It's not often you get to praise a book for having pitch-perfect rhyming text, wonderful illustrations and a superb 'message' at the end of the book (which both adults, and given my recent experiences while on kid's days out, children will identify wholly with). "Hello, is that Grandma?" has all of these and has ended up being one of Charlotte's firm favourites.
Though this is a 'lift the flap' book it's more appealing to preschool toddlers than younger kids. Each 'reveal' introduces a new animal character or crazy antic, which helps the story bounce along with the rhyming text.
If your toddlers are anything like ours, they've already mastered the phone (and probably sneakily pinch your mobile for a bit of play acting from time to time) so this is definitely going to be a winner.
And to all those parents I see glued to their Blackberries, or their iPhones while they're listlessly wandering around at children's theme parks, farm parks or other activities - do what the mummy at the end of this book does and be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves!
Charlotte's best bit: The crocodile. You see, once again children love the baddies!
Daddy's favourite bit: The moral message at the end. Your rubbish phone call about your new shoes, what you ate for lunch or some other meaningless twaddle is not as important as giving your child your attention so DON'T BE SO RUDE! :)
Rating: 5 out of 5 - *Book of the Week*