Take a little peep at this! (Peepo! - Allan Ahlberg)

Member Name: kingfisher111

Product:	Peepo! - Allan Ahlberg
Date:	05/08/09 (144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: excellent story and illustrations

Disadvantages: none!

Peepo! is a fabulous children's picture book written by Janet and Allan Ahlberg as far back as 1981 although the illustrations depict a much further bygone age. The book really does provide a lovely nostalgic look at days gone by and both of my daughters love reading it and taking in the pictures.

The story follows one day in the life of a small baby. It is actually very clever as it shows the events through the eyes of that child, particularly through the use of 'peepo' holes. At the start of the book, the baby is standing in his cot and the text reads:

Here's a little baby
One, two, three
Stands in his cot
What does he see?

On the opposite page there is a small round hole with the word PEEPO! below. Through the hole we can just see the baby's daddy sleeping. When you turn over the page though, you see the full extent of the bedroom with both Mum and Dad sleeping and the tesx going into the detail of what he sees - dad sleeping in a big brass bed, Mum wearing a hair net, shadows on the wall and his teddy and his ball. This description helps children to pick out these things as well as spotting lots more things too. However, if you look back to the page you have just turned over, in the middle of all the writing, there is still the peepo hole and this time we see the baby standing in his bed.

Each set of pages follow the same format. First we see the baby - maybe in his highchair or pram or sitting on his blanket. He is always in a different location and we get a very similar rhyme each time asking what he sees. There is also the peepo hole giving a bit of a clue as to where they are - this makes a good guessing time the first few times you read - and then you turn over the page to take in the full scene with a lovely written description too. By the end of the story, the little baby boy is back in his bed and is dreaming of all he has seen throughout his busy day!

This is a really well crafted book which both my daughters adore. They love the descriptions and literally pour over all the many things to be found in all the different illustrations. Also, as the book is written in rhyme it has a good rhythm and is also good for developing early phonological awareness skills. The repetition and the rhyme also means that before long young children will be able to start joining in with the reading.

I love the fact that this is an old fashioned book with very old fashioned illustrations. There is a suggestion that it is set in war time because by the sleeping dad there is a soldier's uniform. There are lots of other fascinating details too like mum wearing a hairnet, Dad carrying in the coal for the fire and the baby bathing in a tin bath in front of the fire. It really is a glimpse into a different age. It does make you wonder what this book would be like were it to be modernised but I sort of feel that it would not be so effective somehow.

On Amazon Peepo! Is either available as a board nook for £4.49 or as a paperback for £3.99. We definitely recommend taking a peep at this book!

Summary: A great book for little children