon Blog Tour: How To Draw Kipper

Kipper 1Can you believe that Kipper the dog is 30 years old? I was 11 when his very first adventure was published but somehow he still feels like he was part of my childhood because I remember reading the stories to younger members of the family.

Fast forward to the present day and my daughter and I love reading about Kipper’s adventures together. There’s something about the series which is so simple yet so engaging for little ones.

We are big fans so I was over the moon when Hachette Children’s UK asked us to take part in Kipper’s Big Blue Balloon Blog Tour to celebrate his birthday!

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Find Colours by Tamara Shopsin & Jason Fulford

Find ColoursIf you’re trying to teach your child about colours then the last thing you need is a black and white book, right? WRONG! This genius little board book, which was published in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art, is the best colour book we have encountered so far.

Made up entirely of black and white pages, the book features clever cut outs which encourage kids to think differently. The first instruction is ‘Find Yellow’, accompanied by a cut out of a sun. You then need to find something yellow to either hold the book up to or place under the page to make the sun shine. This continues throughout the book, where you need to make a red cockerel, a green leaf, a blue cup, some purple grapes, a grey elephant, an orange, black sunglasses, pink worms, brown paw prints, a white moon and a multi-coloured rainbow.

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Dragon Post by Emma Yarlett

Dragon PostWhat would you do if you found a dragon living in your basement?

When little Alex finds himself in this situation he is beside himself with excitement but he knows that he’s going to have to get some expert advice so that the dragon doesn’t burn down his house.

First he writes to the Fire Brigade, who send him back some excellent advice on keeping the dragon cool and moist. Next he contacts a local butcher to find out what the dragon might like to eat. The reply is a little concerning (the butcher is quite keen to find out what dragon meat tastes like!) but offers up some useful suggestions re dragon diets. Soon Alex and his dragon are having lots of fun!

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Hop Little Bunnies by Martha Mumford & Laura Hughes

Hop Little BunniesIvy always gets excited when we receive parcels of books in the post but when we opened this one she was bouncing with joy as it combines two of her favourite things – the song ‘Sleeping Bunnies’ and lots and lots of little flaps to lift and explore.

Adapted from the popular nursery rhyme, this beautiful book starts with a group of very sleepy bunnies lazing on picnic blankets. You are invited to wake them up by lifting the flaps and then turn the page to see them all ‘hop hop hop’.

The group of bunnies then take a little walk through the countryside and find lots of other animals having a snooze, including lambs, chicks, kittens and ducklings. Your little one can wake them all up by lifting the flaps (or by yelling ‘WAAAAAAKE UUUUUUP’ as Ivy chose to do!) and watch them play together.

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