Have you seen my teddy, he has a furry tummy? (That's Not My Teddy - Fiona Watt, Rachel Wells)

Member Name: belglen

Product:	That's Not My Teddy - Fiona Watt, Rachel Wells
Date:	28/12/08 (126 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great idea, engaging, quiet time

Disadvantages: A bit pricey

My baby son is now 14 months old and I was looking for some things for him for Christmas, he has some fabric and bath books but had no real readable books of his own. I was in Early Learning Centre and spied their books were on a 3 for 2 offer so I thought I would have a look, it was then I saw the "That's not my....."series, I had seen reviews of these before so thought I would check them out.

I purchased 3 books in the series, the cover price is £5.99, a bit too expensive but they were on 3 for 2 so I bought 3. I bought "That's not my teddy", "That's not my monkey" and "That's not my monster", I am reviewing the "That's not my teddy" but will make mention of the other 2.

The book is a board book, basically made from hard wearing thick cardboard so able to withstand quite a bit of abuse from small children. The book is one in the series written by Fiona Watt and illustrated by Rachel Wells for Usborne books, more information on Usborne books can be found at www.usborne.com

"That's not my teddy..." is a touchy-feely book meaning that for small children and babies who do not read they can enjoy the textures in the book. This book has a blue cover with the picture of a teddy on the front, the teddy is holding up its paws and the paws are made from a woolly fabric, so the touchy-feely starts from the very cover of the book. The books are aimed at babies and children up to about 3, although my 5 year old did take a strong interest in them.

This book is 10 pages long, the story is very basic, it is the search for the right teddy, a little white mouse appears on each set of 2 pages as if telling the story. There are very few words in the story, the repetition of the words "that's not my teddy" and the description of some part of a teddy with a touchy-feely bit. The first teddy has a patch of material on its nose and this is too soft, the next teddy has textured paws which are too rough, then there is a teddy with a patch on its ear that is too squashy, and then a teddy with ears that are too fuzzy, finally ending with the right teddy with furry tummy. The story is short but sweet and the illustrations are lovely, bold, bright and eye catching. My son who is a young child has no real comprehension of the story but I rub his fingers over the textured parts and he then does this himself when looking at the pictures.

The monkey and monster books are the same theme and style, I like the monster one best and my son does seem to have caught on to the feeling for the textures. I suppose the best part of the stories is spending some quiet time with your child and just enjoying something simple for 5 or 10 minutes. I would recommend these stories to share with small children, the series is quite extensive and there would be something to suit all tastes from teddies, to puppies to monsters and dinosaurs.

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Summary: Alovely series of books to enjoy with small children