Noisy Neighbours by Ruth Green (Tate Publishing)

Oh boy, the fun we've had with this book - even though it does touch a bit of a raw nerve at the moment (our immediate neighbours aren't noisy but our neighbourhood is!)

Charlotte and I sat down and cuddled up with this great little book from Ruth Green. Though it's been out for a while, we're playing catch up with Tate Publishing's truly awesome children's book range so watch out for more reviews soon.

A snail is the star of this story, a rather tired little snail if truth be told - who really wants nothing more than to curl up in his shell and get some much-needed rest. But the poor snail can't find a quiet place to kip.

Chirping sparrows keep him awake (again, fully identify with you Mr Snail, we get woken up at first light by the stupid pigeons in our locale! Grrr!) buzzing bees (check, we had a bee infestation a year ago that woke us up at first light with loud droning) and even quacking ducks (OK we haven't had this yet but we live quite near a river so it's not beyond the bounds of possibility).

We love the humour in this. You see Mr Snail is a bit of a tired old grump, a bit like...well me I guess! But he does come up with a stunning idea that might finally guarantee a quiet night's sleep. Can you guess what it is? Clue: Party time!

As you'd expect from Tate Publishing, Ruth Green's fabulous little book is a treat for the eyes - and it's rib-ticklingly funny. We always love books that are huge amounts of fun to 'act out' and read aloud, and that's certainly the case with Noisy Neighbours. Charlotte loved it to bits, though I found it a little bit too close to reality at times :)

By the way, if you're a story app fan, do not miss the app version of "Noisy Neighbours" - It's utterly fantastic! Take a look at:

http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/apps/noisy-neighbours

iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/noisy-neighbours/id888706932?mt=8

Charlotte's best bit: The snail's brilliant plan to finally get a good long peaceful snooze. Genius!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fantastic and original book full of fun and humour - and awesome fun to read aloud!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Tate Publishing)