[A pop-up book]

by Keith Faulkner / Illustrated by Jonathan Lambert

Children’s Book / Picture Book / Pop-up Book

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Children’s Book Synopsis:

The curious wide-mouthed frog wants to find out the favorite foods of all the animals he meets along his journey.

He can’t stop himself chattering away, stopping to ask every creature he meets: ‘What do you eat?’

But then he meets an animal who loves eating wide-mouthed frogs…

My Book Review:

This is an amusing story that my mother, who is a storyteller, tells to young children. In book form, the pop ups of the animals are delightful, and the repetition of “I’m a wide-mouthed frog and I eat flies…What do you eat?” helps the kids join in as they learn about what mouse, bird and alligator love to eat. And despite the carnivorous inclinations of the alligator, the story of The Wide-Mouthed Frog has a funny ending.

x Julie

Reading Like Rabbits

Children’s Book Review

by Maurice Sendack

***** (5/5)

Children’s Fiction / Children’s Picture Book

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Book Synopsis:

Where The Wild Things Are is about a little boy called Max dressed up in his monster suit who gets sent to bed without any supper for making mischief. He defiantly created a forest in his bedroom, travels by boat and ends up where the wild things are. The wild things are monsters who gnash their teeth, but Max stands up to them and therefore becomes their king. But he misses home, and his mum, so he gives up being king of the wild things and makes the long journey back home.

Why I love this book:

Where The Wild Things Are is a classic children’s book about an imaginative boy who conquers and makes friends with monsters. If you have or know a child who is scared of monsters in the cupboard or under the bed, this book may help them see monsters in a different way and empower them to face their fears.

Where The Wild Things are has recently been made into a motion picture by Spike Jonze, in which a friend of mine played a Wild Thing!

x Julie

Children’s Book Reviews

- Reading Like Rabbits

by P.D. Eastman

Children’s Fiction / Picture book

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Book Synopsis:

Fred and Ted were good friends.

But they were different.

They were different sizes, they played different instruments, and they even drove their cars differently.

When they go on holiday together, they come across a problem that they need to solve…

Why I like this book:

My mum used to read Big Dog.. Little Dog to me when I was a child. I loved this children’s book because the simplicity of the language made it easy for me to repeat. I also enjoyed the contrast between the two friends. This book is also filled with useful verbs, adverbs and adjectives.

x Julie

Children’s Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-

By Pat Hutchins

Children’s Fiction, Picture Book

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Children’s Book Synopsis:

A little boy is sent on his way to buy the groceries. His mother tells him what he needs to buy and especially says, “Don’t forget the bacon.”

The boy remembers his list by saying it to himself over and over again. But on his travels he is distracted by the sights and sounds on the street.

Will he remember the bacon?

My Book Review:

I loved this book as a child, it’s very funny. The little boy chants his little shopping list as he is sent down the street to the shops by his mum. But as he goes along, what he sees replaces the food on the shopping list. Like ‘six farm eggs’ become ‘six fat legs’. It’s very funny for child as they witness the disastrous consequences. Will he remember or forget the bacon?

x Julie

Children’s Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-

by Ronda and David Armitage

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Book synopsis:

Three kids can’t find any clean clothes to wear. Mum’s gone to work, so it’s up to Dad to do the washing. Dad piles all their dirty clothes into the washing machine. But something goes wrong…. What will Mum say when she returns?

Why I like this book:

When Dad did the Washing must have been written by Ronda and David Armitage after a washing incident of their own.

Valuable, albeit domestic, life lessons can be learnt in this book:

• If you don’t want pink clothes, don’t wash red jump suits with white skirts

• Some mistakes are blessings in disguise, it just depends on how you decide to take it.

When Dad Did The Washing is a nice book about an incident that is bound to happen at least once in your life, so kids might as well learn about it now.

x Julie

Children’s Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-

by Shirley Hughes

Children’s Fiction, Picture Book

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Book Summary:

Alfie’s Feet is a charming book primarily about… Alfie’s feet. He counts his little sister’s toes with the rhyme ‘This little pig went to market…’, he wears his old brown shoes to splash about in puddles, but discovers that his feet, shoes and socks get all wet. So his mother buys him a shiny new pair of yellow wellington boots. This will help him keep his feet dry, but why do they feel so uncomfortable?

Why I love Alfie’s Feet:

I still have fond memories of reading Alfie’s Feet. Shirley Hughes’s expressive illustrations of the cubby-cheeked children are magnetic, and there is so much to look at in her drawings. Alfie’s Feet will help children learn vocabulary to do with well…feet…but also what goes on your feet, some movement verbs and adjectives, as well as the importance of left and right.

x Julie

Children’s Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-