Latest Reviews
I sat there with Becky
We sat there, we two
And I said "How I wish I'd time to review".
This is THE classic fun book to read. I like to challenge myself to read it perfectly to my child every time!
A nice bright colourful book that my daughter has really enjoyed.
However, a low rating for the disturbing birds that not only have beaks but have mouths too.
A morality tale about unwanted guests and the responsibilities of being a host. Thidwick is one of Dr Seuss's lesser known heroes. Great fun!
Fantastic, and full of very silly animals such as the Bustard who only eats custard with sauce made of mustard, and the Flustard who only eats mustard with sauce made of custard.
The second in the Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type series. Every bit as silly as the first one. I love it, and this one doesn't confuse my children with it's bizarre humour quite as much as the others in the series.
Another great Hairy Maclary story. Same style and format as the others, and just as much fun to read.
Another very silly and very funny book from the Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type series. Like the rest of the series though, some of the humour goes right over the head of my children; I think I like it more than they do. So I suppose I have to knock a star off for that.
This was my absolute favorite book as a child! It is funny, adventurous, romantic, quirky, and unexpected. It's about dogs, hats, and personality. I read it again and again!!
This is a fantastic story with unforgettable prose and pictures. It's a great bedtime adventure and can be read over and over again. I particularly love the end.
I somehow managed to get through childhood without this book, so I'm making up for lost time now by reading it to my little boy, who loves it. The illustrations are stunning.
I've only recently discovered Hairy Maclary. I like the slightly offbeat rhyming and the rhythm of the stories. This volume has 5 stories, and is probably the fastest 176 page book you'll ever read.
Very good.
Quite like this one - especially if you 'squash and squeeze' as you read it! I do leave out some of the text though as I agree, it is a bit repetitive - but fun!
A lovely book but probably liked better by the girls than the boys (in my experience). And definitely a bedtime book!
A bedtime favourite, and usually fairly successful at getting a small child back to sleep when they've woken up in the night.
Probably the best value childrens book I have ever bought. £3.50 for a hardback with four full stories.
The stories themselves are nice enough, but it's the illustrations that make this a fantastic book. They are so detailed, and you can spend ages finding things in each one.
Highly recommended.
This is a book we go back to time and time again. As each of the 26 original books contained 3-5 individual stories, it's easy to dip in for either a short story, or a longer series of stories. I remember these stories from when I was young, but certainly never got through all 26 books.
A few minor complaints... As this is the original text (not the more recent "reinterpretations") some of the language does sound a little dated now. At times it does get a bit too detailed on the specific workings of steam engines. And I have taken to avoiding stories with Donald and Douglas in too much, because it's too hard to read their Scottish dialect!
But it's a great collection of the original stories, and highly recommended.
This is a truly beautiful book. But I have to deduct one star because although the stories themselves are timeless, the language does sound very dated. There are several passages that I'm sure a child today wouldn't understand. And yes, I have to admit it, some words that I don't understand either.
But that shouldn't detract too much from the beauty of the stories, the illustrations, and the way they are presented in this volume.
Surely some of the best stories ever for reading aloud. When I was young, my Winnie-the-Pooh book was one of my most treasured, and I hope this will be the same for my son.
After watching the appalling Mike Myers film-of-the-book, it's easy to forget what a fantastic book this is for reading aloud.
A well-known classic, and rightly so. Highly enjoyable even after repeated reads. A bit short on punctuation though!
Hugely popular with both my son and daughter (who is currently unseparable from this book at bedtime)
Hugely popular with both my 4 year old son and 1 year old daughter. They both shout the words "Fix It Duck!" at various points throughout the story. I also rather like the idea of the hero of a children's story being a bit of an idiot. Better than the original "Duck in a Truck" which is the first in the series.
Very funny indeed. I found this at the library one day and rather liked the idea of cows that could type. I had to deduct one star though, because I think my son was a little bemused by it... the humour perhaps a little too old for him.
My least favourite of all the Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler books. I think it's probably because it's one of the only ones that doesn't rhyme, and I find it a bit repetitive.
Another Julia Donaldson classic. This one is particularly clever in the way each page is about a different book and links seamlessly into the next. And the rhyming of "greedier" with "encyclopedia" is one of my favourite lines in any children's book I've read.
I love most of Julia Donaldson's books, but this is my very favourite. The rhyming is a little more irregular than some of the other books, and for some reason that makes reading it aloud more enjoyable. And it's worth it just for the way my son repeats "great big grey blue humpback whale"
One of the more recent Julia Donaldson books, this time without Axel Scheffler doing the illustrations, but every bit as enjoyable as some of the earlier ones like The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom.
I love most of the Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler books, but find this one a bit repetitive. Still very enjoyable, but doesn't have quite the same lasting value as some of the others.
Another Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler rhyming classic, this time about a witch who keeps dropping things, picking up passengers and ends up meeting a dragon. One of our favourites.
The best known of the Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler books, and an instant classic.
I very much doubt if there are any children who haven't come across it yet, but if you know one who hasn't, buy it for them immediately.