Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
Hi, I’m Katie, soon to be a Mummy of two, but currently loving life with our 2 year old Theo, and our other ‘child’, a lovely rescue dog called Anna. I live in Emsworth, Hampshire, having recently relocated from London – a decision that has been amazing as we all love being by the sea. When I’m not parenting I’m kept busy running And Other Memories, an album design company.
Usually I like to have a book in the house for at least 2 weeks before I sit down and review it. This ensures that we’ve read it multiple times and that I have had ample opportunity to observe how Ivy feels about a story. However I am breaking with tradition with this one as she is totally in love. We only received this book yesterday afternoon but we’re already well in to double figures on the number of times it’s been read!
Bear and Hamster are the best of friends. They are very happy living together in their little house, but every time they turn on the TV they are subjected to very loud adverts from an extremely persuasive salesbird called Sneaky Beak. They laugh at the ads together but in bed at night Bear finds himself wondering if perhaps he is missing out. As he feels a bed spring ping beneath him, he thinks that maybe he might need Sneaky Beak’s help.
If your little one is starting school or nursery in September then you will no doubt be on the look out for books which will help ease the transition. This lovely story from Giles Andreae and Emma Dodd is perfect for calming any first day nerves which they may have.
The main character loves his teacher and is very excited to lead you through all of the things you can expect from your first day at school. We see him arrive, greet his teacher and cheerily say goodbye to his Mummy. He hangs up his coat on a peg with his name on it, finds his friends and then shows you all the cool things you get to do in the classroom, like learning letters and numbers, doing show and tell, painting singing and story time. His beloved teacher features throughout – guiding, helping and praising the children in her care.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
I’m Hannah, Wife, Mummy, Photographer and HR person! I live in Wetherby, Yorkshire and I absolutely love the fact that I’m close to the countryside but not too far away from the city! I have two lovely children – Thomas is 5 and Ellie is 3….and a Labrador called Lottie, aka my 3rd child!
What are your children’s favourite books?
Thomas absolutely loves Superworm by Julia Donaldson – he’s completely fascinated by all things wildlife and creepy crawly stuff at the moment. Ellie loves fairy tales and her favourite story is Goldilocks and the 3 bears as it features a cheeky little, curly blonde haired girl, just like her!
Patch the dog loves to eat, but her tastes are a little unconventional. Socks, soap, letters, rugs, wellies, baskets – she chows down on anything she can get her paws on and her poor family doesn’t know what to do. How can they stop Patch from eating all their belongings?
After one particular eating spree they decide to pop her in the garden for a run around but instead Patch just nibbles on the plants, a bucket and even the washing line!
Exasperated, they ask a local farmer for some help and discover that perhaps what Patch needs is a friend. But will this help or hinder the situation?
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
I’m Amanda and I live in Leicestershire with my husband and three boys, ages 4, 6 and 8. I run independent online bookstore Books & Pieces which specialises in brilliant value books and gifts for 0-6 year olds.
I’ve always been a big fan of books, and I love to read in my spare time, so I’m really delighted to be sharing my love of books and helping other families find books and activities to enjoy together through my online store and community.
And I love that my boys share my passion for books and reading – it’s something nursery workers and teachers have always commented on right from being babies, and I hope they continue to love books just as much into adulthood.
Ivy fell over at nursery today and came home with two badly grazed knees. She was feeling very sorry for herself but we popped this gorgeous little board book off the shelf and her sniffles soon turned to giggles.
Poor Little Rabbit has taken a tumble and he has a big ouchy on his elbow. It’s up to your little one to help him out and make him feel better!
First the book suggests blowing on the elbow. This helps a tiny bit but Little Rabbit doesn’t like the fact he can see blood. Perhaps a plaster might help? Your child is then invited to try singing a song, stroking his ears and then wiping away his tears.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
Hello! I’m Sara – I have 2 kids – aged 4 and 7, and I’m the founder of Happity.co.uk. We live in Forest Hill, SE London.
Happity is a startup helping parents to find and book local baby & toddler classes. I originally built the site myself after being made redundant and retraining as a web developer. I raised angel funding to grow the team and these days I run the business working flexibly from home, serving around 1,000 class providers and some 150,000 parents.
Reading has a big role in our family life. Bedtime stories happen every night without fail, for about half an hour with each child. The worst punishment for naughty behaviour in our house, would be to lose a bedtime story!
Aqua is a dog who works hard on an Australian farm, herding sheep and helping the farmer. However whenever he gets the chance, he runs off to the water hole for a quick paddle. He likes nothing better than to swim, splash and dive beneath the surface – but the farmer just doesn’t understand. Aqua often gets in to trouble for indulging his passion for swimming!
One day, the farm is hit by a terrible storm and the rain soon causes a flood. The farmer doesn’t know what to do but Aqua Dog springs in to action. He dives through the water, and like a hero, he rescues every sheep. Once his rescue mission is complete he looks around for the farmer but he’s nowhere to be found. Aqua soon realises he must be underwater and he can’t swim! Can he rescue him before it’s too late?
My mission for Ivy’s Library has always been to share with you the books which Ivy and I love. These are the books which we are excited to read and that we hope you will be too!
But this doesn’t always mean the bestsellers and the books which line the shelves at your favourite bookshops.
Sometimes our favourite books are ones with little marketing budgets, which means if we don’t shout about them then you might not ever know they exist!
We review a lot of books which are self-published or which come from small indie publishers – like Sojo & Mouse, Thea Chops Books, Owlet Press, Freya’s Funny Feeling, Glitter The Unicorn and Lucy’s Blue Day – and there are some truly fantastic ones out there.
So from today I am formalising this and introducing #selfpubsaturday! Every Saturday I commit to reviewing a book which is not from a large scale publisher and i’d love you to get involved.
How?
* Know an author with great books who you think deserves some recognition? Tag them below
* Share your favourite self-published books with us by mentioning them below or tagging us on instagram using #selfpubsaturday
And if you’re a self-published or aspiring author then make sure you say hi!
Let’s give these books the recognition they deserve <3