Shelley John

Author

Fri
05 ^th

How Big Is Our Baby? by Smriti Prasadam-Halls & Britta Teckentrup

The prospect of having a new baby brother or sister can be both exciting and daunting for a toddler. A new playmate sounds fantastic but where will the baby come from and how will life change when it arrives?

When I found out I was having Ivy I bought a big book which told me what to expect from my pregnancy and beyond, and this gorgeous book is like a mini version of that for kids!

The early pages talk about what having a new baby means and how it might affect you. It addresses the fact you might be a little worried and emphasises that although life won’t be the same, it will be better because there will be even more love and cuddles.

Wed
03 ^rd

In A Minute Mama Bear by Rachel Bright

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Most parents will be familiar with the sense of trepidation you feel when starting a busy day with a small child in tow. You know it’s *possible* that everything could go to plan, but realistically you’re going to be late for everything (if you even manage to get out of the door at all).

Such is the plight of Mama Bear who has a very long list of things she needs to achieve before the end of the day, starting with dance class and a trip to the supermarket.

Little Bella Bear has other ideas though. She wants to bounce on her bed. She wants to wear the red outfit and not the blue outfit. She wants to count the stairs slowly on her way down. She wants an elaborate breakfast (which she inevitably wouldn’t eat!). She doesn’t want to brush her teeth. She might want to use the potty though – but not until it’s time to leave, and not without reading at least 3 books whilst she ‘tries’. Sound familiar?

Mon
01 ^st

Ivy’s Guest Book: Jo Skundric, Co-Founder, Mini Motto Clothing

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

I’m Jo and I have three boys, Ollie 12, Sam 9 and Matthew 6. I am married to Nick, who I met at University and after lots of years living in South London we decided to make the move to Surrey 3 years ago. In November 2018 with my good friend Lynsey, I launched an online children’s clothing company called Mini Motto Clothing.

What are your sons’ favourite books?

For years Matthew has loved You Choose by Pippa Goodhart and illustrated by Nick Sharratt. The book is full of amazing illustrations with only a few words. It is very interactive as it introduces the concept of choices to children. It has been amazing to see the change in Matthew’s responses over time. At the beginning he would just make a choice but over time, he began to explain the reasons for his choices and then started making stories around the choices.

Sun
31 ^st

Noah’s Shark by Clare Thompson & Richie T. Evans

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It’s ‘Show and Tell’ time at school and little Noah is very excited. He’s brought in his new pet to show the class and he can’t wait to see their reaction. When his turn arrives all of the children shriek as Noah’s pet turns out to be a shark called Mark! Mark the shark is very friendly but he’s certainly not welcome in the classroom!

Noah soon discovers that having a pet shark is actually quite troublesome. It causes problems on the bus, in the garden, in the park and especially at the local swimming pool!

Thu
28 ^th

When I Was A Child by Andy Stanton & David Litchfield

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A little girl and her grandmother sit down together to look through a treasured book of memories. The grandmother explains what when she was a little girl everything was magical – colours were bright, grass was ten feet tall, there was music everywhere and life was a celebration. But sadly as she has got older, life has got greyer and she doesn’t think the magic exists anymore.

Upon hearing this, her granddaughter takes her hand and they lift up in to the sky. She takes her grandmother on a tour of the world as seen through her own eyes, and there is magic everywhere! They see faces in raindrops, listen to heartbeats in the mountains, dip their toes in to a river of seahorses and attend a birthday party for a flower.

Wed
27 ^th

The Bumblebear by Nadia Shireen

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Norman the bear loves honey. In fact, he loves it so much that he wishes he was a bee. Why? Because bees have 24/7 access to honey!

One day, Norman hatches a cunning plan. He pops on a giant bee costume and enrols himself at bee school. Naturally they are confused by the fact he’s much bigger than a normal bee but when he explains that he comes from Giant Bee Land they let him in. He throws himself in to his classes and very soon he can buzz, find smelly flowers and do a waggly dance just like all the other bees.

All of the bees love Norman but there is one bee who is a tiny bit suspicious. Determined to catch him out, she takes him to the honey stores to see his reaction -and that’s when it all starts to go wrong. Faced with jars and jars of honey, Norman just can’t help himself. He throws off his bee suit and eats it all up!

Mon
25 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Jon Richards, Brand Identity Designer, Obladee

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

My name is Jon Richards. I am a Brand Identity Designer and along with my business partner Dan, we are Obladee. I live in Swindon with my wife and two young children, Emily aged 3 and Alice aged 1.

When our eldest daughter Emily was born, a friend gifted us a Hairy Maclary book along with the advice of reading a book everyday before bed from the day they are born and we have done so ever since.

Sat
23 ^rd

Freya’s Funny Feeling by Samia Quddus

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I spotted this one on Instagram a little while ago and was drawn in by the beautiful illustration of the little girl on the cover. Intrigued, I bought a copy and i’m so glad I did!

Little Freya is very excited about the fact she’s becoming a big girl, but she soon discovers that growing up means dealing with new emotions and feelings. Normally bouncy and confident, she starts to experience an odd wibble in her tummy which she doesn’t understand. She describes it as ‘tangly, twirly and topply’ and it makes her a little bit anxious. What on earth is it and how can she make it go away?

She stops eating twirly spaghetti in case that’s causing the problem. She tries spinning in circles and singing really loudly to try and chase the sensation away. Nothing works however so she decides to speak to her mum and dad. They explain that what she is experiencing is butterflies in tummy which flutter around when she is feeling nervous or worried. She is surprised to discover that her parents also get butterflies when they are faced with new things!

Fri
22 ^nd

Odd Dog Out by Rob Biddulph

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In the big city, the dogs move in highly visible tribes. The business dogs all wear suits and scurry busily along. The football dogs all wear matching kits. The scout dogs all wear khaki. Everywhere you look there are groups of dogs, all uniformly dressed.

But in the middle of the hustle and bustle is an odd dog out. Wearing a woolly hat and scarf and listening to music on his snazzy headphones, it’s apparent that this little guy does not fit in. No matter how hard he tries, he realises he’s just not like the other dogs in the city.

Saddened, he decides to leave his home town to try and find a place where the dogs are more like him. He travels far and wide until he stumbles upon Doggywood – a place where all the dogs wear woolly hats and scarves and listen to music on their headphones. He is so excited because he thinks he has found his place in the world!

Thu
21 ^st

One Button Benny by Alan Windram & Chloe Holwill-Hunter

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Benny the robot is a little bit different. All of his robot friends have lots of shiny buttons which do fun things, like flash lights, blow bubbles and play music. But poor Benny only has one button. It’s bright red and says ‘Only Press In An Emergency’.

The other robots make fun of him and call him ‘One Button Benny’ and this makes him sad. He doesn’t really know what an emergency is but he secretly hopes one will happen so that he gets to press his button and find out what it does.

One morning Benny wakes up, eats his breakfast and brushes his teeth, unaware that outside his house an actual emergency is unfolding. The evil Collectors have landed on his planet and they are planning to gather up all of the robots, crunch them up and turn them in to teapots! The Collectors are small hairy aliens with green bums and they mean business!

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