Category

Interactive Books

What Is Poo? by Katie Daynes & Marta Álvarez Miguéns

What Is Poo?When you have a baby you seem to spend most of your time talking about or dealing with poop, then just when you think you’re done, your toddler suddenly develops a fascination with what it is and where it comes from. Sigh!

If you’re getting lots of questions about poop or having problems potty training then this fab little book from Usborne might be what you’re looking for. It’s full of fun facts and lift-the-flap sections to entertain and educate curious little minds.

What is poo made of? Does everyone poo? How much poo does an elephant do? Where does it go when you flush the loo? What kind of animal has spotty poo and whose poo looks like toffee? 

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Today
by Julie Morstad

TodayI spotted this one on Instagram a little while ago and I admit that I bought it based solely on how pretty the cover is! It’s a beautiful book – but it has so much more to offer than the aesthetics.

The pages take you through a typical day for a child – albeit during a weekend or a holiday – and asks you to make lots of decisions. What will you wear today? What hairstyle will you choose? What will you eat for breakfast? Where would you like to go if the sun is shining? How do you plan to get there? How about if it’s raining? What game shall we play? Do you want bubbles in your bath? Which pyjamas will you wear?

Every option is beautifully illustrated and there is a great cast of diverse characters. The clothing, hair and food choices cater for different cultures, which opens up lots of discussion and opportunities for learning new things about the world. My super-picky daughter is fascinated by the fact that in some countries rice is eaten for breakfast and she definitely wants to move somewhere where you can travel around on a camel or where grass skirts are an option!

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We’re Going On An Elf Chase By Martha Mumford & Laura Hughes

We're Going On An Elf CHaseWe love this festive lift-the-flap book which will appeal to fans of the 80’s classic ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’.

Join a group of bunnies, wrapped up warm in their winter woollies, as they head off on an adventure to find Santa’s elves. On the way they encounter sliding penguins, chirping robins, snoring polar bears and clippy cloppy reindeer.

The bunnies do an excellent job of manoeuvring around the obstacles in their path but they will need your child’s help to find all the elves, who are sneakily hidden away behind flaps on the pages.

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Doctor Molly’s Medicine Case By Miriam Moss & Deborah Allwright

Doctor Molly's Medicine CaseLittle Molly loves to dress up and today she has decided to be a doctor. She pops on a white coat and grabs her magical medicine case, which is guaranteed to contain everything she needs to make her patients feel better.

Very soon her little surgery becomes busy. She treats a polar bear with a cold, a crocodile with a broken tail and a pelican who has a sore throat from eating too many bony fish. Each time she opens her bag, the items she needs magically appear – a thermometer and hot water bottle for the bear, some soothing cream and plasters for the croc and some honey and a spoon for the greedy bird.

Soon they all feel better and are off on their way – but Molly is confused when they all come back complaining of rumbling tummies. Can her magical medicine case deliver the goods and help them feel better this time?

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Who’s On The Farm? By Julia Donaldson & Lydia Monks

Who's On The Farm?We’re big fans of ‘What The Ladybird Heard‘ by Julia Donaldson & Lydia Monks. In fact we went through a stage towards the end of last year where we read it at bedtime every night for about 2 months! The illustrations, in particular, are fantastic so we love this little spin off board book with a ‘peekaboo’ theme.

The book starts by asking you who you can see on the farm. It shows you pictures from the original title and identifies the characters, but there are also lift-the-flap sections which encourage you to guess who is hiding. Little fingers can open the chicken coop to find the fat red hen, move a haystack to spot the hairy hog and find the cats behind the hedge. Look carefully and you might even spot Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len in a pile of manure!

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Flip Flap Pets By Axel Scheffler

Flip Flap PetsThere are lots of books on the market which allow you to mix and match animals to comic effect but this one is our outright favourite.

Each double page features a familiar pet such as a cat, a dog, a guinea pig or a bunny. On the right hand side we see a picture of the animal and on the left is the name of the animal and a cute poem which describes what it looks like and what it’s like as a pet.

The pages are split in the middle, allowing you to flip over the top or bottom sections to different pages – thus creating new names, poems and creatures. There are 121 combinations in total so there’s lots to keep your little one entertained.

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When I Grow Up… By Patrick George

When I Grow Up...When I Grow Up… by Patrick George is a very visual, interactive book so it’s quite difficult to do it justice with just words!

The book encourages your child to think about what job they might like to do when they are an adult and the fab transparent pages add an extra layer of fun.

First we see a picture of a girl who wants to be a pilot. On the opposite page is an aeroplane with big shiny windows. The windows are printed on a transparent page and when you flip this over they become a pair of an aviator sunglasses on the young girl, instantly transforming her in to a pilot.

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Shark In The Park! By Nick Sharratt

Shark In The Park!Timothy Pope has a new telescope and he’s taken it to the park to play. The park is nice and tranquil – there are birds in the trees, ducks on the pond and children playing happily. Yet, each time Timothy takes a peek down his telescope he shrieks in surprise as he can see a shark!

The clever paper cut outs let you see the ‘shark fin’ each time and then when you turn the page you can see what it really is.  A cat’s ear, a birds wing and even a hair quiff can all look like a shark down the lens of Timothy’s telescope. It’s definitely Timothy’s eyes playing tricks on him because there can’t really be a shark in the park. Can there?

The repetitive nature of this book – and the little visual surprises – make it perfect for reading aloud to toddlers. We’ve now read it so many times that Ivy can anticipate what’s coming next and can recite part of the rhyme!

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The Book With No Pictures

The Book With No PicturesThis book was recommended to me multiple times before I bought it and I have to admit I was sceptical. I genuinely didn’t think that Ivy would be able to sit through (let alone enjoy) a book without any pictures. I was very, very wrong!

I don’t want to give too much away as I think that would spoil it a little, but the basic premise is that the person reading the book has to read every single word out loud, whether they want to or not. So be prepared to say some very silly things and to put your voice acting abilities to good use!

Ivy loves this book and we both giggle from start to finish. It’s one of those books that she can’t get enough of so as soon as we get to the last page she directs me straight back to the beginning so we can start again and the voices and sounds get more and more ridiculous each time!

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Princess Polly: I’m Starting Nursery By Amanda Li & Melanie Williamson

Priness Polly: I'm Starting NurseryIvy loves Princess Polly so we have most of this series either on our shelf or stashed ready for her to read when the time is appropriate. This title is about starting nursery (which she will be doing early next year) so we’ve recently introduced it to our rotation.

The book starts with an apprehensive Princess Polly. She’s not sure about starting nursery because she doesn’t know what it will be like and she’s worried she’ll miss her parents. She visits with her Mummy and sees lots of children having fun which sets her mind at ease.

After some settling in sessions she has her first full day and the book shows all the things your child can expect to experience at nursery – from the activities they’ll do,  like painting, playing and singing to the format of the day, like snacks, naps and story time.

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