Category

Adventure

Ten Little Robots by Mike Brownlow & Simon Rickerty

Ten Little RobotsIvy and I both love the ‘Ten Little…’ books by Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty so we were super excited to discover this brand new addition. I believe there are now 7 titles in the series and this one is definitely in our top 3 (our absolute favourites are Ten Little Dinosaurs and Ten Little Superheroes!).

The story starts with ten shiny new robots who have just been switched on at the robot factory. They are very excited by their surroundings so they decide to explore –  with catastrophic results! We slowly count the robots down from ten to one as they encounter lasers, crushers, cogs, drones and explosions.

Can the last remaining robot restore order to the factory and bring all of his robot friends safely back together? Of course he can!

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Lauren Koala By Glenn Lawrence & Annie Barber

Lauren KoalaIn the last few months we’ve read some fantastic self-published books and ‘Lauren Koala’ (which was recommended to us by one of our Facebook followers) is one of our faves.

The story is about a little koala called Lauren who loves to make people feel better by giving them a hug. All of the animals in the jungle know that if they feel sad Lauren will be there to comfort them. As a result, it’s a happy, joyful place filled with love.

One day, Lauren Koala hears about a rhino who is very sad because his mummy died when he was little. Determined to help, she sets off on a long journey to find him, cuddling lots of other animals along the way. 

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Mrs Mole, I’m Home! By Jarvis

Mrs Mole, I'm Home!Morris the Mole has had a tough day at work and all he wants to do is get home to his family – the problem is he can’t find his glasses anywhere! He burrows in what he believes to be the direction of home but he keeps getting it wrong, again and again and again.

Each time he pops up into a house he shouts ‘Mrs. Mole, I’m Home!’ but it’s never the right house. He visits a burrow full of rabbits, a tree full of owls and a swamp full of crocodiles. He even ends up in Antarctica!

Finally he smells a familiar smell – worm noodles! Surely this must be his house, and where on earth are those glasses?

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Zog By Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

ZogThe combination of dragons and girl power make this one of our favourite collaborations between Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Zog is a big orange dragon who loves going to Dragon School. He’s really enthusiastic about his classes but he just can’t quite get things right. He bumps in to trees whilst learning to fly, gives himself a sore throat trying to roar and accidentally sets his wing on fire whilst attempting to breathe fire. Fortunately each time he hurts himself a little girl appears with a bag of bandages and plasters and she fixed him right up.

When he gets to Year 4 the dragons have to learn how to capture a princess. Again Zog struggles until he discovers that his wonderful friend is in fact a princess herself. She allows herself to be captured in order to help him out and Zog gets a golden star from the teacher. She becomes a valuable member of the school, tending to the dragon’s ailments with the help of her trusty medical bag.

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The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson & Sara Ogilvie

The Detective DogThe Detective Dog seems to be one of Julia Donaldson‘s lesser known books but we think it’s fantastic and deserves a lot more attention. If you haven’t read this one yet then definitely keep an eye out for it!

The story is about a dog called Nell who is very good at finding things. She lives with a little boy called Peter who loses his toys all the time so she uses her exceptional nose to sniff them out and return them to him.

Every Monday Peter takes Nell to school with him and it’s her favourite day of the week. She loves all of the different smells and she is particularly fond of the books which the children read to her. However one Monday, when they get to the school, Nell realises she cannot smell the books. She and Peter rush in to the classroom to find all of the children and the teacher in tears. Someone has stolen all of the books. Every last one of them!

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Dinosaurs Love Underpants By Claire Freedman & Ben Cort

Dinosaurs Love UnderpantsLike most toddlers, Ivy loves dinosaurs so as you can imagine we have quite a few dinosaur-themed books. This is one of her favourites and it never fails to make her laugh.

The story is about how the dinosaurs became extinct, and if you think they were wiped out by an asteroid or another mass extinction event then you are sadly mistaken. It’s all because of UNDERPANTS!

The clever little cavemen invented underpants to cover up their rude bits because they felt a little bit embarrassed when they were nude. As soon as the dinosaurs see them they are besotted with pants and they all want some, but they just don’t fit right which makes the dinos all grouchy. Soon a massive pants war is raging as they each try to get their claws on the best pairs. 

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Ten Little Superheroes By Mike Brownlow & Simon Rickerty

Ten Little SuperheroesWe are big fans of the ‘Ten Little …” series by Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty and this one is our second favourite (Nothing beats Ten Little Dinosaurs!).

The story sees our ten tiny heroes take on the League of Bad Guys who have an evil plan to take over the city. They do their best to battle the hilarious baddies (which include Hippo Man, Glue Girl, Crab Man and Hypno Girl) but on each page we see one superhero disappear. The book counts backwards from ten until eventually there’s only one hero left. The bad guys think they’ve won and start to celebrate but the Super Kids have one last trick up their sleeve. Can all ten of them reassemble and save the day?

Ivy gets really excited when we read this as the rhyme is really bouncy, the illustrations are a riot of colour and there are lots of big superhero words to shout as you read –  POW! ZAP! SPLAT!

Buy it now: https://amzn.to/2Jybh5x

Maisy Goes To London By Lucy Cousins

Maisy Goes To LondonIvy has lived in London her whole life (and I have been here for almost 18 years) but we still love to take a tourist day and explore the city as if it’s all brand new. This Maisy book from Lucy Cousins is perfect for tiny tourists who are planning a trip to the city and it’s guaranteed to get them excited about all the sights they will see.

Maisy and her friends visit London for the day and they tour all of the major attractions including Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Nelson’s Column and Big Ben. The book provides small facts about each so that little ones know what to expect and it also addresses things which they may find difficult about the city at first – including the noise, the bright  lights and the fact the underground can get pretty crowded.

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When I Grow Up By Tim Minchin & Steve Antony

When I Grow UpThe first time I read this book aloud I found myself practically singing the words because of the way they flow and bounce along. I later discovered this is because they are the lyrics to an actual song from Tim Minchin’s musical version of Matilda (which I haven’t seen yet but it’s definitely on my list).

The words take you on a journey through adulthood as imagined by a child. When there are so many rules imposed on you by grown-ups it’s easy to believe that when you become one yourself you can just do whatever you want with no consequences. The children here look forward to a future where they know the answer to every question, eat sweets and treats every day, stay up all night and watch cartoons until their eyes go square!

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Billy And The Beast By Nadia Shireen

Billy And The BeastThis one was only published a few weeks ago but I have read it so many times since it arrived that it feels like we’ve had it forever.

Billy and Fatcat are taking a walk through the woods when they stumble across a nasty beast who has hatched an evil plan. He has captured a fox, a hedgehog, 2 mice and 3 super cute bunnies and he plans to boil them up in to soup.

Quick-thinking Billy soon has the Beast in a tizz but, armed with only the items she has stashed in her amazing afro, can she save the animals from the soup before it is too late?

We love this book. It has all the right ingredients for a great children’s story – a feisty female protagonist, a feline sidekick, a scary monster and a whole host of adorable woodland animals!

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