Ivy's Library - Page 52 of 79 - Bite-Sized Book Reviews for Kids

Sun
11 ^th

Under The Love Umbrella
by Davina Bell & Allison Colpoys

We are big fans of this brightly-coloured book which introduces the concept of a metaphorical ‘love umbrella’.

The neon images throughout the story show a diverse group of children encountering situations out in the world which may make them feel sad or uncomfortable – like being afraid of the dark, feeling shy around other children, moving house or starting a new school.

The lovely rhyming text explains that even if the child is on their own, their loved one is always with them ‘under their love umbrella’. They may not always be physically present but they are right there with them in spirit to help them through, because of the strength of their love.

This is a really comforting read and it’s definitely a good one to snuggle up with before bed. There are so many scenarios in which this book could be helpful to a small child – from being worried about being left at nursery for the first time right through to the loss of a loved one.

Sat
10 ^th

Oliver & Patch
by Claire Freedman & Kate Hindley

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Little Oliver is feeling sad. His family have moved from the countryside to the big city and everything feels strange. He misses the wide open spaces but most of all he misses his friends, and he hasn’t made any new ones since he arrived.

One day Oliver heads outside on his own to explore and in amongst the crowds he spots a dog called Patch who seems to be lost. Oliver befriends him and together they have lots of fun in Oliver’s new neighbourhood. For the first time he doesn’t feel lonely and the city doesn’t seem as scary after all.

But Oliver is old enough to understand that Patch is not his dog and that somebody out there must love and miss him very much. He sets about making some posters to help Patch find his way home, even though in his heart he wants him to stay.

Wed
07 ^th

Jumble Wood By Helena Covell

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In a quirky little world called Jumble Wood there lives a multitude of cute little creatures. Each of them has a thing they carry around with them which makes them happy. There are creatures with flowers, creatures with balloons, creatures with sunglasses or hats and even creatures with scooters and skateboards!

But there is one little creature called Pod who doesn’t have a happy thing, and this makes her very sad. She decides that the thing that will make her happy must be hiding out there somewhere so she sets off on a journey to find it. Along the way Pod meets Peach and Worm who help her in her quest

Together they venture in to the deepest and darkest part of the wood in search of the hard-to-find thing which will finally make Pod happy. Will they find it? Or will Pod realise that a happy thing doesn’t have to be a thing at all?

Mon
05 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Charlotte Khan, Owner, Moo Like A Monkey

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Hello! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

I’m Charlotte and I live by the sea in Folkestone with my husband and two children Mabel (3) and Luna (1.5). I’ve recently opened a Children’s Boutique in Folkestone’s Creative Quarter called Moo Like a Monkey. We stock clothes, books and toys that are a unique, colourful unisex, eco-friendly and generally very cool. I quit my job in London earlier this year to run the shop full time. I work in the shop most days with my youngest, Luna. I spend my days in the shop cleaning up crumbs and changing nappies. In the evenings once the girls are in bed, I stay up looking for new stock and trying to figure out my accounts.

What are your children’s favourite books?

Mabel’s bedtime favourite at the moment is ‘A Bit Lost’ by Chris Haughton. She finds it hilarious that the baby owl falls out of the nest at the start of the book. The illustrations make me smile and with so few words the squirrel’s character comes across really clearly. You can’t help but put on a silly voice for the over-eager Squirrel who tries to help the owl find it’s Mummy. Such a sweet book that still makes me giggle. Mabel picks up on the fact it amuses me too, so reading it at bedtime it always nice as we have a laugh together. Hmmm maybe this is my favourite book, not hers… Another Favourite is ‘Press Here’ by Hervé Tullet, perfect for some quality one on one time with Mabel. Luna isn’t into that one yet, she’d rather chew it.

Sun
04 ^th

The Knight Who Wouldn’t Fight By Helen Docherty & Thomas Docherty

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A few weeks ago a lovely lady called Helen dropped me a message to recommend us a book which her son had picked out at the library – The Knight Who Wouldn’t Fight. It wasn’t one that i’d heard of so I want to give a big shout out to her to say thank you as we LOVE it! (It should be noted here that this is definitely a different Helen to the one who wrote the book!)

