#BookReview By Lou – The Dragon With The Blazing Bottom @simonkids_UK #Beach #PictureBook #Preschool #KS1 #ChildrensBook #KidsBook

The Dragon With The Blazing Bottom
By Beach

There’s plenty of humour for children in The Dragon With The Blazing Bottom. Thanks to Simon and Schuster Kids for gifting me this book to review.
Please find out more in the blurb and my review below.

Blurb

The first in a fabulously funny and hugely commercial series about a dragon who has lost his flame – but may just find fire elsewhere . . . Perfect for fans of The DInosaur That Pooped series.

Sir Wayne’s dragon has lost his flame. Are his teeth TOO clean? Is his tongue TOO pink? Perhaps his diet is to blame. Not to worry – Sir Wayne has a meal plan of EPIC proportions, including a big lump of lava, one burning bush, some sparklers and fireworks – the ones that go ‘WHOOOOSH’. Oh, and one VERY mouldy old piece of cheese – almost as green as the snot from a sneeze . . . What could possibly go wrong?!
A hilarious and dynamic character-driven picture book, with a truly explosive ending! From the hugely exciting new picture book talent, Beach.

Review

The Dragon With The Blazing Bottom absolutely would appeal to children’s sense of humour in its rhyming tale. This is a great debut picture book by Beach. It hits all the right notes for pre-school to 5 year olds.
There are 2 great characters to meet – a knight – Sir Wayne and a huge, bright red dragon who can’t breathe fire. The knight assists the dragon and the illustrations just add to the fun of this as many ways are tried.
Young children are sure to have fun as they discover what happens to the dragon.
It’ll absolutely appeal to children with that “toilet” sense of humour and those who like dragons, knights and dinosaurs, like the one who pooped… It’s sure to gross them out in a way that will have them laugh lots.
It’s a book that is great for bringing some humour into your child’s life and one that adults can have fun with when reading it to their child(ren).

#BookReview by Lou – Bertie at the Worldwide Games @WendyHJones @malcolmdown @lovebooksgroup @mdpublishing #lovebookstours #ChildrensBook #PictureBook #KS1

Bertie at the Worldwide Games
By Wendy H. Jones
Illustrated by Barry Diaper

I am excited to share with you the news that Bertie the Buffalo from Scotland is back and he is on another adventure. The first one was loved by young children (4 to 6 and sometimes younger) in not just the UK, but other countries in the world. With the Olympic Games just around the corner, and excitement mounting, this book couldn’t be more timely and is a great addition to add to the entertainment. The books work just as well as standalone.
Find out more in the blurb and then what else I think of this book in my review.

Bertie Cover

Blurb

BertieTourP3 Bertie the Buffalo is having fun on the farm where he lives in Scotland. Then a mysterious letter arrives inviting him to represent Scotland in the Worldwide Games. Bertie and his friends fly to Tokyo where they meet new and exotic animals and try to win first prize in all the different events. Bertie is sad when he isn’t winning any medals but finds out if he works together with his friends, he will be a winner in the end.

Review

Bertie the Buffalo is back! This time he has bounded onto a plane and is heading to Tokyo for the Olympics, not to watch as one might presume, but to participate, in this fun and zany rhyming story, that has many animals from many parts of the world taking part. It is a timely book with terrific pictures, that also help tell the story in a way that makes this book Dyslexic friendly.

The first book had mass appeal and this one does too. It’s great that children can reunite with Bertie and his Alpacea friend, who were in the first book. I will say that each book is complete within themselves too. Countries are represented by different animals from their country of origin and each one has a speciality sporting event that they are competing in, just like the human olympics. Each sport is recognisable from the real olympics as is the competitive nature. The competitive nature, which is in the writing is also conveyed in the illustrations, so however children read and look at the book, they don’t miss out on any of the action or atmosphere.

There’s a great sense of comaraderie and upbeat celebration that goes through the book to excite children as it brings good cheer.

The book is fun for the timing of it, but is also a good fun way of introducing children to the olympics, the different events and also to different animals and where they come from.

Intelligently, there is a look in the story about the speed of animals and which one is perhaps faster than the next.

About the Author and Illustrator

BertieTourP2 Author: Wendy H. Jones

Wendy H. Jones is the award-winning author of the DI Shona McKenzie Mysteries and Cass Claymore Investigates. She lives in Scotland and is also an international public speaker and the president of the Scottish Association of Writers.

BertieTourP4

Illustrator: Barry Diaper

Barry Diaper is best known for his cartoons and caricatures for The Beano. He was once short-listed for the Daily Mail’s ‘Not the Turner Prize’. He lives in Salisbury, England.

Bertie worldwide games (1)

#Review by Lou – You Can’t Take An Elephant On Holiday by Patricia Cleveland-Peck and David Tazzyman @KidsBloomsbury @impeckable_P @gumdraw #ChildrensBooks #Humour #Kidslit #PictureBook #Elephants

You Can’t Take An Elephant On Holiday
By Patricia Cleveland-Peck & David Tazzyman

Full of humour and joyous delight… come and find out in the blurb and my review.
Thanks to Bloomsbury for gifting me this book. It is available to buy now!

