Katie and the Mona Lisa, by James Mayhew

Hello, Maggy from Red Ted Art (again)! We have just had a spurt of books to share with you!

Today, I have Katie and the Mona Lisa, by James Mayhew.

Grandma often takes Katie to the gallery. Katie wonders why the Mona Lisa smiles and whilst her Grandma has a little rest, Katie embarks on adventure, steping in and out of paintings. Meeting the Mona Lisa, dragons, lions and angels. We are introduces to 5 of the most famous Renaissance paintings by painters such as Da Vinci, Raphael and Botticelli amongst others. It is a lovely wat t "view" paintings, providing a little background about the paintings and introducing key artist to both the parent and the child. I love how it encourages you to step inside the painting and imagine what could have been happening. In the end Katie finds out what makes the Mona Lisa smile! Fabulous. Iam sure that the art element went way above my 2.5yrs old 's head, however he relaly enjoyed looking at the paintings and discovering details whilst enjoying the excitement of an adventure (lots of tumbling and flying and running away). A success!

I am also inspired to find more book in the series, as well as check out other books introducing art to toddlers and young children.

We love the book so much, that my son made a Handprint Lion AND drew his own Mona Lisa! Come visit us at Red Ted Art and see more!

Stick Man by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

In case you didn't already know, I am Maggy and I have a book and craft blog called Red Ted Art, were we ADORE books and have a totally overflowing library of fabulous kids literature. Each week I bring you a new book or two an some related Kids Crafts.

Here we have Julia Donaldson's Stick Man - a British classic (and here, we made our very own Stick Men, come take a look).

We love Stick Man as it is a little bit different, my son (2.5yrs) has only really just got into it and likes commiserating at the appropriate spots and shot "Oh no" when necessary. The story is about Stick Man, who of course, is NOT a stick (I'm Stick Man, I'm Stick Man, I'm Stick Man, that's me..). But Stick Man gets into lots of trouble as person after animal after person mistakes him for a stick: using him to build a nest, as a bat, for pooh sticks etc. I loos as if Stick Man is about to meet a bitter end, when at the very last minute.. well, you will have to rad the story for yourself, but I will give uou a hin: a big man in a big red suit and a white beard appears and sees Stick Man for who he really is!

We also like it, as the story is a little but longer, so a better "bedtime" read, it displays "innovative" uses for a stick (and not Stick Man!) and it is all done in the wonderful Julia Donaldson rhume. Great!

Mr Smith Invents a Robot, by by Shibani Mohindra

Over at Red Ted Art, I have some lovely book reviews for Kids by Kids! Here is a GREAT one by the lovely 8yrs old Ella! Hope you enjoy it too!

"I think this book is really smelly.. it is the coolest book I have ever smelt! I really enjoyed reading about Mr Smiith and his cat Scratch and the mechanical dog Sniff. The best bits of the book were when you could scratch an sniff Mr Smith's T-shirt which smelled of banans and Scratch the cat who smelled of lavemnder... The worst bit of the book was smelling the old smelly shoe.. I made my dad smell the smelly shoe... it was very funny but he did not like it!

I love the smelly stickers in the middle of the boo, I am going to share them with my friends at school. I like the story and am looking forward to finding out what Mr Smithy does next in the Seach for the Stinky Poind!

I think this book is great for kids aged 4 and over - even my big sister who is 12 thinks it is fun."

Well, there you have it! Definitely a book to look out for!

Do stop by at Red Ted Art and see what other lovely books and related crafts are available!

Elffolk & The Crystal Caves Of Atlantis, Tina McFadden

I have had this book for a couple of weeks but have been unable to review it as my husband pinched it to read!

Ideal in my opinion for confident readers aged 9/10yrs+ this is a fantastic tale of two young elves, Enna & Nissa, embroiled in an adventure like no other.
Based long ago on the island of Atlantis, these two young characters will capture the imagination of  anyone reading! I in fact had trouble putting it down. The style of writing flows so easily but the book is definitely detailed enough to keep you entertained and engaged, and very much wanting for more!
I could say so much about the plot but I won't as it really is a journey that needs to be embarked on by the reader but the blurb reads:

"Thousands of years ago, on the island of Atlantis, there were signs of a coming disaster. The very first omens were the earthquakes.... When an earthquake strikes the village of Elffolk, an elderly elf becomes trapped in the crystal caves. Two young elves, Enna and Nissa, must save her. But their rescue mission won't be easy. A dark magic lurks within the caves, stirring up danger at every turn and leaving nothing as it seems." 

You can visit the author's page for more information and to order from Amazon.com.


I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to family or friends for it's great plot, positive messages and enjoyability!

Titch & Mitch, Books 4 & 5 in a fantastic series.

I was very excited to receive the two latest Titch & Mitch books by Garth Edwards to read and review. I have always been something of a sci-fi and fantasty buff and these are right up my street.

The Adventures of Titch and Mitch - Book Four

The Magic Boots.

