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Catherine Rayner

The Go-Away Bird by Julia Donaldson & Catherine Rayner

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The Go-Away BirdThis book is a little controversial in our house as it’s the first Julia Donaldson book that Ivy and I don’t agree on! I personally don’t think it’s one of her best – but Ivy loves it so what do I know!?!

The story is about the ‘Go-Away Bird’ who (as you’d expect from her name…) isn’t a big fan of company. She sits in her nest with a disgruntled look on her face and sends away all of the nice birds who try and make her acquaintance with a loud ‘Go Away!’

She doesn’t want to talk to the Chit-Chat bird, she doesn’t want to share a meal with the Peck-Peck bird and she certainly doesn’t want to fly with the Flip-Flap bird. But then the hungry ‘Get You’bird appears and the Go-Away bird discovers that maybe she does need friends after all.

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One Happy Tiger By Catherine Rayner

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One Happy TigerWe love ‘Augustus and His Smile‘ by Catherine Rayner so we were really excited to see this lovely counting book which features the same character.

The book starts with lovely Augustus sitting on his own feeling lonely, but as we slowly count from 1 to 10 he meets some new friends, including bugs, birds, butterflies and bees.

This feels like it has a little more depth than your average counting book because the themes of friendship and nature are central to the simple narrative. As always, Catherine Rayner‘s illustrations are breathtaking and the animals seem to jump off the page.

If you’re looking for a baby or toddler gift that is educational, sturdy and beautiful to look at then this would be perfect.

Buy it now: https://amzn.to/2t0dcug

Iris And Isaac By Catherine Rayner

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Iris And IsaacIris and Isaac are beautiful polar bears and they are best friends. However their inability to share causes them to have  a little falling out. Iris makes a snow nest which is a bit too small for both of them to snuggle up in. They each try to squish their big bottoms in, trying to get a bigger space for themselves but they end up destroying the whole nest and walking away from each other in a huff.

However they soon discover that life can be pretty sad without someone to share it with. When Iris spots a flock of snowy white ducks in flight she wishes she could tell Isaac about it – and Isaac spots the northern lights he wishes Iris was there to share the moment with him.

Can these lovely bears learn to share so they can be friends again?

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Augustus And His Smile By Catherine Rayner

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Augustus And His SmilePoor Augustus the tiger is sad. He’s lost his smile and he can’t find it anywhere!

Determined to find it, he sets off on a quest which takes him to the top of the tallest trees, the bottom of the deepest oceans and the peaks of the highest mountains. Will he find his smile at the end of his journey, or is it just possible that it has been with him all along?

Ivy loves tigers and the beautiful illustrations (by the author, Catherine Rayner) in this book mean she pulls it down from our shelf to be read again and again. The pictures are simple but you can really feel every emotion that the tiger feels.

The story is  a lovely exploration of the wonder of nature which ultimately shows that it’s the simple things in life which makes us happy.

Buy it now: https://amzn.to/2GgYWlm

Abigail By Catherine Rayner

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AbigailAbigail is a beautiful giraffe who loves to count – however the things she wants to count won’t keep still!

A ladybird scuttles away when she tries to count his spots. Then she tries leaves but the zebra gobbles them up faster than she can count them. As each attempt at counting is scuppered she starts to get frustrated and when night falls she is ready to give up.

However when they look up, Abigail and her friends discover that nature has given them a whole sky full of twinkling stars which they can count together.

The illustrations in this one are breathtaking and there’s a fantastic fold out page where you can stretch Abigail’s long neck up to the sky. Ivy was super excited when she discovered that page and now she squirms in anticipation as we get to the end of the story.

Gorgeous!

Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2oOzTyt