Blurb

Imagine playing minigolf with meerkats or building a sandcastle with an armadillo! And don’t even think about eating candyfloss when there’s an albatross about!

Jam-packed with crazy creatures, this brilliant new book from the creators of You Can’t Take an Elephant on the Bus, You Can’t Let an Elephant Drive a Digger and You Can’t Call an Elephant in an Emergency is riotous, laugh-out-loud fun!

Review

Apparently you can’t take an elephant on holiday or have a lion on a tour bus… who knew? Haha. This is a book with fantastic illustrations and hilarious reasons as to why you can’t take an elephant on holiday, in fun, short, rhyming sentences that young children will enjoy. There are many animals to meet and recognisable situations, such as a paddling pool and a fair. Children will enjoy hearing the story and looking at the pictures and it is easy for adults to have fun with their children with it as they read it.

It is perfect for bedtime or during the day to cheer them up and bring the joy of books to them.
It would be great for homes, nurseries, toddler and baby groups, libraries. It’s pure joy and one you can interact with your children and just have sheer fun!

#BookReview by Lou of My Sister Is A Monster, My Brother Is A Monster by Natalie Reeves Billing @BillingReeves @RandomTTours #MonstrousMe #ChildrensBook

My Sister Is A Monster, My Brother Is A Monster
by Natalie Reeves Billing
Rated: 5 stars *****

I am absolutely delighted to be sharing with you the next installment of this wonderful series. Each book is complete within themselves and are worth collecting them all for the complete family of them. It is a split-perspective story, so you see both the sister and brother’s point of view. First one and then flip the book over to see the next, in whatever order you like, so it’s a bit like 2 stories for the price of 1 and with all the same excellent characters in both. It’s fun and it encourages a sense of self and empathy. Find out more about the author, the blurb and my full review of this excellent book as you meander down the page. Discover a link to activities that accompany the book after my review.
Thanks to Random Things Tours for inviting me to review. Thanks to the author Natalie Reeves Billing for sending me the book.

About the Author

Natalie Reeves Billing is a Liverpool lass with a dark sense of humour, which often spills onto the page. She loves to write spooky, fantastical stories for young audiences, and dabbles in poetry, contemporary fiction.
Natalie spent most of her early career in the music industry as a performer and professional songwriter. This lead, almost inevitably, to storytelling.

Natalie is an Arvon Foundation friend and is a student of the Golden Egg Academy. She is mentored under the Lloyds Bank SSE program, with her Bubs Literacy project. She is published in several anthologies with her poetry and flash fiction, including the Writing on the Wall, Read Now, Write Now, and is involved in several collaborations with fellow writers across poetry, song, and scriptwriting.
Her new book, My Mummy is a Monster (part of the Monstrous Me collection) will be available in March 2020 and Carry Love in June 2020
Connect with Natalie on Twitter @BillingReeves.

Blurb

Two Books in 1! The Monstrous Me Collection are split perspective books looking at situations from other points of view, helping children develop a sense of balance, roundedness and wellbeing. Readers can literally and figuratively, turn the story on its head, and look at the very same situations from different angles. In this book, a brother and sister are convinced the other is a monster. But, are they really? When we look at the story from the other side, we see a very different story.

Review

This is again, another terrific book that flips 2-ways to tell 2 stories. This time it focuses on the brother and the sister. It, like other books in this collection, has interactive elements of trying to find the Monstrometer as you go along. It adds an extra layer of fun and it is great that there are activities on her Lollipop Lodge website, which you can find just after the review.
Half the book is My Brother Is A Monster and then you flip it over to find My Sister is a Monster, or indeed, vice-versa, which is also fun and quite different.
The story starts at breakfast time, moving onto school and back home again before heading to bed. It tells of how the brother has the worst eating habits, bully’s his sister at school and then at home, won’t let her play with his toys and messes up the rules and the house. Then at the end, it demonstrates how he does love his sister really and does something courageous for her.
On the flipside, her brother sees his sister as being a monster as she is fussy at breakfast and has rules and then come school, won’t join in any games she thinks she will lose. At home she won’t leave her brother alone and tidies up rather prematurely. After all that, she then gives her brother a lovely homemade gift and shows she does love him after all.

The book is well-rounded and encourages empathy and understanding as children will be able to see through the eyes of both characters and work out how things really are and what is percieved. I has wonderful humour, rhythm and illustrations throughout will easily engage children.
This is a book that is part of a great collection that will be sure to delight children throughout at home and in the classroom. It can be used for both reading for pleasure and in a nursery and young classroom school setting, such as Reception or Primary 1, for fun and for stimulating conversation.

