Children's Books > Julia Donaldson Children's Books

Advantages: A gentle rhyming text
Disadvantages: none

A squash and a squeeze This is a children's book written by Julia Donaldson, author of 'The Gruffalo' and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It is a 24 page book published by Macmillan at a cost of £5.99. It is her first book published in 1993 which started off as a song for a children's television show. Julia writes in what was to become her usual style of rhyme to produce this wonderful text. A woman is complaining that her house is "a squash and ...
...next piece of advice is a "curious plan" but a very clever one. Just how does he make her house less of "a squash and a squeeze"? This story will have children rolling on the floor with laughter as the animals get into all sorts of trouble in the small house. The story has a clever moral as do many of her stories, which is perhaps why I enjoy reading them. This is also available on Audio CD read by Imelda Staunton and Steven Pacey and is an easy ... Read review

Advantages: An interesing book.
Disadvantages: Not great for large groups or pre-school children

...character’s favourite book, beginning with Charlie Cook’s: ‘Once upon a time there was a boy called Charlie Cook Who curled up in a cosy chair and read his favourite book….’ There is then a double-page spread of a ‘snippet’ of the book which was about a pirate ship and chief… The pirate then finds a treasure chest inside of which is a book… Again a double-page spread of a little of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Baby Bear finds Goldilocks ...
...all of the characters join Charlie Cook in the room where he is sitting on a cosy chair reading his favourite book. ~ Educational Value ~ * Identifying rhyme. * Encourages children's participation and develops memory skills. * Introduces different genres / types of books to children. ~ Illustrations & Format ~ Axel Scheffler has worked alongside Julia Donaldson on a number of books and is a superb illustrator. The drawings are often different ... Read review

Advantages: Rhyming, adjectives, animals
Disadvantages: Swan doesn't get any chocolate mousse

...macaroni and carrots followed by chocolate mousse, but in the realm of children's books anything is possible. Julia Donaldson has in fact created a wonderful book bursting with rhyme, adjectives and the idea of differing personalities in Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose. The title is actually based on a line from one of the pages and the alliteration probably makes it the most obvious one to have been chosen. On each page we meet a different animal, ...
...and five, possibly six, and the Amazon price of £3.49 is excellent value. Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose by Julia Donaldson and Nick Sharratt Macmillan Children's Books, 2006 Paperback, 24 pages ISBN 140502190X Price £5.99 (£3.59 on Amazon) This is a printed book, not an audio book. ... Read review

Advantages: Fun rhymes and fantastic pictures
Disadvantages: over too soon

...on with the show." Conjuror Cow is trying to make a rabbit appear but can't seem to get it quite right. She is performing on stage for all her farmyard friends who encourage her along the way. As we go through this delightful rhyming book we see her make a worm appear from a cake and a pig from under a cloth but it's not until the end that we see that really all the white rabbits are hiding under her cloak. On every double page there is a half ...
...conjured up and children will love to turn this to see what's underneath as well as finishing the rhyme on that page. ***The Illustrations*** The expressions on the faces of the animals in this book are drawn in a wonderful way with lots of smiling faces on everyone as Cow gets things wrong. The colours are bright and at the back of the stage is a rainbow effect. After each trick goes wrong we can see reference to the outcome on the following page ... Read review

Advantages: Rhyming text that toddlers love to shout along to
Disadvantages: None

...a funny story about a monkey who's lost his mum and butterfly decides to help him, but he just keeps on getting it wrong. Each time he brings a different animal to the monkey and the monkey shouts 'no no no!' which my daughter thinks is hilarious and she loves to shout it out along with me, she has even learnt the names of some of the animals through reading this book. The text is rhyming and bouncy and will keep a toddler's attention right to the ... Read review