This book should tickle your little ones fancy (Tickle, Tickle - Helen Oxenbury)

Member Name: karalouk

Product:	Tickle, Tickle - Helen Oxenbury
Date:	20/08/09 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice rhyming words, sweet pictures, babies of different colours and sexes

Disadvantages: Not many pages, a bit dated

'Tickle, Tickle' is a book I'm sure many of you will be aware of. We were given the book as a freebie in our daughters Book Start pack at her 9 month check up with the health visitor, along with a book called 'This Little Baby'.

For those who aren't familiar with Book Start - it is a scheme which aims to get children into books and reading at a young age. And a great idea it is too as books encourage many valuble learning skills. To top it off, the whole thing is free so nobody has an excuse!

There are 3 other books in the series which are called 'All Fall Down', 'Say Goodnight' and 'Clap Hands'.

The book was first published in 1987 which means the illustrations are nice but quite dated. This isn't really a problem for us and I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for most people, but it may be for some.

'Tickle, Tickle' is a board book which means it's quite thick and should be quite durable, however it is made of a very 'chewable' material and might not last very long if a baby gets it in their mouth! The book itself is quite large which means it has big pictures, big words and the pages are easy for little fingers to turn.

The book isn't very long and only consists of 8 pages. It is written by Helen Oxenbury. The front cover is blue and has a picture of a baby tickling another baby.

Each page has a picture spread across it of babies in different scenarios with words above it. The first page starts with 3 babies splashing around in the mud (when we read this page my daughter says "urrgghh messy" every time!), on the next page the 3 babies are in the bath (my daughter like to point out what activities each baby is doing - eg. "sponge, soap, boat, washing"), on the next page there are 4 babies brushing their hair and on the last page are 2 babies tickling another baby as he lays down and smiles.

Something which I really like about the book is that the babies are all different colours and sexes. There is also an adult on each page which can help young children learn the difference between mummy and daddy. The words also rhyme which sounds fun. It might even encourage some kids to brush their hair and wash their hair without a fuss?

My daughter really enjoyed this book when she was very young and now she is 2 years old she still enjoys reading it with me. I would recommend 'Tickle, Tickle' for children between 1 and 3.

'Tickle, Tickle' is a nice book but isn't a 'must have' so I would personally see if a friend has an old copy, borrow it from the library or find it at a cheap price rather than buy it for full price. I must say that as a freebie it is very good!

Summary: Another good freebie from Book Start.