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Let's Go Home, Little Bear - Martin Waddell
by xjemloux
My 4 year old twins love me reading them a story at bedtime and are not fussy what books I read but they are starting to realise what their favourites are. I've picked up many books from charity shops to read to them and one of these favourites have been Martin Waddell's Let's Go Home, Little Bear.
The story itself involves 2 ... bears, Big Bear and Little Bear going home, however their journey home isn't just a nice quiet walk there are noises that little bear can hear, plods, plops and woo's which makes little bear just that little bit nervous. Throughout the book we can enjoy reading Big Bears caring and loving nature as he comforts Little Bear on their journey home.
The story may sound a little boring but these plods and plops make for funny reading with my boys it adds a little humour to the story alongside the caring and love, the nervousness and the happy ending. It is written very realisticly seeing as the 2 bears are walking through woods so my boys can really imagine these particular noises that little bear hears yet when they hear the fun plod plods and woo woo's they can't help but giggle, especially as they know Big Bear will tell them everything will be fine as the noise is just something so simple.
It's a very caring and comforting story, one that certainly puts a happy ending to our bedtime routine.
My boys also like looking at the beautiful illustrations on the book, they all look like they have been painted and they can see the expressions on the bears faces, such as when little bear becomes a little nervous of a certain noise.
The RRP on the back of this book is £5.99 and it is definitely a book I'd recommend.
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Morag and the Lamb - Joan Lingard
by juicy_lucy
Morag and the lamb
This is one of the stories I have read on several occasions and especially at Spring time.
The story centres around a young boy and his dog (Russell and Morag) are left with his grandparents, who live in the country. The dog is clearly not used to being with sheep so Russell is being warned ... that Morag must not worry the sheep as its lambing time (hence it's a Spring story). When Russell and Morag go for a walk with the grandparents they meet the farmer who happens to be a lady; this has frequently prompted young children to ask whether ladies can be farmers so I think it's a good role model. Russell goes off with the farmer to feed the sheep and Morag is left behind to ponder why she cant worry the sheep (she understands the conversation!). Morag does eventually hear a noise and finds a lamb caught in brambles. She is concerned that she has worried the lamb and goes to find Russell, encouraging him to follow her. The farmer untangles the lamb and Morag is praised and told she has definitely not worried the sheep.
The story line itself is very sweet and quite predictable. There is lots of speech and text of different sizes so it's a good story to talk about ways of using text and punctuation even with very young children.
The illustrations are all large and colourful and depending on the text, sometimes take up a full double page spread, so it's a nice book to look and to talk about the pictures.
OTHER BITS OF INFORMATION...
* Pages: 32 pages
* Publisher: Walker Books Ltd (1992)
* ISBN: 0744520304
*
The book is widely available online and can be picked up at amazon for 1p! Bargain
VERDICT...
A lovely story which is great to read aloud and which will be enjoyed by most children in Key Stage 1. The pictures give lots to talk about as does the subject matter.
I would recommend this as a read aloud story for young children.
Thanks for reading
Daniela xx
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The Pig in the Pond - Martin Waddell
by joclark84
Martin Waddell is one of the best authors around of Children's picture books. The Pig in the Pond is one of his lesser known books but still has the brilliance and humour of some of his more famous books. I feel this book is perfect for children aged 0-7 years and is loved by all that I have read it to.
Plot
If you don't ... already know 'pigs don't swim'. This is the problem that Neligan's pig faces on a hot day. The pig sits in the hot sun watching the ducks and geese bathing in the cool pond. The heat soon becomes unbearable, the sweat continues to build up on the poor pig until he can bear the heat no more and to all of the animals surprise Neligan's pig jumps into the pond 'SPLASH'.
How will Neligan the farmer react to the Pig being in the pond?
Warning: if the children you are sharing this book with are anything like mine, then there will be a page that has them screaming and howling with laughter. This is because towards the end of the book, you get to see Farmer Neligan's bum! This part of the book soon becomes children's favourite part and is the bit of the story most children remember ;-)
The book is quite repetitive, perfect for young children to support them with reading and giving them the opportunity to join in after multiple readings. It includes animal noises which allows even the youngest child to join in. The watercolour illustrations are fantastic and support the enjoyable experience of reading this book. The book has a very basic plot and is very humorous.
Now most picture books retail at around £4.99, this one higher on amazon but there is no need to buy this book at this price. There is often a Martin Waddell set on the Book People website where you can buy 10 of his books for £10 including the Pig in the Pond and other Waddell favourites like Owl Babies, Can't You Sleep Little Bear and Farmer Duck. A collection I would recommend all families own. If they are currently unavailable be patient they generally come round every few months.
A highly recommended book, hilarious and great to share with young children.
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