Thursday, 24 March 2011
Stone Soup
Labels:
Child's Play Press,
Jess Stockham,
Stone Soup
After a hectic couple of weeks where Creepy Crawlies (at the White Horse Leisure Centre - £3.25 for a few hours of completely manic play for toddlers - thoroughly recommended!) has replaced our usual library trip we're back on schedule.
Catching up with the reviews, Stone Soup has proved to be something of a winner with Charlotte. It's a traditional old fable, beautifully reworked by Jess Stockham with cute and funny animal character illustrations lovingly drawn and painted.
Stone Soup tells the tale of a wandering band of tinkers and their rather neat way of scoring a free supper at the expense of villagers they drop in on. Initially cynical and unfriendly, the villagers soon rally round when the tinkers introduce a mysterious soup stone that can provide the most amazing tasting soup.
Those familiar with the original fable will know what happens next. For the rest of you, I'd definitely suggest picking this book up. There are lots of flip-up pages for toddlers to explore so it should prove as popular as the soup in the story does.
Charlotte's best bit - The stingy tortoise
Daddy's favourite bit - The mysterious soup stone at the end of the book
Rating - 4 out of 5
Abingdon Library goes self-service, and how!
Labels:
Abingdon Library,
Self Service,
The Abingdon Blog
After a couple of weeks absence from visiting Abingdon Library, Charlotte and I were amazed to find the whole place completely changed the last time we visited.
Abingdon Library has now gone 'Self Service" for loans and book returns and the setup is most impressive, particularly for youngsters who get their own fantastic machine to handle the processes previously undertaken by the excellent staff (rest assured though, hopefully this doesn't mean the lovely people there will be disappearing any time soon).
For children's book returns, a touch-screen display (complete with Rainforest or Underwater themes) allows parents (or button-pressing busy girls like Charlotte) to stack their books on the reader plate. A few simple on-screen prompts take you through the entire process. All books are automatically scanned back in (that bit was fantastic and most impressive!) and then books are stacked to the left of the display, ready for dropping back onto shelves.
Checking books back out again does the whole thing in reverse. Your library card / barcode is scanned by a laser scanner first, then you stack your books up as before, the system reads all the chips inside, and they're booked out against your card. A printed receipt is issued as a reminder for when they need to be back.
Guided through the process by the ever-helpful staff, we can't wait to use it again. (BTW a quick hello to them if they find their way here, as I did drop a few hints about the blog while I was in there - Well, you never know!)
Charlotte's best bit - The noises the rainforest theme checkin makes
Daddy's favourite bit - The fantastic auto-scanning-book-stack thing.
Rating - A unanimous 50 billion out of 5.
Friday, 11 March 2011
Cowboy Baby
Labels:
Cowboy Baby,
Sue Heap,
Walker Books
Charlotte and I absolutely loved this book! Cowboy Baby is the rootingest, tootingest goldarn little baby varmint the world has ever seen. When Sheriff Pa suggests that it's sleep time for Cowboy Baby, the stetson-wearing scamp toddles off on a quest to round up his gang. Texas Ted, Denver Dawg and the others must all be found before Cowboy Baby can rest his little head and head off to prairie slumbertime.
For a toddler who definitely prefers Woody to Buzz Lightyear, Cowboy Baby is an excellent read. Sue Heap's simple and clear illustrations complement the text (which demands you read in a texan cowboy drawl). If your little mite likes cowboys they're going to love this.
Charlotte's best bit: What Sherrif Pa catches with his lasso
Daddy's favourite bit: Putting on daft accents to read the Sheriff Pa / Cowboy Baby bits (much to my other half's amusement)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Monday, 7 March 2011
Revisiting "That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown"
Though we first reviewed "That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown" last October, Charlotte grabbed it again from the library and I thought it was worth taking another look at it simply because she's been driving us absolutely crazy with this book, wanting to read it at least 3 times a day or more.
So what's so fascinating about the story of Emily Brown and her rabbit, Stanley?
Getting into the mindset of a three year old isn't easy when they've got 40 years on you but it seems to be the book's neat way of showing the consequences of naughtiness. As we said in the last review, Queen Gloriana the Third will pretty much stop at nothing to own Emily Brown's "bunny wunny" Stanley. No amount of bribery or bargaining will get Emily Brown to give up her companion, her co-adventurer and her favourite toy.
Perhaps the veiled lesson "you can't always get what you want so make do with what you've got" may be lost on Charlotte, but certainly Emily Brown's (rather kind) way of helping Queen Gloriana realise this is quite a neat twist.
I promise I won't make a habit of re-hashing reviews but the tenacity Charlotte has shown in demanding this book be read make me think it was worth another look.
Charlotte's (new) best bit: The dolls that say "Mama, Mama!"
Daddy's (new) best bit: Nah I still like the Queen's Secret Commandos.
