These are my fabrits! (Top Ten Childrens Books)

Member Name: Claribella

Product:	Top Ten Childrens Books
Date:	01/06/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: So many to choose from!

Disadvantages: Hard to make my decision!

Children's books I love books and think they are such an important part of life. I have such fond memories of sitting and reading with my mum or reading by torch at night when I was suppose to be asleep. I love the way that you can loose yourself in a book and pretend you are somewhere else but I think that children's books are in a class of their own when it comes to imagination and inspiration. Here are ten of my favourites; some are from my childhood and some are ones that I have recently found due to having two wonderful sons who have aquired their mum and dad's interest in books.


POOH, IS THAT YOU BERTIE?

This book is written by David Roberts and the book was first published in 2004 by Little Tiger Press.

The story tells of a little toddler called Bertie who also breaks wind at any time or place without any embarrassment at all. His family try tell him off and try to make him feel bad for what he has done and as the book progresses Bertie feels a little hard done by. It's at this point that he reveals his family secret and that is how all of his family fart too.

I find this story a good read. I love the fact that it highlights how prudish we are when it comes to breaking wind. It just shows the very matter of fact way a toddler's mind works and how it's quite hard to understand that everyone does it so why cover it up. At the moment we all have a good old laugh when Noah farts but as he gets older he is going to have to learn how unacceptable it is in society which is totally confusing to a young child's mind and makes me wonder why we all other trying to hide it. Maybe we should all just 'let rip and let live' instead of living in denial all of our lives!


ALL AFLOAT IN NOAH'S BOAT

The story is written by Tony Mitton and is illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees. It was first published in 2006 by Orchard books.

The story is based on the well known bible story, Noah and the ark but this one has a different outlook to all of the others that I have read. The animals start to become extremely agitated and restless after they have been on the ark for a while and start arguing with each other. Noah puts a stop to all the rowing by calling a talent contest. All of the animals perform on centre stage apart from the caterpillars who are watching from the window sill. They are far too quiet and feel that they have absolutely nothing entertaining to offer the other animals until the very end when they pop out of there cocoon and become butterflies.

The thing I loved most of all about this story is the fact that it shows that everyone has a talent. No matter who you are, you have something to give whether thats a big thing or a small thing and you will get noticed for that. This is something that I really want to instill into my children. I want them to know that even if they aren't at the forefront performing in front of an audience then they can do something less significant (like the caterpillars) but that does make a difference.


THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR


The book is written by Eric Carle who has also written other classics like 'The very busy spider'. It is also beautifully illustrated with lovely, bright pictures.

The book tells the story of a caterpillar who pops out of it's egg and is very hungry hence the title 'The very hungry caterpillar'. He or she goes on a quest to look for some food. He ends up eating far to much (I think this book is based on me!) and getting a tummy ache. He then builds a cocoon and after a couple of weeks he turns into a very colourful butterfly.

The food that the caterpillar eats through has little holes in each piece. My son absolutely loves putting his finger through the holes when we go through the food that the caterpillar has eaten. The holes are just the right size for his finger.

MUMMY DO YOU LOVE ME?

The book is written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Jan Fearnley. It's quite a new one and was only printed last year (2008) by Walker Books LTD.

The story tells of a chicken and it's baby chick. The baby chick gets himself into all sorts of predicaments on purpose, only to ask his mother if she still loves him and why. Each time the mother explains that she does until it gets to a point in the book where the mother has to shout at the chick. The chick gets extremely upset so the mother has to explain why she shouted but that she still loves him. The roles are then reversed at the end when little chick tells his mummy that he loves her and the mum responds with 'Why?'

I love the pictures in this story. They are made up of pastel colours and it is obvious that each one has been painted with water colour paints. The artist is very good at showing the love that the two characters have for each other even to the point where you can feel it radiating off the page. There are certain illustrations where they are looking into each other eyes with such a mother and son bond which sounds rather strange considering I am talking about a children's story.


NOT NOW BERNARD!

'Not now Bernard' is a children's book written by David Mckee and was first published in 1980. It is available from all good book stores and costs £4.99 although I am sure you could get it a little cheaper from Amazon or Ebay or you could even do what I did and borrow it from the library for a few weeks.

The story tells of a young lad named Bernard who is trying to tell his mother and father about a monster that has appeared in the garden. Whenever Bernard tries to get their attention, they are just too busy to listen to him so Bernard decides to try and make friends with the monster. This doesn't go as smoothly as he'd hoped because the monster ends up eating him and taking his place in the story. The parents are so caught up in what they are doing that they don't even realise that Bernard is no longer Bernard, but a big purple monster instead.

