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Julia Donaldson

Wed
01 ^st

Tabby McTat By Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

We have been reading Tabby McTat to Ivy since she was about 6 months old and it’s still one of her all time favourites. When she was tiny she was just drawn to the illustrations of the cats (one of them looks a little like ours) but now she’s older she loves the story and knows the little song off by heart!

Tabby McTat is a scruffy little street cat who belongs to a busker. He loves his life wandering the streets of London with his owner, and he enjoys singing along when the busker performs. An unlucky chain of events result in the two friends being accidentally separated and McTat ends up living with a girl cat called Sock.

Sock and McTat become the best of friends and soon they end up with a small litter kittens. McTat loves his cosy new life but he never forgets the wonderful busker. One day he decides that he simply has to find out what happened to him so he kisses his little family goodbye and sets off in search of his old pal.

Thu
26 ^th

Zog By Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

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The combination of dragons and girl power make this one of our favourite collaborations between Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Zog is a big orange dragon who loves going to Dragon School. He’s really enthusiastic about his classes but he just can’t quite get things right. He bumps in to trees whilst learning to fly, gives himself a sore throat trying to roar and accidentally sets his wing on fire whilst attempting to breathe fire. Fortunately each time he hurts himself a little girl appears with a bag of bandages and plasters and she fixed him right up.

When he gets to Year 4 the dragons have to learn how to capture a princess. Again Zog struggles until he discovers that his wonderful friend is in fact a princess herself. She allows herself to be captured in order to help him out and Zog gets a golden star from the teacher. She becomes a valuable member of the school, tending to the dragon’s ailments with the help of her trusty medical bag.

Mon
23 ^rd

Ivy’s Guest Book: Sally Darby, Founder, Mums Like Us

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

I’m Sally Darby, founder of Mums Like Us – a network for disabled mothers. MLU is a facebook group exclusively for disabled mothers. I am also trying to open up the conversation about disability and motherhood @mums_like_us on Instagram and www.mumslikeus.org. I live in the Midlands with my husband and two beautiful and bonkers daughters who are 2 and 5.

What is your daughters’ favourite books?

The eldest currently adores Matilda by Roald Dahl. She loves that Matilda is smart and mischievous… a bit like her! The little one loves the Winnie the Witch books by Valerie Thomas. She has learned to say, ‘witch,’ and she loves repeating it as she points to every picture!

Sun
22 ^nd

The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson & Sara Ogilvie

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The Detective Dog seems to be one of Julia Donaldson‘s lesser known books but we think it’s fantastic and deserves a lot more attention. If you haven’t read this one yet then definitely keep an eye out for it!

The story is about a dog called Nell who is very good at finding things. She lives with a little boy called Peter who loses his toys all the time so she uses her exceptional nose to sniff them out and return them to him.

Every Monday Peter takes Nell to school with him and it’s her favourite day of the week. She loves all of the different smells and she is particularly fond of the books which the children read to her. However one Monday, when they get to the school, Nell realises she cannot smell the books. She and Peter rush in to the classroom to find all of the children and the teacher in tears. Someone has stolen all of the books. Every last one of them!

Mon
18 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Kelly Smith, Owner, Crafty Little Kel

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

I’m Kelly and I’m mum to two little boys, Conor (7) and Iwan (5). I am a trained secondary teacher but gave up a stressful head of department job last year in favour of doing supply work around my pyrography and glass engraving business; something which had always been a hobby of mine and which I always dreamed of turning into a small business. I can honestly say I have never looked back as my children are growing up so fast and this is allowing me more precious time to spend with them whilst working around them from home.

What are your sons’ favourite books?

Conor is now 7 and so is reading confidently on his own. He is currently really in to the Goosebumps books. Until recently he lacked confidence in reading but discovering the Goosebumps series made a big difference to him – I think it’s a refreshing change to Biff, Chip and flipping Kipper! Iwan’s firm favourite at the moment is a book called “Nuddy Ned” by Kes Gray and Gary Parsons. It’s about a little boy who, after his bath, whilst his parents are sorting out his bed, decides that it would be far more fun to streak naked through the town. The book is written in rhyme and has lift the flaps on each page. Iwan shrieks with laughter throughout the whole story!

