The tale of a jealous little brother (Too Small For Honey Cake - Gill Lobel)

Member Name: Claribella

Product:	Too Small For Honey Cake - Gill Lobel
Date:	17/07/09 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great if you are experiencing sibling rivalry

Disadvantages: none

This book is written by Gill Lobel and tells the story of Little Fox who has a new baby brother. Little Fox is rather jealous of the fact that Baby Fox sleeps in his old crib and takes up a lot of Mummy Fox's time. After stamping in a muddy puddle and getting rather cross, he finds refuge in the dark cupboard under the stairs and convinces himself that his mummy doesn't love him and his little brother is a 'stinky pooh'. After a while he feels rather lonely and is finally drawn out of the cupboard by a mixture of a lovely smell and the kind words of his mummy.

The text in this story is rather simple and there is a paragraph or less on each page which makes the whole story last around five minutes in all.

The illustrations in this book are lovely and although there are a lot of bright oranges due to the main characters being foxes, it works really well and doesn't feel like each page is the same old thing. The characters have a real softness to their faces which makes them look rather cuddly and friendly.

I didn't have any intentions when I picked this book up, in fact I didn't even flick through it like I usually do, I was just drawn in by the front page because it looked rather homely and warm. When I first started to read the story, it was clear that it was all about sibling rivalry which is becoming a little more apparent between my two boys now that Elijah is moving around and pinching Noah's toys. This story was great for touching on that subject in a child-friendly way and Noah and I were able to discuss the fact that I need to share my time between both of them but that doesn't mean that I love them any less or more.

Noah enjoyed this story and had a lot it brought about a lot of conversation between the two of us which is always a good thing. He has picked it up a few times and read it on his own too remembering how the story goes.

This would be a great story for anyone who has another child on the way or who is having problems with jealousy between their children because of a new addition to the family. It is also a good read even if there aren't any jealousy issues going on!

Summary: A lovely little story