Surprise!!! You Have Company (Usborne Farmyard Tales: Surprise Visitors - Heather Amery)

Member Name: belfin

Product:	Usborne Farmyard Tales: Surprise Visitors - Heather Amery
Date:	31/07/09 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great book for any child who is starting to read.

Disadvantages: None

***Background***

Usborne Publishers are well known for their range of educational books for children and within that range, one of the popular series of books is Farmyard Tales. These books are written by Heather Amery and illustrated by Stephen Cartwright, who is sadly not with us anymore but leaves behind a large collection of books with his signature on each page of a little yellow duck to find.

This set of books is especially aimed at children who are learning to read. There is a shorter and easier line of text at the top of each page, which can be mastered first, and then a more descriptive story at the bottom of each page.

***The Story***

We start off the story down on Apple Tree Farm with Mrs Boot the farmer and her two children called Poppy and Sam. Their dog Rusty is also there.

"'Why are the cows so noisy?' asks Sam."

They run outside to have a look and find that a hot air balloon is about to land in their field. They soon find out that they have run out of gas and they are waiting on their friend to bring some more out to them in a truck.

The children are fascinated to see how the balloon works and they are offered a ride in the balloon with their mother.

They are amazed to see how everything looks down below them and thoroughly enjoy the short trip. Eventually they land again and the truck comes to pick them up and take them home.

The story ends with,

"'Thank you very much.'

They wave as the balloon takes off again.
'We were flying,' says Sam."

***The Illustrations***

Stephen Cartwright was a wonderful illustrator and his pictures will live on through these lovely stories for many years to come. The drawings are realistic and very bright and colourful but the most fun is the fact that there is a little yellow duck on each page that children love to look out for. Sometimes it will be in an easy to see position and other times it is hidden away with only it's beak and head showing.

***My Thoughts***

I love this set of books and remember some from when my girls were little many years ago. My son was a big fan when he was just learning to read by himself, as this series is ideal for him because the line of text at the top of the page gave him confidence and pleasure to read the book.

Bedtime has always been a big time for reading a book with him and he still loves to hear my hubby or I read to him but after starting school, he gradually wanted to try to sound out more and more words himself so this was perfect for him. Now that he is seven he can read it all quite confidently by himself.

The characters are lovely and familiar to him because there are a lot of books in the series and he recognised some of the characters from earlier board books that he has seen. The story is simple and exciting - after all, what child wouldn't want the opportunity to fly in a hot air balloon.

The other thing I like about these books is the opportunity to discuss what is happening in the pictures and this is something that they are specially designed for too. It means that pre-schoolers can give their ideas too and of course they all seem to love looking for the little duck, which helps their observational skills.

I'm sure any parent of a pre-schooler would find this book a helpful buy because it has quite a long shelf life with the various levels of text. It was certainly a popular choice with my son.

***Other Farmyard Tales***

Barn on Fire
Camping Out
Dolly & the Train
Kitten's Day Out
Market Day
Pig Gets Lost
Pig Gets Stuck
Rusty's Train Ride
Scarecrow's Secret
The Grumpy Goat
The Hungry Donkey
The Naughty Sheep
The New Pony
The Old Steam Train
The Runaway Tractor
The Silly Sheepdog
The Snow Storm
Tractor in Trouble
Woolly Stops the Train

***Price & Availability***

This paperback retails for the publishing price of £3.99 but can be found at Tesco for only £3.59.

ISBN No. 0746062109

Summary: Lovely book that is fun as well as educational.