This months favourite books are all animal related, purely coincidentally though!
This Is NOT a Cat By David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka
Set in ‘mouse school’ this book cleverly only uses the five words from the title, the rest of the story is told purely through the fun pictures to show the little mice learning about what is (or is not!) a cat! Short and sweet and perfect for children of all ages as Arlo loves to hear it being read and Athena loves to try and read it with me, recognising the word Cat and shouting it when she sees it!
Later, Gator! By Erik Brooks
Another short and sweet tale of a Gator that moves house. He gets lonely though and misses his friends so decides to do something about it, and starts to make new friends. I think this book would be perfect for a preschooler or toddler who is moving house, or even moving nursery, or leaving preschool to start primary school as the message about the importance of making new friends is easy to understand and shown in a really fun way. Often when you’re trying to get little kids to understand big messages it seems too scary when you’re just telling them, but finding books to help get the message across is so helpful. Lots of rhyme make this book a fun one to read too, always a bonus!
Bertie Wings It! By Leslie Gorin, illustrated by Brendan Kearney
This book is aimed at slightly older children I think as it’s a bit more detailed than the previous two. Bertie is a little bird who reckons he’s ready to fly. But what Bertie doesn’t realise is that he has to go through a whole load of work before he can, flying school, examinations, the right attire. It’s a bit a metaphor for ‘adulting’ really, you think it’s all so simple when you’re a teenager but then you realise there is all this stuff you have to do first before you can actually have fun. Anyway, eventually poor Bertie (complete with hipster pants and birdie bling!) tries to fly, and with a little mishap (A=and a good life lesson to shed the stuff you don’t really need) he’s off into the skies!
These books were sent for review purposes, all words and opinions are my own.