The story is about a little mouse called Leo who likes nothing more than to curl up with a good book. However Leo is a knight so, despite his protestations, his parents insist that he has to go out in to the world and fight dragons.

Leo packs a bag with some sandwiches (and lots of books of course!) and heads off on his horse to fight a dragon who has been terrorising a town a few hours ride away. En route he faces a fearsome griffin and an angry troll, but defeats them quickly and easily using not his sword but his collection of books. It turns out that nasty creatures can be quite vain and love to hear stories about themselves!

Thu
01 ^st

Who’s Hiding? By Satoru Onishi

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Ivy spotted this on the shelf of our local bookshop last week and was instantly fascinated. She sat on the floor looking at it for so long that I definitely had to buy it!

The simple format shows 18 animals per double page spread. Their size, shape and position on the page doesn’t change so Ivy quickly learned to identify what each one was and its rough location.

Each page then asks you a question and you have to find the correct animals in order to answer it. The questions are things like ‘Who’s hiding?’, ‘Who’s backwards?’ and ‘Who’s sleeping?’.

I particularly like the questions around emotions (Crying, Angry etc) as your child has to identify the emotion by looking at the expressions on the animal’s faces. Ivy likes to mimic the faces – particularly the angry bear!

Wed
31 ^st

Mrs Blackhat
by Chloë & Mick Inkpen

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Our favourite book this Halloween has been Mrs Blackhat by Chloe & Mick Inkpen. Ivy LOVES it and I’ve easily read it 2-3 times a day in the last week!

Mrs Blackhat is a witch whose life definitely has a colour scheme. Everything is black – her clothes, her broom, her cauldron, her house – except for one thing. She has a ginger cat!

She finds this splash of colour extremely irksome so she sets out to find a way to transform her cat so that he’s more in keeping with her witchy style. Being somewhat of an online shopping addict she hops on her laptop and orders some potions and spells from her favourite site. However when they arrive they don’t quite perform as they should.

Tue
30 ^th

Sweep By Louise Greig & Júlia Sardà

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I’m a big fan of books which helps children recognise and understand their feelings and this one does a fantastic job of showing how moods can affect you and the people around you.

The main character in this story is called Ed and he is in a bad mood. He’s been in bad moods before but not like this one. It starts off as something tiny, but instead of addressing the way that he feels he just ignores it, stares at the ground and pushes on through until his mood becomes worse. His feelings take hold and little Ed is no longer in control of his emotions. The bad mood takes over and starts to affect the people around him. Eventually the bad mood is so big that it affects the whole town.

Can Ed regain control of his emotions, and if so will he learn how to stop this from happening again?

Mon
29 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Chrissy Crozier, Owner, Pipsqueak

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Hello! I’m Chrissy. Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, I now happily call London home with my husband and three year old son (we’re hoping to adopt a cat soon too!). I’m a former youth worker turned textile designer. I recently launched Pipsqueak, my little business hand printing kids bed linen that also aims to support charities working to help children. I launched in June (2018) so it’s still very much a work in progress!

What is your son’s favourite book?

We’re currently loving all things dinosaur related but my son’s enduring favourite is The Barefoot Book of Children (by Tessa Strickland, Kate DePalma & David Dean). It’s a fantastic celebration of children around the world. He loves the vibrant illustrations and talking about all the different activities children do.

Sun
28 ^th

My Teacher Is A Monster!
by Peter Brown

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Two of my closest female friends are primary school teachers so when I spotted this I knew we had to buy it!

The story is about a little boy called Bobby who doesn’t like school because he is always getting told off by his teacher, Miss Kirby. He doesn’t like her and thinks she’s a monster!

Then one weekend he bumps in to her when he’s walking in his favourite park, and neither of them are quite sure what to do. They both feel a little awkward seeing each other outside of school. Just as it’s becoming super uncomfortable a gust of wind catches Miss Kirby’s favourite hat and blows it away.

Bobby manages to save the hat and in the process learns a little bit more about Miss Kirby and she learns a little bit more about him. Bobby comes to realise that she’s not a monster at all. She’s just a regular person – who is actually rather nice! – and just needs to be strict at school because it’s her job (and because he’s actually quite naughty).

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