It’s back! Last month’s impromptu book review post was well received, so here it is again.
We’ve been back to the library, and now have four more titles to tell you about.
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Andrew Drew and Drew / Barney Saltzberg
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This book is so clever! Andrew Drew and Drew is the tale of Andrew and his pencil (not of three boys named Andrew, Drew and Drew as I thought at first glance!). Andrew likes to draw, and this book, with its flaps and gatefolds, allows you to see those drawings unfold. And each new picture is more clever than the last.
Such a great idea, and the result is a book we’ll definitely be borrowing again.
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One Sheep, Two Sheep / Patricia Byers and Tamsin Ainslie
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I’m a sucker for a collective noun. Flocks of sheep, knots of frogs, schools of fish – One Sheep, Two Sheep teaches collective nouns and plural forms without feeling at all like it’s teaching you anything. It’s cute, with illustrations of kids playing with dress-ups and toys to remind you there’s more than one way to dress like an animal when you use your imagination!
(And if you’re also a sucker for a collective noun, check out Adam Oehler’s A Babble of Words, one of our family favourites.)
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OMG! That’s not my child… / (not an Usborne book)
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This. Is. Hilarious. A parody of the Usborne ‘That’s not my…‘ books, this says what we’re all actually thinking. That’s not my child… he’s sharing! Eating my cooking! Packing up! And the end is even funnier. If the idea of Go the F*** to Sleep makes you laugh, but the swearing puts you off, try this one first.
I repeat, hilarious. I’ll be giving this to fellow parents as gifts. (But I’ll be choosing the recipients wisely so as not to offend!)
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Each Peach Pear Plum / Janet and Allen Ahlberg
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An oldie. Always on recommended reading lists. A husband and wife team that nailed it with The Jolly Postman. And yet I’d never read this.
Ashleigh and I enjoyed Each Peach Pear Plum. There are other books we enjoy more, but I can see why this book has achieved cult status. It’s adorable, it brings together many much-loved nursery rhyme characters, and it’s deceptively simple. One of those books that makes me think ‘I could have written that’ even though, of course, I really couldn’t have.
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What have you recently discovered at the library? Any suggestions for review next time?
This is the second in a new series of children’s book review posts. Check out the others here:
Once upon a book review (September)
Thank you for sharing these books. I haven’t read any but I have read The Jolly Postman so that has to count for something right?
Definitely! That’s a favourite in this household. These were all new to us, too.
I’ll have to check out That’s Not My Child. Thanks!
Pleasure! It’s a hoot.
These books sound great. Have bookmarked for next time we go to library. Thanks 🙂
You’re welcome! I hope you like them.
Am bookmarking same as Jodi – I LOVE good children’s book recommendations 🙂 the first one looks soooo cute. Usborne is one of my fave publishers. Thanks for taking the time to list.
Andrew Drew and Drew was definitely my fave of the bunch.
I love Each Peach Pear Plum. My dad bought that a few years ago for the kids and we it was such a fun book to read. You inspire me to want to go to the library
We love the library! One of the two near our place has a really big children’s section. We’ve been known to camp out all afternoon!
We got a great book called Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs!!! It was very cool and also had some adult humour in there, not XXX but LOL humour!! xx
That sounds great – it’s on my list for next visit! Thanks.
We used to go to the library when Mr 4 was little, aka before he started walking properly but we haven’t been since. I’m taking him to a session of interactive story telling this week though so I hope that he really enjoys that.
That sounds really interesting – I’ll follow you up to see how it went!
I love Each Peach Pear Plum, I always used to recommend it when I worked in the bookshop. And that Not My Child book looks fabulous, definitely gonna have to get my hands on a copy I think.
#teamIBOT was here!
I can see why it’s a favourite! So deceptively simple.
Another great selection of books. What age group would you say they are all for? I’ve never seen any of them. I really like the look of Each Peach Pear Plum and That’s not my 🙂
Ooh, silly me. Should have put that. I’d say OMG! That’s not my child… is actually for adults. Kids can hear it, of course – there’s no swearing or yuckiness – but it’s more for our enjoyment. The others, I’d say preschool and early school years.
We’ve had Each peach Pear plum for 12 years now! I can recite it. But that ‘that’s not my child, he’s sharing!’ just cracked me up, I’d buy it just for the title!
It really is funny! I’ve shown it to quite a few people now and they all crack up – even the grandparents whose days of child-rearing are far behind them!
I so have to get a copy of OMG! That’s Not My Child and I also think Go The F*** To Sleep is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read.
If you love GTFTS then DEFINITELY get OMG! Definitely!
Oooh I must look out for the Andrew and the One Sheep Two Sheep. But more for myself than my offspring, she’s still a bit young, sadly. She does love Each Peach Pear Plum though, even if she doesn’t know most of the stories yet!
I figure you’ve got to stock the bookshelves ready for when they are! That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.