(new) Rating: 5 out of 5
The Stray Kitten
Labels:
Gavin Rowe,
Judy Waite,
Little Tiger Press,
The Stray Kitten
Regular readers of this blog might remember our review of "Mouse, Look Out!" by Judy Waite and Gavin Rowe. A dark tale that seemed slightly menacing for younger readers, but with a fairly happy ending that lifted it somewhat.
The Stray Kitten is a very similar tale, this time detailing the young life of a lost moggy as it learns to live out in the wild where every day is a fight for survival, and a learning process.
The lovable kitten is cautious, wise but sadly always hungry.
Mid-way through this book, the story takes quite a dark twist (as did "Mouse, Look out!"). Probably not suitable for the very young but certainly eminently suitable for children who have inquiring minds and like to read about characters and situations that are anything but fluffy and fancy-free.
Charlotte's best bit: The kitten vs the bulldozer "is scary!"
Daddy's favourite bit: Wondering what happened to the world mid-way through the book.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Muchas Gracias, Abingdon Blog
The fantastic Abingdon Blog recently covered Mostly Books and World Book day. Mostly Books is an important independent Abingdon bookshop, one of two in the town (the other being The Abingdon Bookstore). Both shops stock a varied selection of adult and children's books that fall outside the normal chain-store 'big publisher' stock.
The coverage also included a link back to this humble blog so many thanks to the Abingdon Blog for the coverage, and a warm welcome to all new visitors finding their way here.
As a catch-up, ReadItDaddy is a children's book blog with a view to covering a varied selection of books every week, most of which are borrowed from the excellent Abingdon Library - which has a brilliant children's section.
Comments and feedback are most welcome as are new followers!
Friday, 4 March 2011
What shall I make?
Most children love playing with Play Doh or Plasticine, but what about dough? A child's flights of fantasy are triggered when his mum gives him a lump of chapati dough while cooking. The little boy busies himself making all sorts of animals and characters, until they get the better of him!
A big-print hardback book with plenty of illustrations (which can be used to teach children how to make their own characters - better still there's a very easy to make recipe for Chapatis at the end too!)
Charlotte's best bit: Making a cat
Daddy's favourite bit: Making a snake
Rating: 4 out of 5
Mog's Amazing Birthday Caper
Silly old forgetful Mog is one of the most endearing cat characters in books. Judith Kerr's feline fusspot is the perfect subject for a rather innovative and whimsical look at ABCs. Each page of the story is peppered with words beginning with each letter of the alphabet (though Kerr uses a bit of poetic license with some of the trickier letters, naturally).
Rhythmic storytelling is coupled with illustrations of Mog's rather strange dreams. Do cats dream of more than just chasing mice? Find out in the book!
Charlotte's best bit: Jugs of Jelly
Daddy's favourite bit: Indians and Ice-Cream
Rating: 4 out of 5
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Mr Bloom elbows Mr Tumble aside...
Labels:
Ben Faulks,
CBeebies,
Earworm,
Mr Bloom's Nursery
Uh oh, there may be trouble ahead. Charlotte seems to have completely fallen in love with "Mr Bloom's Nursery", a new Cbeebies programme. When asked the other day whether she liked Mr Bloom or Mr Tumble best, she answered "Mr Bloom". Never thought I'd see the day.
Although this is a book blog it's nigh on impossible to ignore the influence certain television programmes have on our youngsters. Even the most holier-than-thou parent on the planet would probaby admit to sneaking the kids off to watch TV while they get on with any number of tasks that present themselves during a busy day.
So Mr Bloom - new hero for a generation of toddlers who aren't content to put up with the normal toy-selling licensed programmes from across the pond. Home grown children's television (certainly on CBeebies) has never been better.
With its roots (pardon the pun) in a touring stage show, Mr Bloom's Nursery is the first major project from the BBC's new Salford-based studios. Handy for Mr Bloom's star, Ben Faulks who lives a few minutes down the road from the specially constructed allotment used in the programme.
Local children are brought in to assist Mr Bloom with his gardening duties, and it's the instant identification with the children in the programme, coupled with the (extremely) catchy music and vegetable characters that make it such a hit with youngsters.
Excellent stuff but if I can get through a day without humming "meet the veggies"...
(P.S Don't worry Justin / Mr Tumble, I'm sure it's just a passing phase for Charlotte!)
I Love You Daddy
Amongst the presents for my recent 43rd birthday (maaaan I'm getting old!) was this book. The perfect snuggle-up book to read to a lovely daughter, I Love You Daddy tells the tale of a little toddler bear's first foray into the big wide world, ably assisted by his loving daddy.
Little bear learns how to climb trees, how to bother bees and lots of other things in between. Kristina Stephenson's lovely cuddly illustrations are excellent. There are a ton of very similar books on the market but this one (from Marks and Spencer) is very charming and touching.
Nice pressie mummy!
Charlotte's best bit: Toddler bear and the bees.
Daddy's favourite bit: Daddy tickles!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