Link to Activities

www.lollipoplodge.com

#BookReview of The Unicorn Prince by Luca Simone Lo Piccolo and ArtinAction #ChildrensBook (4-6 yr olds) #Kidslit

The Unicorn Prince by
Luca Simone Lo Piccolo
and ArtinAction

Rated: 4 stars ****

Enter a magical kingdom of a unicorn prince who learns a valuable lesson from a fairy. With bold illustrations, a story, plus colouring-in pages, this is a delightful book for 4-6 year olds that will give pleasure as well as subtly teach them social lessons. Please note on the book you may see his name as Lo Piccolo Luca Simone.
Follow down to find out more in the blurb and my review. Find out what the second book is called and a buy link.

Blurb

A fun and valuable tale which encourages kids to celebrate people for who they really are.

The Prince of the Unicorns is the most beautiful unicorn of them all – but he has a problem. He thinks he’s so beautiful and special that he doesn’t want to play with the other unicorns in the kingdom! But with the help of a magical fairy, he might just learn a valuable lesson about vanity and humility which changes his mind forever…

With lovely illustrations and a heartwarming story, this touching children’s book teaches kids a valuable lesson about how a person’s character matters far more than their looks or their status. Encouraging kids to see past vanity and celebrate others for who they truly are, The Unicorn Prince uses an enjoyable story to impart a lesson which they won’t soon forget.

Book details:

A Fun and Engaging Story For Children Aged 4-6
Teaches Kids a Valuable Lesson About Humility and Not Thinking Too Highly of Oneself
Makes a Creative Gift Idea For Christmas, Holidays, Birthdays and Special Occasions
Ideal as a Bedtime Story, For Groups, or To Help Your Child Strengthen Their Reading Skills
And Much More!

With free bonus coloring pages for your child to bring to life with color, this wonderful tale will quickly become a favorite part of your bookshelf and a story which you find yourselves returning to time and time again.

Review

Pitched well for 4-6 year olds, the book is bright and eye-catching in its full pages of illustrations. Don’t be put off by the fact it is 48 pages, this isn’t 48 pages full of writing . On each page where the story is being told in a few short sentences, are illustrations and almost uniquely, this alternates with pages with no words, but a full page of an illustration, accompanying also what has just been read, which definitely has a high visual impact. From around page 33 onwards are delightful colouring-in pages that accompany the story very well as they depict some of the story. The colourings are suitable for the age-range and not too intricate, but without being too basic either and there are plenty for children to have fun with.
This makes the book very accessible for children of all abilities and how it is as wide-ranging as 4-6 year olds.
It is sure to motivate those children who are also perhaps reluctant readers when they reach 5 and 6 year olds too. It’s very much a book that children can look at independantly, share with their friends and for the story, share with an adult to read it to them or with them. The story has the elements and types of characters that children will be familiar with many fairytales, but taken to modern times and issues surrounding how society, including children can view themselves and the valuable lessons on a more positive path can be realised, but in a magical and wondrous way, with a unicorn prince and a fairy.

The book tackles themes of loneliness amongst the young and also attitudes of thinking highly of themselves over others. It illustrates very well how the Prince has everything materialistically, but what he doesn’t have is friendship and how this makes him feel. It also shows his snobbery a bit and how he thinks because he is a prince, that he is better and higher than anyone else in society. There is a fairy who shows her power and changes perspectives on the Unicorn Prince and how he is viewed by making the sky dark, thereby diminishing his physical beauty and glow about it, making him seem like all the other unicorns.In amongst all the emotion children will see, there is a change in tide to show a more positive and happy pictures as the Prince Unicorn discovers games and the enjoyment of just playing around and being like the other unicorns.

This is a good book for any story-time and as well as reading for pleasure, it can be used to open-up a discussion too. There is also a second book called – The Unicorn Prince and The Fairy Vase.
Buy Link: Amazon

#BookReview of #ChildrensBook -Love Our Earth by Jane Cabrera #JaneCabrera @MacmillanKidsUK

Love Our Earth
By Jane Cabrera
Rated: 5 stars *****

Love Our Earth is perfect for the little ones in your family. Thanks to MacMillan Children’s Books for accepting my request to review.
Follow on down to the blurb and my full review.

Blurb

A young and playful picture book about caring for our Earth. With lots to spot and count, and a fold-out surprise at the end!

Meet planet Earth and come on a colourful adventure across mountains, rivers, jungles and oceans. Spot and count the friendly animals along the way. And say hello to the smiling flowers, trees and hills.

Includes a surprise fold-out ending, with simple tips on how to look after our amazing planet.

With warm, playful illustrations from Jane Cabrera and a gentle read-aloud text, this is the perfect introduction to the wonders of life on Earth.

Review

What do you see? Come and meet, in gorgeous illustrations, some animals having fun, travel to the jungle, the hills, the desert and the sea and river too. Come and see the flowers and the snow and all around planet earth and read aloud this beautiful short and sweet story. It really is enticing for your little ones as they get to know the world around them and come to love it.

The book encourages children to be observant when reading the book. It’s a book that would be perfect to snuggle with your child and read aloud and see what your child can see as you read along. It lends itself perfectly for some fun and easy interaction as an introduction to what is on planet earth. There is also some fun within the short sentences of the lyrically flowing text, which is also written out in a fun, flowing way, that fits well with how it is naturally read.