Bigger and Bigger

Bigger and Bigger
Animals, Wheels & Dinosaurs

Written by Moira Butterfield
Illustrated by Bella Bee

Published by Milly & Flynn

Milly & Flynn have just released this lovely hardback series called Bigger and Bigger. The series currently includes Animals, Wheels and Dinosaurs which all feature pages that increase in size with each turn of page. With clear, recognisable animals, dinosaurs and vehicles, children will love pointing out the different things.

Animals starts off with a little mouse warning a bird not to chase him as just around the corner is his bigger friend. With each page, each animal meets a bigger animal and warns them that their friend is much bigger. But when they meet Elephant, he's scared of Mouse but Mouse just wants them all to be friends.

Dinosaurs features Dinky Dino who just wants to reach some tasty leaves to eat but he's too small. He meets lots of bigger dinosaurs all eating different coloured leaves but he just can't reach until he meets the biggest Dinosaur, his Daddy, who pulls down some yummy leaves for him and tells Dinky Dino that one day he will be as big as him.

Wheels features Billy on his bike who is overtaken by a motorcycle, a sports car, a van and a tractor but when they all become stuck behind a broken down truck, there's only enough room for Billy and his bike to get pass. Sometimes its good to be the smallest.

Aoife enjoyed sitting down and exploring these books and found them easy to turn with the different sized pages. I read them out loud but would also point out the different vehicles and animals and used the Dinosaur book to explore colours with her.

I really like the colour gradient on the outside and the different animals, dinosaurs and vehicles peeking out. Each one features a fun rhythmic story with happy endings and a sweet message. 

With bright colours and cute characters, the Bigger and Bigger series is ideal for ages between 1- 4 years. For more information visit Milly & Flynn.

DANNY

DANNY

By Yann & Gwendal Le Bec
Published by Flying Eye Books

For me, Flying Eye Books produce some of the finest and most adventurous picture books that are filling up bookshelves across the country. DANNY is yet another one of these masterpieces. Written & illustrated by Yann & Gwendal Le Bec, two brothers from Brittany France, DANNY is their first collaborative children’s book. Danny is a potbellied hippopotamus, who gets concerned he has a lisp and hurries to find a dentist to correct the problem. The dentist happily fixes his gappy teeth, and so Danny returns to the swamp to show off his new braces. Only for a crocodile to get brace envy and want braces for his own pearly whites.

Yann’s illustrations are the perfect partnership to the delicious text. Yann’s delicate line illustrations are accompanied by a wash of muted watercolour (the watercolour texture throughout the book is gorgeous), which stir up fond memories of Babar the Elephant and beautiful French design. The simple illustrated people in the city are the ideal contrast to make the visiting animals stand out - the perfect visual treat.

There are plenty of amusing characters to meet, such as teeth cleaning fish, lisping snakes and a very mischievous crocodile. I love how the animals and people co-exist, with the people not taking a blind bit of notice of a hippopotamus from the swamps popping into the city to visit the dentist (and without an appointment!). The characters are instantly loveable and I’d definitely welcome more stories around Danny the hippopotamus and his friends from the swamp. 

I adore everything about this picture book. It has warmth and charm, with a pinch of dark humour that adults and children will relish. I won’t ruin the ending for you, but I will say that there is a reason why hippos and crocodiles don’t need to wear braces!

DANNY will be out in book shops from 20th September and is available to pre-order now, visit Flying Eye Books for more info.

My Favourite Fairytales

My Favourite Fairytales

by Nina Filipek and illustrated by Bruno Merz
 Published by Milly & Flynn

 

Aoife and I were extremely lucky to receive the series of book, My Favourite Fairytales, from new childrens publishers Milly & Flynn.

 

The fairytale series includes; The Gingerbread Man, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Cinderella, Puss in Boots, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Rapunzel, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Hansel and Gretel.

 

 

All are retold by Nina Filipek and illustrated by Bruno Merz. The books are recommended for children over three years due to the suggested activities and stickers that can be found at the back of each book. Please note that the books will be available from early July and will each be sold with 2 sticker sheets for a limited period of time.

These classic stories have traditional illustrated illustrations in watercolour and pencil, which makes a lovely continuity throughout the series.

 

 

For each book the story flows well and at the end includes activities to encourage the child to think about what has happened and to flick back into the book to help answer the questions. From a layout point of view, the use of type and for some books, the different fonts, all enhance the telling of the stories bringing these classics up to date.

With the lovely surprise of stickers at the end of each book, if you don’t want your little one sticking them to walls or furniture, they would be great to use for creative activities - such as encouraging your child to create artwork about the story using the stickers or making up their own stories about the characters.

…And even though Aoife is too young for these books, after reading this article on the Guardian; about US paediatricians now urging parents to read to children from their earliest days, it never really is too early to start reading to your little ones!

No bookshelf should be out these classic tales as they are stories that shape all of our childhoods and are true treasures to for future generations to enjoy.

For more information on the books visit the Milly & Flynn site.