Over all this is an interesting story that is enjoyable for children but thought provoking for adults. It's definitely worth a read but whilst your child may be rolling about the floor with laughter you may end up thinking quite seriously about the society we live or worst still, shedding a few tears!


HAIRY MACLARY FROM DONALDSON DAIRY

The book is written by Lynley Dodd and I'm guessing it's illustrated by her too as there is no other name on the front of the book. The one we have is a paperback and is quite small is size. It costs £4.99 if you buy it new but I'm pretty sure you could find it in a charity shop or on Ebay for much cheaper than that.

The story is about a little, scruffy dog called Hairy Maclary who goes for a walk. As he goes on his little journey a different dog joins him on each page. As the dogs are at the height of their walk they meet a nasty cat which scares them and they all run away and return home again.

The interesting thing about this book is the way it reads. The whole story is rhyming and repetitive. It tells you each dogs name and then as more dogs join the crew you go back through all of the ones that you have previously met until you have a big list.

WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT

The book is written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. I have seen it in both hardback and paperback and there are big and small version on the market so basically there is a book to suit any child of any age.

The story follows a family who go on a journey; a bear hunt. They come across various obstacles that they have to go through and when they finally come to a cave and find a bear they have to run back through all ofthe obstacles before returning home.

The book lends itself to dramatic reading, and you can really hype it up with little ones.

THE GRUFFALO

The book was written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler and it was published in 1999.

The story tells of a little mouse who meets various predators in the forest that want to eat him. The mouse is alarmly clever and realises this so tells them one by that he has made arrangements to meet with a Gruffalo for lunch. The animals wonder what a Gruffalo is and the mouse proceeds to give them a very detailed description of the beast and one by one the predators run away, too scared that hey may be eaten themselves. The mouse has of course made up the Gruffalo, or so he thinks, until he actually bumps into him. The Gruffalo decides that the mouse would make a tasty treat for his lunch but yet again the mouse quickly devises a plan and tells the Gruffalo that he is the most feared animal in the forest and takes him on a journey to find the other animals that first wanted to eat him. Of course the animals are very scared when they see the Gruffalo but the mouse makes it look as though they are scared of him. Evetually the Gruffalo decides that the mouse is far too scary and runs off.

Over all this is definately worthy of the award that it has been given and I would definately think about buying it so we could keep it in the book box for a later date. I would recommend it and at £5.99 it's a steal.


CLASS TWO AT THE ZOO

The book is written by Julia Jarman and illustrated by Lynne Chapman. It was first published 2007 by Hodder Childrens Books and it retails at just £5.99.

As you can guess from the title, the story tells of a class of young school children that pay a visit to the local zoo. They are so taken up with looking at all of the animals that they don't notice the anaconda slither it's way out of it's cage until it eats them all up. It isn't until the anaconda has eaten nearly all of the class including the teacher, that one of the students notices and tries to stop it from eating anymore and tries to retrieve the children that it's already devoured.

I loved the whole story and the way it rhymed was a little different to the other books I read with Noah which gave it that edge. I enjoyed using the volume of my voice and I found that I could incooperate a lot of actions into the story too.

Although the story was all about being eaten by a snake, it wasn't done it a scary way and it just left me giggling from start to finish.


DOGGER

This book was first written in 1977 by the famous Shirley Hughes. You know that a book is going to pretty good when 30 years down the line it is still being enjoyed by small children everywhere (and my hubby!).

The story tells of a young boy called Dave who absolutely loves his scruffy teddy, Dogger. One day while they are out, Dave loses Dogger and the whole family begin a search about the house to see if they can find him. Dave is very upset and sad without his favourite teddy but the following day he see's him on the table of a jumble sale but doesn't have enough money to buy him back again. He goes on a frantic search for his sister to see if she has money but by the time he gets back to the table, a young girl has brought Dogger. Will he ever get Dogger back?

This story is beautifully written and is a wonderful story for young children. I loved the fact that his sister really helps him out and does something so selfless in a bid to try and get Dogger back for him. It gives children an insight into putting others first which unfortunately doesn't happen a lot these days.


So there you have it! If you have young children or need cheering up then go and find one of these and I guarantee you will finish each one feeling happy!

Summary: I love childrens books!