Ivy's Library - Page 48 of 79 - Bite-Sized Book Reviews for Kids

Thu
17 ^th

Shifty McGifty And Slippery Sam by Tracey Corderoy & Steven Lenton

This book is fairly new to our collection but it has quickly become a firm favourite!

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam are a pair of robber dogs – their goal is to steal things to make lots of money. The problem is that they are absolutely rubbish at it! Every night they come home with empty swag bags having failed yet again to burgle a bank or a shop. They decide that in order to increase their chances of success they need an easier target – their neighbours. Their plan is to hold a party, invite them all round and then sneak in to their house and steal their belongings whilst they’re having fun.

So that the party seems legit, they whip up some doughnuts, cupcakes and fruit pies, and they discover that they’re actually pretty good at baking. Very good, actually – and it turns out to be fun too! When the day of the party arrives their neighbours are all very impressed with the sugary treats and declare them the “best buns in town”.

Mon
14 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Kate Phipps, Founder, Kate Phipps Writes

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

I’m Kate, founder of Kate Phipps Writes. I write bespoke poetry and poetry prints for people, places and events from my studio in East Sussex. I have two children a daughter of 7 and a son of 6.

What are your children’s favourite books?

My children are starting to extend their reading range now that they can read on their own, but two books we always return to, which we have been reading since they were small are “Rosie Revere, Engineer” by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts and “Marshall Armstrong is new to our school” by David Mackintosh.

Thu
10 ^th

The Best Mummy Snails In The Whole Wide World by Troy Jenkinson & Benjamin Blacknall

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Felicity and Jane are two African snails who are very much in love. The pair are inseparable and are looking forward to spending their lives together. Then something very special happens – Felicity finds out that she is going to have a little baby snail. She can’t wait to tell Jane, but when she does it turns out that Jane also has some special news, as she is pregnant too. They are going to be a family and are very excited!

The two expectant mums work hard to create the perfect egg chamber for their new arrivals and then together they lay their eggs and wait. It’s not long before the tiny snails start to hatch and soon Felicity and Jane are the proudest mums on the planet.

Wed
09 ^th

Little People Big Dreams: Amelia Earhart by Isabel Sánchez Vegara & Mariadiamantes

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We’re big fans of the Little People Big Dreams series and this one about Amelia Earhart is currently getting a lot of attention from Ivy.

The story begins with Amelia as a small child who is fascinated by the thought of flying. She dreams of flapping her wings and taking to the skies. As she gets older she visits air shows and her passion for flight grows and grows. As soon as she is able to sit in a plane she knows that this is where her destiny lies and she sets out to make it happen.

After a lot of hard work she becomes the first woman to fly up to 14,000 feet and later becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. As the story ends we see her take on the ultimate challenge – to fly right the way around the world.

Tue
08 ^th

Dr Duck by Steve Smallman & Hannah George

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If your little one is feeling under the weather then this funny book about an unusual doctor and his patients may be just the thing to cheer them up.

When the animals at his zoo start to fall ill, the zookeeper decides to call the local doctor – Dr Duck! When he arrives he discovers a porcupine who has sneezed so much that all her spines have shot out, a giraffe with a stiff neck, a snake with a high temperature, a mildly depressed hyena and a gorilla with wind. Dr Duck’s cures are unconventional to say the least but they seem to work and soon everyone is feeling better and relaxing in the hot tub.

Everyone that is except the poor farting gorilla. Dr Duck had prescribed some large pants with extra strong elastic to trap the smell of his stinky bottom burps – but the knickers have blown up like a balloon and the gorilla has floated off in to the sky. Can the ingenious doctor find a way to bring him back to earth before its too late?

Mon
07 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Ruth Buckingham, Owner, Kandu Marketing

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Hello! My name is Ruth and I am a content marketing specialist. I’m originally from Scotland but I now live in Buckinghamshire with my husband and our two children, Fraser (9) and Annabel (4). As a family we all love reading or being read to and I’m very fortunate to have a job that also allows me to read on lots of different subjects.

What are your children’s favourite books?

My daughter has a habit of changing her favourite books often! This week she is really enjoying “Arggh Spider” by Lydia Monks. She always likes a book which has a bit of humour and she keeps laughing when the spider gets put outside again and again. She is starting to read at school so I think she likes this one because of the repetition. Its also beautifully illustrated and has some nice glittery features on the spiderwebs.

Sat
05 ^th

Oi Dog! by Kes & Claire Gray and Jim Field

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Oi Dog! is the second title in the zany ‘Oi Frog and Friends’ series. There are currently four books and we love each and every one!

If you’ve read book one – Oi Frog! – you’ll know that these bonkers tales are about a peculiar set of rules which dictate where an animal can sit. In the first story we met Cat, Dog and Frog. Cat explained that animals are only allowed to park their bums on things which rhyme – so cats sit on mats, frogs sit on logs and (unfortunately for this particular frog) dogs sit on frogs. Squish!

As we move in to book two we see the feisty frog choosing to rebel. He disagrees wholeheartedly with the current rules so sets about making some of his own.

Fri
04 ^th

Today
by Julie Morstad

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I 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!

Thu
03 ^rd

The Scarecrows’ Wedding by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

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Ivy’s dad and I will be getting married later this year so it seems appropriate to kick off 2019 with a book about a wedding – although hopefully ours will go a little more smoothly than the one in this story!

Betty O’Barley and Harry O’Hay are two scarecrows who are very much in love. When Harry proposes, Betty is overjoyed and the pair start planning the best wedding the farm has ever seen. They make a list of all the things they will need – “a dress of white feathers, a necklace of shells, lots of pink flowers, two rings and some bells” – and then set off together to gather the beloved items together.

Soon they have everything except the pink flowers so Harry heads off on his own to find some whilst Betty has a little nap. However things don’t quite go to plan and Harry ends up being away for such a long time that the Farmer brings in a new scarecrow to replace him! Reginald Rake is the total opposite of Harry O’Hay. He’s selfish and showy and he isn’t nice to Betty at all. He boasts about all the things he can do but Betty isn’t impressed – she just wants her lovely Harry back.

But then things take a perilous turn. Reginald Rake tries to show Betty how good he is at blowing smoke rings, but he drops his cigar and sets the field alight. Will Harry make it back in time to save his bride?

This is one of our favourites from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. There’s a lovely mix of romance and adventure and Ivy gets very excited as the story twists and turns at the end.

I guess you could choose to criticise the fact that we have a girl scarecrow being rescued by a boy scarecrow – but I think that does the story a disservice. I prefer to focus on the way the story shows the difference between someone who respects women and someone who doesn’t.

Buy it now: https://amzn.to/2GQEo7Z

Wed
02 ^nd

The Colour Monster
by Anna Llenas

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This simple but effective book is designed to help your toddler understand and talk about their emotions.

At the start we are introduced to a character called the Colour Monster who has just woken up feeling very confused. His body is a mass of different coloured squiggly lines which represent his emotions. His friend explains to him that he feels all mixed up because his colours are all mixed up. She takes hold of his hand and offers to help.

To sort out his colours she suggests popping each one a jar and then examining it further. As the little jars fill up we learn that yellow is happiness, blue is sadness, red is anger, black is fear and green is calm. The girl explains how each one feels inside you and the illustrations do a wonderful job of evoking the sensations and showing the associated facial expressions.

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