Nosey by name and nature (Mr Nosey and the Big Surprise - Roger Hargreaves)

Member Name: MI9to5

Product:	Mr Nosey and the Big Surprise - Roger Hargreaves
Date:	01/04/09 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delightful read

Disadvantages: None

The Mr Men and Little Miss classic library's have been popular for many years and introduced us to some of the characters that we have come to love so dearly. As a young child the Mr Men and Little Miss stories played a big part in my reading and to be completely honest you wouldn't be wrong if you had said I was obsessed with anything remotely Mr Men like. I had everything from the bedding and curtains to the wall clock and figurines, as well as the usual soft toys and of course the books. As you can imagine therefore when in 1998 Roger Hargreaves' son Adam Hargreaves released a new story library that told new stories about existing characters I was more than eager to collect the books.

When the books where first released the Mr Men ones had a blue spine with a blue stripe going down the right hand side of the back of the book and down the left hand side of the books front. The Little Miss Stories then had the same but in pink making it easy to distinguish between the two. It is these libraries of the books that I have but when I have seen them being sold recently I have seen that both Mr Men and Little Miss ones have a blue stripe - don't ask me why.

Both the new Mr Men library collection and the new Little Miss collection have twelve books. The book I am going to review today is number 9 in the Mr Men collection and is called 'Mr. Nosey and the big surprise. The front cover of the book has a picture of Mr Nosey peering out from behind a lovely wooden yellow door. Above this picture is the books title as well as the logo for the new story library. The book cover also displays Roger Hargreaves' name in a small blue box although it is his son Adam who has written the story. This fact is acknowledged inside the books cover.

If you turn the book over you will find smaller pictures of all the other books in both the Mr Men new library and the Little Miss new library. This is a great feature as it makes it really easy to keep track of which stories you have left to buy and read. As well as this the back cover also shows you what all of the books look like when they are put together (a picture appears amongst the spines).

Enough about what it looks like its time now to move on to the actual story contained within. The book tells the tale of Mr Nosey's walk through the wood on the other side of Tiddletown. It is whilst waking that he hears a door shut and being Mr Nosey can't help but have a peer through the door when he finds it.

On the other side of the wooden door was a lovely little house with a yellow door and inside this door was a lift. But where would the lift lead and what would Mr Nosey find when he got there?

In my opinion this story really is another charming one, as all the characters involved are very colourful and memorable, which is something that is particularly important with children's books. As well as this the story also has a moral side to it and this makes it a little more three-dimensional than it would otherwise be and possible also opens the story up for further discussion.

To add to the colourful feeling that the characters bring is the fact that the book is printed in the familiar format of text on the left hand side of the book and pictures on the right hand side. These pictures are very bright and cold and therefore quickly engage the attention of children. The font size is also quite decent and therefore suitable for children learning to read as well as parents and grandparents with visual problems.

All in all I cannot find a single fault with this delightful little story, as if you and your child enjoy simple books that are pleasant to read then this is certainly one that will not disappoint.

Mr Nosey and the big surprise is readily available for most book shops and online retailers and has an RRP of £2.99 although it can often be found far cheaper.

Summary: A great read for children