Children's Books

Advantages: great story and illustrations
Disadvantages: none

...especially her cat Gilbert's! I think this is a lovely book with a great deal of humour which really seems to get to the heart of the problem of combing long hair. I have terrible problems persuading my eldest daughter that we should brush her lovely long hair every day and I'm often tempted to say that we'll have it cut short which she hates the idea of! When reading this book together though, she did decide that the Little Princess was being a ...
...for some very funny illustrations. I think all the characters are quite ugly with their worst features accentuated, but they all seem to have a slight endearing quality too. As with all the Little Princess stories, the problem is resolved at the end which makes it a satisfying story with lots to talk about and look at. There is quite a lot dialogue and if you know the voices from the TV series, it can be fun to try and imitate these. Overall, we ... Read review

Advantages: great story and illustrations
Disadvantages: none

...four and three quarters! Sleep Tight, Little Bear is one of the many wonderful Big Bear, Little Bear stories written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Barbara Firth. I think we must have read them all about a hundred times each so both these characters are very familiar to my daughters and feel a bit like old friends! Also, on the first page of each of the books, you get the same words: Once there were two bears, Big Bear and Little Bear. ...
...the little bear. One day... This very familiar beginning is so good for little children because it means that they can start joining in with the story right from the beginning. In this story, Little Bear finds a cave and decides he is going to live in it. He kits it out with all sorts of things and makes it very cosy. He cleans it and tidies it and also plays in it. (This is so reminiscent of my daughter playing in her play house with her baby!). ... Read review

Advantages: Fun Short Story
Disadvantages: Small writing may stop younger children independently reading the book

Mr Noisy is number 16 in the Mr Men collection. He is a round red shape and wears light brown shoes. The cover of the book is white and has a picture of Mr Noisy and the title at the top in black lettering. The back cover of the book has small pictures of the other Mr Men in the collection. THE STORY The book starts by telling us about Mr Noisy and says that he is a very noisy person indeed. When he reads a book he shouts at the top of his voice. ...
...The story starts by Mr Noisy being in bed in his house which is on top of a hill. He was in bed snoring which sounded like an elephant snoring. His alarm clock which sounds like a fire engine goes off and wakes him up along with all the people in the town of Wobbletown where he lives. Later that day he decides to go shopping. He slammed the door so hard and noisy that the whole house and the hill wobbled. Mr Noisy walked down the hill and into the ... Read review

Advantages: A warm-hearted dream of a book
Disadvantages: can be boring at times

...tale which belongs to this dragon called Firedrake!!! Seriously where do you see a dragon up in the sky on an adventure, but no this dragon is not alone, oh no he is with a courageous and very bossy also talk active cat called Sorrel who is a brownie? Not only is a cat flying on the back of a dragon, but there is 2 others on there, there is "the dragon rider" who is a human boy, called Ben, and there is also a bickering courageous Homunculi, who ...
...Shimmertail - The second dragon to be roused from stone. Slatebeard - An old, wise dragon, living in the Valley of the Dragons Gilbert Greytail - A white, former seasick ship's rat, now a mapmaker, lives in a human city. Lola Greytail - fat grey rat; daredevil pilot, cartographer and tourist guide. Niece of Gilbert Rosa Greytail - grey rat and cousin of Gilbert, who warns the dragons about humans Sea Serpents - twin serpents who reign in the ... Read review

Advantages: Fun short story
Disadvantages: small writing

Mr Small is a small round red shaped character and he wears a blue hat. He is number 12 in the collection. The cover of the book is a white shape and has a picture of Mr Small and the title in black letters above. The back cover of the book is also white and has small pictures showing the other characters available in the collection. THE STORY The book begins by telling us about Me Small, we learn that he is the smallest person you will ever see, ...
...even see him. He is about the height of a pin. He lives in a tiny house which is underneath a daisy at the bottom of Mr Robinsons garden. The story starts by telling us that Mr Small decides to get a job. The only trouble is that what job could he do as he is so small. Mr Small just had no ideas as to what job he could do. He ate his lunch whilst he thought about it, he had half a pea, one crumb and a drop of lemonade. After he had eaten his lunch ... Read review