Zoe and Beans: Hello Oscar– the fifth in the series of Zoe and Beans, this book is written by the brilliant children’s illustrator Mick Inkpen and his daughter Chloe. It tells the story of a hole in the garden fence which is letting some very exotic creatures through. But where are they coming from. Dimples loves this book- the graphics, as with all Inkpen books, are fabulous and appealing to all ages, and the story-line really helps foster curiosity. An enjoyable book from MacMillan who also sent How Many Pets, a fabulous board book that is perfect for helping toddlers and pre-schoolers explore their counting skills.
By My Side, Alice Peterson– I loved this tale of love and loss and dogs, which was sent to review by Quercus books. It’s the perfect blend of ingredients for me, and I found it so very enjoyable that I immediately passed it on to the Houseguest who had the same response. There are some really loveable characters in the book, Ticket in particular, and I laughed and cried with them as the story-line unfolded. You can tell that Alice Petersen has done a lot of research into her characters- human and canine, helping the reader to really understand the frustrations that result from a life-changing injury. I was left in awe of her writing skills and urge you to read the book.
Wonder Woman, Rosie Fiore– the core topics of motherhood and business-building were more than a little appealing to me, as I suspect with a lot of parents of young children, all of whom have a great business idea based on their children. So with Rosie Fiore’s story, which encompasses the journey of Jo from stay-at-home mum to globe-trotting business woman, whilst also blending the stories of her other half Lee, as well as her two right-hand-women Holly and Mel. With thanks to Quercus for the review copy.
Frog Prince from iFairytales- we don’t have an Ipad, but the Houseguest does, so she very kindly downloaded a review copy of the Frog Prince from iFairytales for us to look at. LBG is in the process of learning to read and desperate to do so independently. This kind of interactive book is perfect for her because it tells the story without her needing help. She sat entranced as the book was read to her and likewise enjoyed the accompanying video clips that helped enhance the story. I confess I found the Princess’ voice very annoying indeed. And we were unable to scroll back through the story which was frustrating if bits were missed due to interruptions.
Little Mouse’s Big Book of Beasts, Emily Gravett– following from the Big Book of Fears, Little Mouse takes a peek at some beasts big and small. I confess that this book really didn’t do much for me…..it’s quite a tricky book to read in a fluid way so not good for storytime. But during the day and in an exploratory way, it’s great. My children love Little Mouse, they love the torn pages and the drawing and annotations. Granny just thinks that the children have graffiti-ed a perfectly good book. It’s popular though, with every under-eight that comes to the house so clearly Emily Gravett- who wrote the book on Dogs that is adored by our entire household- knows more about my children than I do!
Parragon Books were at BritMums and gave me a copy of The Burger- a perfect book for the husband who has been firing up the BBQ (gas) a fair amount in this heat. With a dramatic comic book design this book is definitely trying to be as un-recipe-bookish as it can. I like the wavy page edges that make flicking through terribly easy. And with 100 recipes in- most burger but also a fair few devoted to the accompanying relishes and salads, it should last out the heatwave. It’s not really ‘us’ though so I’m passing it on to Brother Adam who may make better use of it.
They also gave me The Ladies’ Book of Baking, which has a pastel and glitter front and could not be further from The Burger if it tried. With sections on Afternoon Tea, Family Bakes, Beautiful Biscuits, Perfect Pastries and Pies and Special Moments, there’s a recipe for every baking need. There are also pages which have cut-outs on to help you decorate your masterpieces: I presume you would make colour-copies of these to use. The Melting Moments were nice though probably not the best recipe to try in the heat, and I look forward to making the Toffee Chocolate Puffs as they sound scrumptious.
*disclosure: all books were provided for the purposes of this review. All opinions are honest and our own.*
Go on! You know you want to tell me what you think!