That's Not My Dragon - Rachel Wells, Fiona Watt

...The Series***

That's Not My Puppy
That's Not My Kitten
That's Not My Truck
That's Not My Dinosaur
That's Not My Bear
That's Not My Tractor
That's Not My Bunny
That's Not My Mermaid
That's Not My Teddy
That's Not My Train
That's Not My Dolly
That's Not My Lion
That's Not My Robot
That's Not My Monster
That's Not My Fairy
That's Not ... more

Ok - so every parent has been through it when there child has misplaced their favourite toy and we try to offer alternatives. This book shows one such story as we are shown one dragon after another til we get the right one.

***The Background***

Usborne seem to be very good at continually producing great quality books for children of all ages but this series of board books are aimed at pre-schoolers from the age of 1 upwards and contain lots of different things to feel along the way in the search for the correct toy.

Written by Fiona Watts and illustrated by Rachel Wells these books are simple to read and lovely to look at.

***The Story***

This book isn't really rocket science but is ideal for the very young and starts on the front cover of the book which is a little bit different from the version above. The purple dragon has fluffy ears and below has the wording "it's ears are too tufty."

As we go through the book we find lots of different dragons but none of them are the correct one as they all have a feature that is wrong. It's spots may be too slimy or it's tongue is to fuzzy.

Luckily when we reach the last page we find the right one with the sparkly scaly wings.

***The Illustrations***

The colourful dragons are boldly drawn on contrasting backgrounds with shiny wings or scales to catch a child's attention.

***My Thoughts***

This is the second book in this series that we have had the good fortune to find in the library near us. The first was the one about the bunny, which was a favourite with my 4 year old son as the toy he takes everywhere with him is a floppy grey rabbit.

When he saw this the other day he was instantly drawn to it and remembered the bunny one. "Can I get this one out today?" was his initial reaction, which is always a good sign. He does have a thing about this type of book at the moment though and any touch and feel book instantly draws him to open up and have a feel.

I think these books are fantastic as the pictures are bright and colourful and the backgrounds sparkle with different stars and swirls throughout, something that always attracts small eyes to the pages. The story is kept simple so young one's don't get bored and the repetition of "That's not my dragon," on each page is ideal for slightly older children as they can start to recognise the words as they say them.

The textures are varied throughout the book from the rough knobbly feel of claws to the prickly feeling of one dragon's tail. My son's favourite bits are the shiny padded spots and the tufty ears, which he sits and strokes for ages.

I've seen quite a few different books in this series in the shops and I'm hoping we will get a few more in at the library as I feel that my son would outgrow these books within the next year or so. I do feel they would be a great investment for someone with a younger child.

***Other Books In The Series***

That's Not My Puppy
That's Not My Kitten
That's Not My Truck
That's Not My Dinosaur
That's Not My Bear
That's Not My Tractor
That's Not My Bunny
That's Not My Mermaid
That's Not My Teddy
That's Not My Train
That's Not My Dolly
That's Not My Lion
That's Not My Robot
That's Not My Monster
That's Not My Fairy
That's Not My Car

***Other Information***

This book retails at £5.99 which may seem a little bit expensive but you can get it cheaper from Tesco for only £4.49.

ISBN No. 0746071477 

...less