#ReadItMD13 Theme Week - "The Four Seasons - Spring into Summer!"

"The Easter Chick" by Geraldine Echner and Alexandra Junge is a great little story with fabulous illustrations, and a rather neat plot twist that gathers pace as the story unfolds. While most easter books seem to feature fluffy bunnies, chicks or chocolate, this tale of a mother hen laying an egg with something QUITE unexpected inside, is a laugh out loud classic. 

Usborne truly have Easter sewn up, from brilliant craft and sticker books...

...to the story of easter - here in a sticker book that helps children build the bible story with brilliant layouts and artwork. 

It seems like a long way away to start thinking about planting out the garden in the spring but Miffy's ready...!

"Miffy's Garden" sees everyone's favourite bunny get a patch of garden to grow things in. It seems to take forever for anything to grow, but patience is a virtue and there's nothing quite like harvesting your own veggies from your own vegetable patch, as Miffy discovers. It's amazing to think the Miffy books are over 60 years old, they're still as brilliant and timeless as ever they were. 

Stepping into summer now, our favourite summer books are easy to spot...so let's kick off with an utterly fabulous pooch...

"Harry By the Sea" was one of the first books we ever reviewed on the blog and it's still a book that we regularly read. Harry is a pooch enjoying a day out at the seaside with his family. Their tiny umbrella doesn't offer much shade so poor panting Harry has to go and find a cool spot to sleep in. The children's sandcastle is no good, and nor is using the curvaceous figure of a rather large lady. Tut tut Harry! We love the craziness of this, and Harry books are never far from our bedtime reading pile - I just wish more of the old ones were brought back into print. Come on publishers, do your thang - we really want "Harry and the Baby" back!

A girl with a name like this can't be far away from the summer sun, surely?

"Smile, starring Sunny McCloud" is like concentrated sunshine in book form as we follow a day in the life of the fabulous Sunny herself. She's fun to read about as we meet her family and friends, her fizzing whizzing energy makes this a fun-packed sun-packed read. 

From one amazing girl to another...

"Splash - Anna Hibiscus" is utterly perfect, so much so that it gained a "Book of the Week" award back when the weather was a LOT nicer! Anna is enjoying a day at the beach with her family but no one seems to want to play with her. The girls are busy talking on their mobile phones, the boys are busy playing football - and all the adults want to do is chat or laze around in the sun. What can Anna do? The sea has an idea or two!

We've got one more theme day to look forward to this week so hope you join us for Autumn really soon!