"My Dear Boots", said the Mayor,

"Allow me to introduce you to two very nice pixies. Please choose either Titch or Mitch!".

A lonely pair of magic boot are locked up in a tower and in need of a good home. Titch and Mitch would dearly love to have them, but the boots have other ideas...!

Escaped lions, mercy missions, a turkey with special powers, Christmas chaos and some very strange cheese! The two adventurous pixies take it all in their stride.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Titch and Mitch.

 

The Adventures of Titch and Mitch - Book Five

The Blue Wizard

"I see  person coming this way... she's wearing a long black cape... and  pointed hat. She's looking for two pixies, a turkey and a dog...".

The Blue Wizard has lost his Singing Kettle! A Singing Kettle can tell the future, and Wiffen has found it. But the future is not looking good for Titch and Mitch and their friends.

Who was searching for them....?

Could it be the Black Witch, up to her evil tricks again?

This time she kidnapped Lucinda, a pixie princess.

Can Titch and Mitch stop her in her tracks?

 Dripping wet and covered intoads, rescuing princesses is a doddle!

At 137 pages and 128 pages long respectfully and filled with delightful pencil-type drawings done by talented illustrator Max Stasyuk, these books are easy to read, quick paced, exciting and keeps you going until the last page. Ok I am not in the target age range for this book (I missed out by a few years ahem), but if I find these this engaging and enteratining I can be pretty confident that younger children will too!

Filled with magic, mayhem and adventure the loveable characters Titch and Mitch get up to all sorts and learn many lessons along the way. Fantastic stories that capture the imagination of the reader and leaves you wanting more!

Rating 5/5 I would definitely purchase these book, infact the series, for Kieran when he is older and imagine my two nephews aged 9 and 10, both confident readers would love them! A book for boys, girls and all magic lovers!

A Little Book of Alliterations, Felix Arthur and Jenny Capton

Published by: Inside Pocket

I thought this book was a great find for me as Kieran is in Reception class and currently starting his journey into being a reader (much too soon inmy opinion, he should stop immediately and go back to only playing with trains and playdough so I don't have to recognise the fact that he has grown up!). Each page has a delightful illustration accompanied with a short piece focussed on using alliteration, ie A- Awful Auntie Agatha ate all of Arthur's available apples. To me this is a great way to familiarise a child with the different letter sounds and can be used to explore further words.
However, I think after exploring this book more closely that it is a little old language wise for Kieran ie 4yrs old with a good varied vocabulary, as there is a good amount of words such as quivering, utterances, zestfully etc, which aren't exactly in the Oxford Reading Tree's key words for this stage. Is is however good for children who are perhaps a little older, with a more varied vocabulary and who are at the stage where they are working on creative writing.


I do have to say though that this book is entirely unsuitable for adults with low maturity, ie me at the moment, largely due to passages such as:

R - Rugged Roger rode roughly round Red Ruby's ring

and

W - Weird Willie would willingly wear whatever Wilma wished (alongside what appears to be an illustration of a warthog in drag lol).

That said, the majority of readers won't be as silly minded as myself, so as a great way to show colourful examples for alliteration to older children, using A-Z and also sounds such as SH and CH, this book does fit the bill.

Ten Minute Tales! (Edgmont)

We were sent a delightful set of 3 books, Waybuloo, Guess With Jess and Ben 10. The Books are for reading aloud, reading alone and reading along! Symbols through the book show you and your child which bits to read along with. Kieran is only 3yr (nearly 4!) so the reading along part wasn’t applicable to him but will be when he does start reading. The section for the child to read has two lines only, much less than the grown up storyteller which I believe is just enough whilst not being overwhelming. Kieran has thoroughly enjoyed (repeatedly!) these stories and loves to explore the pictures and explain to me what is happening and which character is which!

The illustrations are fantastic and I was also very impressed with the speech for each character being written in bold. Great for newer readers but also very useful for Mums, Dads and carers to ready themselves for character voices!

These ten minute tale books are just the right length for a story at anytime of the day and there is a whole range to collect so there really is something for everyone. I would buy these again for Kieran for everyday use but I also think they make a fantastic gift. Each book is pricemarked at £3.99 which I believe is a complete bargain!

Allergies - A Parent's Guide

I must confess, I've always been a bit of a sceptic when it comes to allergies. It seems to me that more and more of us are becoming 'allergic' to all sorts of things - pollen, nuts, wheat, diary, or in my case, housework. What can I say? It brings me out in a cold sweat.

Still, with an alledged four in ten UK school children now having an allergic condition, I suppose the time has come to get clued up.

The Bumblejums

As climate change moves further up the agenda, I predict a growing number of books aimed at young children with a focus on the environment. They are the next generation after all - they will be clearing up our mess and will need all the help they can get.

With this in mind, The Bumblejums are four characters with magical links to the elements. Aimed at pre-schoolers, the Bumblejums book and song CD is designed to engage young children with the natural world, encouraging them to respect nature while still having fun.

