***The Background***
The Maisy stories are all written by the wonderful Lucy Cousins and there are lots in the series to choose from in various forms. Whether your choice is paperback, hardback, board book or even an audio book you are sure to find one you like. You can also get sticker ... Read review
Advantages: Encourages teamwork and fun Disadvantages: none
...Background***
The Maisy stories are all written by the wonderful Lucy Cousins and there are lots in the series to choose from in various forms. Whether your choice is paperback, hardback, board book or even an audio book you are sure to find one you like. You can also get sticker books too.
Lucy Cousins is a mother of four and this obviously helps her when it comes to writing books for young children as she is bound ... ...***The Characters***
Maisy has a few friends that help share in her everyday adventures. They are a very mixed bunch and remind me a bit of the selection of toy animals in my own son's bedroom.
Cyril the Squirrel
Tallulah the Chick
Charley the Crocodile
Eddie the Elephant
Maisy also has a small stuffed Panda toy that she likes to take everywhere with her.
***The Story*** more
***The Background***
The Maisy stories are all written by the wonderful Lucy Cousins and there are lots in the series to choose from in various forms. Whether your choice is paperback, hardback, board book or even an audio book you are sure to find one you like. You can also get sticker books too.
Lucy Cousins is a mother of four and this obviously helps her when it comes to writing books for young children as she is bound to have a good idea of what they like to read. As well as the books she has helped develop a TV show of her famous character that you can see on Noggin on satellite TV.
***The Characters***
Maisy has a few friends that help share in her everyday adventures. They are a very mixed bunch and remind me a bit of the selection of toy animals in my own son's bedroom.
Cyril the Squirrel Tallulah the Chick Charley the Crocodile Eddie the Elephant
Maisy also has a small stuffed Panda toy that she likes to take everywhere with her.
***The Story***
In this book we see Maisy set of for an adventure camping in the country with her friends. They stop when they find the perfect place to camp. Setting the tent up isn't the easiest though and just when they think that teamwork has helped them get it right….it collapses on top of them.
This doesn't stop them trying again though and at last the big tent is up. They think it is huge and that there will be loads of room inside for everyone.
Before bedtime though they have supper and sing their favourite songs round the campfire. They all line up to get into the tent.
"First in was Cyril, with his torch. Nice pyjamas, Cyril! One in the tent!
Next came Charley. Mind the tent pegs, Charley! Two in the tent!
Then it was Tallulah's turn. Sweet dreams, Tallulah! Three in the tent!
And make room for Maisy…Move up, everyone! Four in the tent!"
Finally they squeeze up close together so that Eddie the Elephant can fit in too.
There is a lot of squashing and squeezing but finally they have five in the tent.
Just when you think that they are all in for the night though the friends start to pop out, one at a time. Cyril, Tallulah, Charley and Maisy all decide there isn't enough room in the tent and the story ends with,
"Sleep tight campers! One in the tent… Four under the stars…"
All that's left is to say goodnight to the owl in the tree.
***The Illustrations***
The drawings in the Maisy stories are always drawn with a thick black outline that makes the drawings and colours really stand out. It's not just the characters that are drawn like this but the background items too such as trees or the sun. It gives a very childlike quality to them and children can relate well to them.
***My Thoughts***
My son loves Maisy and her friends. This story is especially good as there is a bit of everything in there from teamwork to perseverance to having fun after the hard work is done.
He loves the simple illustrations and is always pointing to the pictures as I tell him the story, as he discusses what is happening. This is always good in my opinion, as picture books should get children talking about what the drawings are showing them.
I love Maisy too and the little lessons that are subtly taught really seem to go in. For example my son came out with the thought that if we helped him tidy his toys away then it would be done easier and quicker. I suppose I deserved that one really but at least the idea of teamwork has registered with his brain.
The characters are lovable and you instantly want to be part of their fun, which teaches children how important good friendships are.
My favourite bit of this story has to be when Eddie is trying hard to fit into the tent and there are legs and arms and noses sticking out from every angle. It reminded me of when we are going on holiday and we are desperately trying to fit just one more thing into the car. Of course we don't want things to pop out again like in this story and I can't help thinking it would have been easier for Eddie to just sleep outside under the stars but the friends don't seem to mind as they snuggle in their sleeping bags. As long as they are all together and comfortable, that is what is important.
***Other Maisy Books***
Maisy's Christmas Eve Maisy Goes To The Library Maisy Tidies Up Sweet Dreams, Maisy Maisy's Bedtime Maisy's Favourite Animals Maisy's House Where Is Maisy Maisy At The Beach Maisy Goes To Playschool
This is just a small selection of the Maisy collection.
***Other Info***
The version I reviewed was the paperback and although it has £4.99 on the back, you can get it from WH Smith from £3.99 with free postage if you get it delivered to your local store. Otherwise it can be bought from Tesco for £3.74 but this has a postage charge.
It is also available in hardback and that is priced at £7.99 but again Tesco's sell it for only £5.99.
The audio CD is available from 1st May 2006 and will be on sale from Amazon for £4.99 even though the list price is £6.80 and features the voice of Jane Horrocks. It is 35 minutes long and is said to include music and story based activities as well as the story itself.
Paperback ISNB No. 1844287114 Hardback ISBN No. 1844254409 Audio CD ISBN No. 1406300039
