This is a book that had me close to tears at the message that it speaks. It will have your school aged child thinking and talking about its meaning, and for the younger child it is a lullaby that whispers words of comfort and grace. The illustrations will captivate both young and old eyes.
Some books are little treasures, and this is one of those where I felt transported back to when I was a child. I felt familiar with the story and felt comfortable that the content is safe for an 8 year old to read. There are a lot of books about magic, goblins and elves for young children, but in my role as a Librarian parents often ask me for books that don't have those components. For those types of requests this book is a perfect fit.
I have chosen to share this book with you because I think it is one of those little gems that people may dismiss as just being a sticker book when it is actually so much more. This book not only supports literacy development but also fine motor skills, colour recognition and the ability to pattern and number match.
Congratulations to Johanna Bell and Dion Beasley on their win in the category Book of the Year: Early Childhood. I can see why this won in its category, the story is impacting and the illustrations are on a whole other level, their childlike nature is mesmerising. The pictures give me a real sense of Canteen Creek and those cheeky animals.
The colours draw you into the story on those first few pages of the book, the shades of green give you the feeling of being out among the trees and plants in the garden, the tortoise face a beautiful rosy complexion whose eyes show an old but warm and happy soul. The colours and illustrations continue to amaze as I turn the pages, each majestic and beautiful creature brought to life by the artist ability to bring us the African Jungle through her artistic ability.
I was very excited to attend the book launch - or as the wonderful host said to the children - the book birthday of I Just Ate My Friend. I love being able to support Australian authors, whether it by purchasing their books or in this case attending my first book launch. The first thing I did was purchase myself the book and the staff asked if I would like it signed...Yes Please! I was delighted to have a quick chat with the author Heidi McKinnon, who is incredibly humble, lovely to speak to and will delight us with another book in the future...although she is not sure what it will be about yet.
The first time I opened this book I instantly loved it. The story begins with Mr Moot living his happy quiet life with his beloved Fluffywuffy. He wasn't troubled by anything, that is until cousin Clarence decides to move in for ..."a week...or a month, or quite possibly a year!" Mr Moot was optimistic that it wouldn't be so bad, fluffywuffy remained knowingly silent.
I know I say this about so many books that I read BUT I really really really love these first 4 books in the D-Bot Squad series. I am not the only one who loves them because according to reviews on the D-Bot Squad web page children are saying that these books are AWESOME and made them feel both AMAZING, and EXCITED. I agree with them…because I read one after the other until I had read all 4. You know how some people binge watch TV...I believe I just binge read the first four books in this series and if you continue reading you will see why.
I wasn't sure what this book was exactly going to be about, apart from a Sloth Who Came to Stay of course. I could only imagine that there would be an element of slow to the book, I did not expect there to be such strong and emotive message for adults. Although I am not a mamma it certainly illustrated to me how our busy, fast paced lives that we continue to fill, shape how we are as a family (not just those with children) and dictate our lives. It takes something, like the Sloth in this picture book, to make us stop and realise just what we are bypassing when we are speeding around. There is so much to see, appreciate and love when we are reminded to take our time.
I hope you are ready for a laugh and some mischievous bunnies, and a bear that CAN'T babysit...or so it is said. This delightful book sees Mr and Mrs Burrow needing a babysitter for Anna, Adelaide, Betsy, Bill, Caspar, Clive and little Dottie. They put out an ad and only one animal answers the call...Bear.
Little Big Reads 