Children's Books > M Children's Books

Advantages: Fast paced, absorbing and gripping!
Disadvantages: It had to end!!!

Truely one of the best books I have ever read, this author deserves a medal! A real page turner with a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter. I really found myself engrossed in the book and following the adventure as if I was a real part of it. Utterly unputdownable and a recommended read to adults and teenagers alike. This is not usually a style or genre of book I would usually go to but I was definitely pleasantly surprised, this is one book ... Read review

Advantages: Good sequel to the original Goldilocks story
Disadvantages: None

***Background*** Written by Alan MacDonald and illustrated by Gwyneth Williamson, this book is one of the Little Tiger Press books that are designed to make you giggle. Alan MacDonald has written many books including his Dirty Bertie series. ***The Story*** It starts, "When the three bears saw what Goldilocks had done to their little cottage, they were hopping mad. Their porridge eaten! Chairs broken! Beds bounced on! 'Go after her! Find ...
...goes off to follow her on his scooter and sees her going into a house at the far side of the cottage. He tells his mum and dad that he has seen her leave again without locking the door and the bears decide that revenge is on the cards. They find lots of boxes of cereal on the table and set about emptying them out although they aren't too keen on a few of them and end up having a food fight. Then they decide to have a bit of a party and turn some ... Read review

Advantages: Colourful pictures, feel good story
Disadvantages: just the bit when they skate on the frozen ice!

...~~Story and Illustrations~~ Elmer is wandering amongst his friends who look quite unhappy, and when he questions them as to why they are sad they say it's because they are cold. With this cold spell of weather we are having right now, children are keen to talk about whether they like to be cold or not. Elmer suggests the elephants just need a walk and we see them taking a walk through the colourful and very warm looking jungle. They are soon warm ...
...and rolling in the snow. Elmer shows them how to skate on the ice- this is one part of the book I don't really like because of the dangers of frozen lakes, and sometimes, if I can get away with it, I tell the story by using the pictures and not a frozen lake in sight! The elephants look as though they are really having fun sliding about the ice and it's something I don't want to be seen to be encouraging! The elephants forget about Elmer until they ... Read review

Advantages: great story and illustrations
Disadvantages: none

...it! This latest one - Perky Little Penguins - they absolutely love! This story is written by Tony Mitton and is illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees and it is absolutely wonderful from the first word. In fact even before you open the book, you get a good flavour by looking at the lively, vibrant colourful picture on the cover. As you can see this story is definitely going to involve some 'perky little penguins'. I have to say that there isn't really ...
...example of this is: Perky little penguins as they jump about, make a squeaky, shrieky noise - with a squabby shout! Later there is: They swirl about, they twirl about, splashy, sploshy, splish. These words are all really expressive and both my daughters love joining in with the poem and saying all of these wonderful words which just seem to jump of the tongue. It certainly seems to encourage their enjoyment of language! There is also quite ... Read review

Advantages: Feel good picture book
Disadvantages: None

Elmer Again by David McKee I think this is the second book written about Elmer the patchwork elephant. In the first Elmer story the elephants decide to have an Elmer day when they all colour themselves in bright colours and patterns and Elmer is the only grey elephant, because he colours himself grey. In this story, it is two days before the Elmer parade and Elmer is bored. He goes for a walk and when he sees his reflection in the water he has ...
...stage, anyone who has "met" Elmer before will know he is up to some kind of trick…he loves playing jokes on the other elephants and can't stand it when he thinks things are boring. At night time, Elmer moves around the other elephants and when he has finished he sleeps in another part of the forest. Some children do guess what he has done- painted all of the other elephants Elmer colour so that when they wake up in the morning, they are all saying ... Read review