Animals Archives - Page 16 of 25

The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson & Sara Ogilvie

The 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!

Thu
12 ^th

Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae & Guy Parker-Rees

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I have been reading this wonderful book to Ivy since she was just a few months old and this is our second copy as the first was so well-thumbed that it had started to fall apart! It’s written by Giles Andreae and illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees.

Gerald is a giraffe whose skills include standing still and eating leaves from tall trees. They don’t include running and they most definitely don’t include dancing, which is a shame as every year all of the animals get together for the Jungle Dance and everyone has to take part.

On the night of the big Dance, Gerald watches the warthogs, rhinos, lions, chimps and baboons take to the floor to roaring applause, but when his turn comes the reaction is very different. As soon as everyone sees him they start to laugh and call him names because they know he is so clumsy. Devastated, Gerald takes off in to the jungle where he meets a wise old Cricket who teaches him that everyone can dance – they just have to find their own song.

Wed
11 ^th

Poo Bum By Stephanie Blake

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This quirky book from Stephanie Blake is a guaranteed crowd please because all toddlers think the words Poo and Bum are hilarious!

The story is about a little bunny called Simon who can only say two words – “Poo Bum”. Every time he is asked a question he only has one response – “Poo Bum”. One day he meets a wolf, who asks if he can eat him. When Simon responds “Poo Bum” the wolf takes this as a yes and gobbles him right up!

The little bunny causes a tummy ache though so a doctor is called, who happens to be Simon’s Daddy. When the Wolf starts saying “Poo Bum” during the examination the doctor begins to suspect the wolf has eaten his son. Can he rescue him, and what effect might the incident have on the little bunny’s vocabulary?

Sun
08 ^th

Wild Animals By Xavier Deneux

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Ivy is fascinated by this multi-sensory board book which shows wild animals and their habitats.

Each page features a different animal and they’re all beautifully drawn with really cute faces. The combination of raised and concave sections (which fit together so that the pages aren’t bulky in any way) give your child lots to explore. They can trace their fingers across the bumps and shapes whilst trying to identify the different creatures. Our favourite is the zebra page – Ivy loves the baby zebra hidden amongst the stripy trees!

The book also provides some inspiration for older toddlers by showing a small word cluster for each animal. The combination of nouns, adjectives and verbs will teach them new words and also give parents some great discussion points around the pictures.

Sat
07 ^th

Maisy Goes To London By Lucy Cousins

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Ivy 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.

Thu
05 ^th

Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert By Morag Hood & Ella Okstad

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We LOVE Morag Hood (author of one of our favourite books ever), so when some friends gave this to Ivy as a gift we were really excited.

The story is about a little girl called Sophie, a self-proclaimed unicorn expert. She loves unicorns so much that she transforms all of her toys in to them using little horns attached to string, and then she teaches them all the things they need to know in order for them to reach their unicorn potential. Even her baby brother gets the unicorn treatment.

The humour arrives in the form of an actual unicorn with a real unicorn horn and a brightly-coloured rainbow mane, who somehow Sophie manages to miss completely. It’s a visual joke – the real unicorn isn’t mentioned in the text – so you’ll probably need to point it out to to your toddler, but now Ivy is aware she searches for him on every page and yells unicorn (or Oonicorm as she pronounces it!) when she spots him.

Wed
04 ^th

1 to 20 Animals a Plenty
by Katie Viggers

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1 to 20 Animals a Plenty is officially our favourite counting book. It’s quirky, cool and makes Ivy laugh out loud!

As it moves through the numbers it introduces you to a host of animals doing ridiculous things, making it really memorable for toddlers. You won’t find five little ducks here. Instead we see llamas in pyjamas, gorillas gazing in mirrors and naughty raccoons who have stolen balloons from baboons.

The illustrations are both elegant and amusing and there are lots of different animals to explore. I love that it stays away from the traditional farmyard animals (although there are a few mixed in) and gives your child the opportunity to learn about some more exotic creatures. Ivy definitely didn’t know what a capybara was before we read this but she now recognises them and can (just about) pronounce it!

Tue
26 ^th

A Little Paper Caper By Oliver Jeffers

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We are huge fans of Oliver Jeffers and I had thought we owned all of his books, until Ivy spotted this one in our local bookshop and started gleefully shouting ‘Bear! Bear! Bear!’. This is a special board book version of an earlier work called The Great Paper Caper.

The animals in the forest are all very confused. Lots and lots of branches were going missing from trees and their beloved home is beginning to look a little forlorn. What is happening to all the trees? At first the animals all blame each other but it soon becomes clear they all have alibis. Until one day they find a paper aeroplane with Bear’s paw prints all over it.

Is Bear responsible for damaging the trees and lying to his friends? And what’s with all the paper aeroplanes?

Tue
19 ^th

This Zoo Is Not For You
by Ross Collins

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When Platypus arrives at the zoo on interview day the other animals assume that he’s there to apply for a spot at their establishment. Clutching an envelope and wearing a baseball cap and old woolly scarf, Platypus doesn’t seem to be quite what they’re looking for.

As he moves through each stage of the interview the different animals each take one look at him and decide that he’s definitely not up to the job. The panda doesn’t think he’s special enough, the flamingos think he’s ugly, the monkeys don’t think he is smart enough – and he doesn’t even get the chance to open his mouth and speak!

Annoyed, the platypus drops the envelope he was carrying and walks out of the zoo. When they open it they realise that he wasn’t applying for a job at all and their judgemental and rude behaviour will mean they miss out on some fun. Will they be able to convince Platypus to forgive them?

Sat
16 ^th

One Happy Tiger By Catherine Rayner

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We love ‘Augustus and His Smile‘ by Catherine Rayner so we were really excited to see this lovely counting book which features the same character.

The book starts with lovely Augustus sitting on his own feeling lonely, but as we slowly count from 1 to 10 he meets some new friends, including bugs, birds, butterflies and bees.

This feels like it has a little more depth than your average counting book because the themes of friendship and nature are central to the simple narrative. As always, Catherine Rayner‘s illustrations are breathtaking and the animals seem to jump off the page.

If you’re looking for a baby or toddler gift that is educational, sturdy and beautiful to look at then this would be perfect.

Buy it now: https://amzn.to/2t0dcug

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