The Blue Balloon is a childrens book both written and illustrated by the fantastic Mick Inkpen and was first published in 1989 by Hodder Childrens Books. The book is where young readers are first introduced to the loveabke Kipper.

The story is about a young boy, who has just celebrated his birthday and his dog Kipper. The day after the birthday party, Kipper finds a soggy blue balloon in the garden, which is very strange as all the balloons at the party were red and white! The little boy blows the balloon up and at first he thinks it is just an ordinary balloon - it is shiny and squeaky, you can make rude noises with it too! But, the odd thing about this balloon is that it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger no matter how much it was blown up!! The balloon never ever bursts - the little boy squeezed, squashed, whacked it with a stick, kicked it, ran it over and even stretched it!! Kipper even attacked it but it still wouldn't pop. The little boy thinks it has strange and wonderful powers. One day, the balloon just vanishes and when it reappears it is a square shape. The little boy decides to take the balloon for a walk one afternoon when suddenly it takes him up in the air, higher and higher until they land on the moon! After some fun with a little group of green aliens its time to go back home for tea. So, one day, if you find a soggy old balloon, don't throw it away.......especially if it is a blue one!!

While I think this is quite a sweet story, it isn't one of our favourites to read and it isn't one that my daughter will regularly pull off the shelf to read so maybe we have read it a handful of times. I think this may be because it is a little hard for a two year old to fully understand so I wonder if she will enjoy it more when she is a little older.

One thing that I do really like about the book however, is that a few of the pages fold out - for example when the little boy is blowing up the balloon, the pages fold out to reveal a huge balloon. This is the only part of the book my daughter really enjoys. I think this is a nice introduction to Kipper and a great platform for the books that follow.

Although so far this book isn't a favourite of my daughter's I am sure she will grow to enjoy it more and I would be happy to recommend this book along with any other story by Mick Inkpen. The recommended retail price for this book is £6.99, but I am sure you will find it cheaper online.

Other stories by Mick Inkpen:

One Bear At Bedtime
Threadbear
Billys Beetle
Penguin Small
Lullabyhullabaloo
Nothing
Bear
The Great Pet Sale
The Kipper Books
The Wibbly Pig Books
The Blue Nose Island Books

I give The Blue Balloon four out of five Dooyoo stars, losing one as I do think it is a little difficult for younger children to understand but I do realise that it may be aimed at slightly older children.

Thank you for reading my review :)