Category

Interactive Books

How Many Beads?
by Nicola Edwards & Thomas Elliott

When Ivy and I are looking for something fun to do then Maths generally isn’t at the top of the list – however this fab board book has managed to change that! It’s part of a montessori-insired series called ‘My World’ which encourages childen to explore the world around them. Aimed at children aged 3-5, the book has a built-in string of colourful beads which you can use for counting and measuring.

Each double page spread shows a different scene for you to explore – including the home, the garden, under the sea, around town, the inside of a drawer and nocturnal animals. Kids are then encouraged to use the beads to count or to measure the things they can see. How many apples are there? How many bees? What’s the tallest household object? Which is the longest fish? Which items are too big to fit in the shed? Which animals are small enough to fit in the tent?

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Bunny Makes Breakfast
by Kathryn Smith & Seb Braun

Happy Shrove Tuesday! Did you make pancakes with your little bunny today?

This gorgeous board book follows a family of rabbits as they source ingredients and cook themselves a delicious breakfast – but they need your help!

They start off in the kitchen, where your child is encouraged to lift the flaps to find flour, maple syrup and butter. Next up they head outside for berries, fresh eggs and creamy milk from the cows.

Little Bunny is very excited but really isn’t sure what they’re making. Can your child help them guess what will be served up?

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Can’t See Santa
by Mandy Archer & Chris Jevons

It’s Christmas Eve and little Mouse has finished all of his preparations for the big day. Everything is ready for Santa but there’s just one problem – Mouse can’t find him anywhere!

With over 40 flaps to lift and explore, this is the perfect book for busy toddlers. On each double page they are invited to help Mouse try and locate Santa, his reindeer and a selection of gifts.

They can peek under the tree, through windows, under tables and behind doors. They will find spiders hiding underneath plates, frogs in the fruit bowl and hamsters nibbling on cheese –  but they definitely won’t find Santa and his team.

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Little Folk Nursery Rhymes: Colouring Book
by Cat Bateman & Michelle Poultney

It’s World Nursery Rhymes Week so this evening i’m sharing something slightly different –  a fabulous colouring book which we recently bought from the lovely Cat Bateman who runs Little Folk Nursery Rhymes.

If you have a child under 5 and you haven’t yet discovered Cat then you are most definitely missing out! Armed with her guitar and an amazing repertoire of rhymes she is a fantastic entertainer and kids adore her. She runs music classes in South London but she can be enjoyed by everyone as she has an album and a fabulous YouTube channel – plus she does online parties!

This gorgeous colouring book features characters from 11 popular nursery rhymes, all beautifully drawn by artist and jewellery designer Michelle Poultney. The pictures are adorable and it’s printed on thick, high-quality paper so there’s no seepage through the pages if your child is a bit heavy-handed with their felt tip pens (something which is a bugbear of mine with most colouring books!). The pages also have perforated edges so you can neatly extract your child’s artwork without having to rip or cut.

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My Family Fart Book
by Buddy & Barney Ltd

Hopefully by the time you read this you will have finished your dinner as this review is all abourt farts. And not just any old farts – we’re talking about smelly ones!

My Family Fart Book is a scratch and sniff board book which is guaranteed to make little ones giggle. Someone has emitted a large bottom burp and it’s up to your child to track down the culprit. Was it Grandad, Grandma, Dad, Mum or even the dog? Lift the flap and scratch the patch to find out…

Fortunately all of the smells featured are pleasant so there are no nasty surprises here! The gassy emissions we encounter smell like mint, cherries, coffee, apple, strawberries and chocolate cake, depending on what each family member has been eating.

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This Is Crab
by Harriet Evans & Jacqui Lee

Ivy loves books which require a little bit of audience participation and this is one of her current favourites!

At the start of the story we join Crab as he sets off on an adventure across the ocean floor. He needs some gentle coaxing and some assistance along the way though. Can your child help?

There is arm waving, finger tapping, book shaking, counting, tickling and lots, lots more. At one point crab even gets lost and you need to lift the flaps to find him!

This is such an entertaining book and Ivy returns to it again and again. The brightly coloured illustrations are wonderful and we spot new details every time we read it. It’s a great way of introducing kids to life on the sea bed and Crab encounters lots of different creatures which are fun to identify, including an octopus, sea turtles and clown fish. Ivy was also fascinated to discover that crabs shed their shells in the same way that snakes shed their skin!

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Out of This World
by Pat-a-Cake & Kat Uno

It’s World Space Week so I thought I would share this gorgeous little board book which is perfect for babies and toddlers.

Featuring bold illustrations and lots of eye-catching shiny sections, it introduces small children to some very big ideas. The pages are folded like a concertina and they are designed to be stretched out to create a frieze. You can use it to keep a baby entertained during tummy time by standing it up in front of them, and toddlers will enjoy sitting in the middle of it  and interacting with the pages.

On one side of he frieze we see all of the planets laid out in order. Each of them has a very expressive face (which can be used to talk about emotions)  and a descriptive name which tells us something about that specific planet – Little Mercury, Red Mars, Cold Neptune etc. As someone who was born in the seventies I love that there is also a little nod to Pluto as I refuse to accept that he’s been downgraded!

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Take Me to School by Mary Richards

We are big fans of Agnes & Aubrey so we were really excited to receive this gorgeous school journal in the post recently.

Split in to five ‘adventures’ the book gives you and your child the opportunity to record their very special school journey. Each adventure breaks down different aspects of the school day and is filled with fun facts and questions for childen to consider.

What does their school day look like? What do they wear? What books are they reading? What do they eat at lunchtime? Who are their friends? Can they remember the names of everyone in their class? Who is their teacher? What does their classroom look like? There are spaces to fill in the answers to all of these questions and more, along with spaces to draw or stick in pictures.

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Count to 100
by Pat-A-Cake Books & Villie Karabatzia

This fabulous counting book will take your child from their baby days right through to pre-school.

Made from heavy duty board, it first highlights the all important numbers 1 through 10 before moving to multiples of 10 in the later pages. Each number is illustrated with a familiar theme and there is A LOT of detail to explore.

If your child likes dinosaurs then they can see what 30 dinos look like all on one page. And how many of those dinosaurs have stripes? How many are red?

If vehicles are their thing then how about 70 of them on one double page spread? How many cars are there? What colour is the rocket? Which animal is riding a surfboard? You get the idea!

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The Tale of Starting School
by Natalie Talisman & Kirsten Taylor

Ivy is starting Reception in September and, I’m not going to lie, I’m a little bit emotional about it. So much so, that when this book arrived in the post I had a little cry!

So far she is unfazed by the whole thing, possibly because she has been attending pre-school on the same premises, but I am still planning to dedicate some time over the summer to talking about what she can expect when she makes the switch to ‘big school’. This beautiful book  from Tales of Me is going to form the centrepiece of that learning.

Part primer and part scrapbook, ‘The Tale of Starting School’ takes you and your child on a journey through a big moment in both of your lives.

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