The Birthday Thief and Kingdom of You – a Wonderbly book review

My kids love books. (No idea where they got that from. Ahem.)

So when Wonderbly contacted me to review the two books new to its range (having reviewed the first two books last year), I said, “YES YES PLEASE YES! I mean, ahem, sure. If you like, no biggie.”

Meet The Birthday Thief and Kingdom of You.

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The Birthday Thief / Pedro Codeco, Pedro Serapicos and David Cadji-Newby

(Wonderbly, 2017)

It’s your birthday – but someone has stolen it! Set out on a spellbinding adventure to get your special day back.

I ordered The Birthday Thief for my four-year-old son. He has just learnt numbers up to 50 and is very proud of knowing them, so I thought he’d love to see the numbers of his birthday represented in his very own book.

My seven-year-old daughter offered to read him the book, so they sat side by side to read. When they reached the day of his birth, she didn’t quite twig. It was just a number, right? But then they met the characters representing the months of the year, and she screamed. “Lady April! That’s like your birthday! Wait… and the number was right, too! I think this is about your birthday!”

Cue all the excited screaming.

The story is delightful. The star of the book – whomever you choose that to be – is setting up their birthday party when the cake, presents and cards start disappearing. The star must follow a trail of wrapping paper to find out what has happened. There are Moon Makers, members of the Months’ Court, a Wizard and, eventually, the actual Birthday Thief! (I’d say spoiler alert, but the title’s a giveaway.)

All of the characters help the star of the book find their birthday, and the Birthday Thief comes to the realisation that stealing other people’s birthdays doesn’t help you to grow up.

My son adores his book, and two weeks after we first received it, my daughter is still talking about all the clues along the way.

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Kingdom of You / Marija Tiurina and David Cadji-Newby

(Wonderbly, 2017)

One day, you discover a friendly genie who can give you anything you wish for. What could possibly go wrong?

All of Wonderbly’s books allow customisation, but Kingdom of You takes it to another level. You choose the character. You choose the theme. You choose the preferred food.

I ordered Kingdom of You for my seven-year-old daughter because when I saw that all of the choices I made could potentially lead to a book with a queen, a genie, princesses, unicorns, ice cream and an important life lesson – not to mention that the princesses would kick butt instead of sitting around waiting to be rescued – I simply had to.

“Mum, I’m a queen. Mum, there’s a genie! Mum, she said monster when she made her wish. She shouldn’t have said monster! Why did she say monster? OH NO!”

Of course, you don’t have to be a fan of princesses, unicorns and ice cream. You can choose between superheroes, princesses, dinosaurs, animals and vehicles for the general theme of the book, and your favourite food can be pizza, pasta, ice cream, chicken or fruit. Whichever combination you choose, the star of your book is in for a real… wait for it… treat!

(Yes, I write all my own puns. No, I’ve not yet been approached by Hollywood for a blockbuster script. I know, it’s outrageous, isn’t it?)

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We’ve been back on the Wonderbly site since, ordering more books for nieces, nephews and friends, and the kids are now compiling lists of everyone they’d like to make books for in time for Christmas. Highly recommended to anyone trying to find the perfect personalised gift for a little person in their life.

 

Have you read either of these books? Are you a fan of personalisation in books?

 

(This is not a sponsored post. I was sent copies of The Birthday Thief and Kingdom of Your for the purposes of review. Most opinions are my own. Squealy opinions are those of my children.)