Katie the Kitten - Axel Scheffler

Another lovely bath book with a familiar feel to it. ‘Katie the Kitten’ is illustrated by Axel Scheffler of ‘The Gruffalo’ fame. As you would expect the illustrations are just beautiful with characters that jump off the page to you and plenty of detail. I expected it to be a hit as we have a black cat of our own who the munchkin is fascinated with, and Katie’s big eyes do grab her attention.

Love2Read - Personalised Photobooks

I jumped at the idea of reviewing a "personalised" book, we read lots in our house and I thought a personalised book would give Red Ted an extra tickle. So, I was very pleased when I got the green light for the review. I was even more pleased, when I saw WHAT I was reviewing - not "just" a book with "the child's name", but a photo book!!! Combining my two favourite things!

Love the idea. So simple. So sweet. It is basically a photo book that you can VERY easily upload your photos to and add a little text along a theme. There are a range of themes to choose from (e.g. My Friends, My Birthday etc), as well as colour settings. I chose a "This is" book, so that I could "make it" for both my children.

Handy tips: have 9 photos ready in a folder, get them in the right order, don't repeat the "lead words" (in my case "this is").

Orange Pear Apple Bear, by Emily Gravett

We'd never heard of Emily Gravett before, but having recieved this and another of her books to review, we're now big fans!

Orange Pear Apple Bear, is the perfect mix of board book - chunky enough to be more or less indestructable (and dribble proof!, but light enough for little fingers to manage. (The Little Dude is really getting the hang of books now, and insists on turning the pages himself!)

Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett

Having already received (and loved) another of Emily's books: Orange Pear Apple Bear, we were absolutely delighted to receive 'Monkey and Me' - especially as The Little Dude has a bit of a 'thing' about monkeys anyway. (I blame his daddy!)

We certainly weren't dissapointed - it seems that not only is Emily Gravett a super talented artist, but she's also a bit of a genius when it comes to keeping small children amused and entertained!

Autism - A Parent's Guide

With World Autism Awareness Day coming up on Friday this week, what better time to review one of Need2Know's latest publications, 'Autism - A Parent's Guide'.

Autism has long been a misunderstood condition, with 40% of sufferers waiting more than three years for a clear diagnosis. This book provides a very useful overview for parents or carers in the process of getting a diagnosis or caring for a child or young person with autism.

Peekaboo Farm by Emily Bolam

Peekaboo!

Who are you?

We received the Peekaboo Farm book to review, a board book with flaps and animals for baby to discover. We had such fun with this book!

Your First Pregnancy by Jo Johnson

When you find out you are pregnant for the first time you are inevitably full of questions about how you and your baby are going to change and grow over the next nine months.

When will you get to see your baby with a scan? How will you deal with morning sickness? Are there foods you should and shouldn't eat? And what about stretchmarks??

Dogs By Emily Gravett

We were thrilled when this book arrived for us to review. We especially love Emily Gravett books as the illustrations are excellent along with a nice story.

My 3 year old daughter loves reading books & she also loves Dogs or 'Doggies' as she likes to call them! She was eager to read the book & whilst she waited for me she browsed through the picture, laughing at the funny illustrations! I knew from this she was going to enjoy this book.

We started to read the book what a fantastic story, a real celebration of all different kind of dogs. Big Dogs, Small Dogs, Spotty Dogs, Good Dogs, Bad Dogs etc with a little twist at the end, which had my daughter screaming with laughter.

Poppy Cat Loves Parties

Due to be published on 7th May 2010, I felt very lucky to have this book to review on my daughter's birthday almost 2 months earlier, 10th March. I thought the party theme fitted well with the occasion!

"Alma's brought a present with a twirly whirly bow!"

So, what did we think of the latest installment featuring Poppy Cat?

Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett

Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett

We are rather partial to Emily Gravett books in our household - mainly because she draws beautiful illustrations that are a pleasure to look at. So when we received Blue Chameleon to review, I knew I was onto a winner. The loveliest thing about Blue Chameleon are indeed the drawings - which most definitely delight. There is however also a short story - the chameleon changes colour (and sort of its shape) in order to find a friend. Having not succeeded in impressing the banana or the stripey sock, he gives up. Along comes another chameleon to the rescue - showing its true colours and a happy end!

Best bits - as mentioned, the drawings are lovely and my 2 yrs loved to copy the jumping grass hopper or the bubbling fish. The storyline is sweet and simple and you get to a chance to explore colours and "spots & stripes".

Little Green Helpers: Recycle!

By Christiane Engel
Macmillan Children's Books

The moment I opened the pack and got the book out if it, my first though was “recycled paper” – nice to touch, somehow rough and natural. And there it is – my attention was rived on the headline – “Recycle!” – How genius, I thought! My 2-year old daughter grabbed the book from my hands, intrigued by the brilliant illustrations and the five push-up tabs inside. She sat next to me, waiting impatiently to read the story together. There are two little kids in the book, taking us through the “secrets of recycling” and eco-friendly life in