Sat
09 ^th

Tyrannosaurus Drip By Julia Donaldson & David Roberts

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Tyrannosaurus Drip by Julia Donaldson & David Roberts is one of our favourite dinosaur books. It tells the story of a gentle little duckbill dinosaur who accidentally ends up hatching in a Tyrannosaurus nest. He tries his hardest to fit in with the family he believes to be his but he is just too different. His sisters are big and strong with sharp teeth and a love of hunting whereas poor little Drip is gentle and kind and just wants to eat some veg.

When his family start to pick on him for being different he decides to run away and he finds himself swimming with some Duckbill Dinosaurs in the river, unaware that they are his real family. Drip finally feels like he belongs and plays happily with his new friends. When he spots his reflection he is shocked to discover that he was never a Tyrannosaurus at all!

But then a storm comes and knocks over a tree, giving the nasty T-Rex family direct access to the Duckbill’s home. Quick-thinking Drip comes up with a plan but will it be enough to save his new family?

Mon
04 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Gemma Hall, Owner, LittleGemGem

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Tell us a little bit about yourself

My name is Gemma and I live in a small village in County Durham with my Husband and two children. I have a 2-year-old son and an 8-month-old daughter. I’m a full-time mum and also run a handmade party decoration business from home, so life is crazy busy!

What is your son’s favourite book?

Pirates in the Supermarket by Timothy Knapman. My son loves this book! It’s a story about rogue pirates who run amok in a supermarket causing chaos and mess. It has definitely made shopping more fun as he now thinks that’s where pirates live and insists on looking for them when we go shopping together.

Sat
02 ^nd

What The Ladybird Heard By Julia Donaldson & Lydia Monks

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‘What The Ladybird Heard’ is one of our favourite books by Julia Donaldson and we’ve been reading it since Ivy was just a few months old.

The story is about a tiny ladybird who lives on a farm. All of the animals around her are very noisy but she just quietly goes about her business, not saying a word. Then one night everything changes. She overhears a conversation between two burglars (the wonderfully named Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len) and discovers their evil plot to steal the farmer’s fine prize cow.

She goes to the other animals and for once she speaks up, telling them about her fantastic plan to thwart the burglary. The animals listen carefully and they all agree to play their part, which involves impersonating each other in order to confuse the thieves.

Fri
27 ^th

The Gruffalo By Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

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Today’s book needs no introduction as it’s a modern classic. I’m sure most of you already have this in your child’s library but a collection of children’s book reviews doesn’t seem complete without it!

An enterprising young mouse is taking a little walk through the wood when he encounters a number of creatures who are keen to make him their dinner. Thinking on his feet he explains to each of them that he can’t stop because he is off to meet a Gruffalo. What’s a Gruffalo? the fox, the owl and the snake each ask in turn.

As he describes this imaginary, terrifying creature the details become more and absurd. He has terrible teeth, a poisonous wart on his nose, orange eyes and purple prickles all over his back! Scared of the mouses terrifying friend, the animals decide to let him go on his merry way.

Mon
09 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Julie Waite, Marketing Consultant

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Hi, I’m Julie and I’m mum to two gorgeous girls aged 6 and 4. We live in South Yorkshire in a village on the edge of the Pennines, from where I run my marketing and copywriting business.

Which book do you most like reading to them and why?

A Squash and a Squeeze by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is a fantastic book to read to young children. It’s about a little old lady who grumbled that her house was too small, she then met a wise old man who tells her to take in an assortment of animals, culminating in total chaos, as you might imagine. At the end of the book he tells her to “Take them all out” and then she realises that her house was fine as it was.

I believe the story is based on an old folk tale or fable and it certainly carries a good message – be grateful for what you have, it is enough. However, it presents this message in a funny and subtle way, which my girls find very entertaining. They love to join in with key lines that are repeated throughout, often putting on a silly voice for the old lady “My house is a squash and a squeeze”.

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