My first book of the FARM / My first book of OPPOSITES

My first book of the FARM /
My first book of OPPOSITES

By Alain Grée

Published by Button Books

I must admit I've been keeping me eye on the Alain Grée series as I'm a big fan of his retro style illustrations. There's 9 books in the My First Book series as well as flash cards, hard backs and activity books featuring his distinctive style, all published by Button Books. 

My First Book of the Farm is a board book covering a good selection of animals and what you may find on a farm. Animals, such as cows, pigs, sheep and goats as well as farmers. It gives a few selection of birds and jobs the farmer may undertake, like looking after the animals and growing food. Farm vehicles are also mentioned. It's a lovely introduction for very young children. 

Aoife is now at the age where she is taking a huge interest in animals and enjoys visiting the farm which makes this a great book to use to help identify animals and learning the words for the food and vehicles that she may have seen. She already likes looking through the book by herself and making the sounds of the animals.

My First Book of Opposites is filled with a good collection of opposites; big, small, light, heavy, hot, cold, empty and full among a few more. The illustrations are clear and easily convey the words well. Alain Grée's illustrations are simple but engaging.

I've only seen two books from this series but I'm definitely considering a few others for Aoife. Other subjects include Animals, Colours, Letters, Nature, Numbers, Sounds and Vehicles. These books are sturdy little board books, suitable for babies and young children. You can find more information on this series here.

Chicken Dance

Chicken Dance

Written by Tammi Sauer
Illustrated by Dan Santat

Published by Sterling Children's Books

There's a barnyard talent show and Marge and Lola are on a mission to win the grand prize.. tickets to see an Elvis Poultry concert - with references to nursery rhymes and of course Elvis, a fun book that will have you cheering on the chickens!

Marge and Lola are desperate to win those tickets but there's tough competition especially from the ducks, who win every year and like to remind the two chickens. But what can they do? They try their wings at bowling, juggling and even tightrope walking but fail terribly. They even attempt to fly but end up falling which the ducks can't help but mock. Even swimming is attempted but they totally sink. With the show about to start, they decide to wing it.. After the goats and pigs have performed and the cows have jumped over the moon, it's the ducks turn where they score a 9. Marge and Lola take to the stage and after one too many mean comments from the ducks, it puts them in a foul mood and they bawked, flapped and shook... leaving the crowd chanting for more. Though they're not able to beat the ducks score, someone has been watching from the shadows, it's Elvis Poultry and he thinks they rock and wants to add their act to the show. This doesn't go down well with the ducks and before feathers can fly.. well lets just say the cows came home!

There's lots of fun animal puns and silly humour, and I liked the illustrated dance references to well known dance scenes in films. It's fun and there's lots of references for adults to enjoy as well. Children and adults will find themselves rooting for the chickens, especially after they try so hard to find a talent but really they just needed to be themselves. 

I like the stylish illustrations by Dan Santat which works well with the story. As you can see in the photos above, Aoife interrupted my photo taking to point out the chickens - she's a little too young for this book yet as I would recommend ages 3/4+. Chicken Dance was first published in 2009 but this updated paperback edition was released last year and is available online.

A day on the Farm

I was very lucky to receive the following book from Top That Publishing, and what a lovely surprise.

A day on the Farm

Illustrated by Steph Hinton and written by Sally Hopgood

 

 

This lovely illustrated item is a ‘pull-the-tab book’ and my initial thoughts, after quickly flicking through, was that the character design by Steph Hinton was great, it worked well with the colours and patterns, and an overall attractive book.

A sturdy hard back book that will help introduce the names of farm animals and their young; where they live and what sounds they may make, and what you could expect to find on a farm yard.

Writing flows well but even if you had already read this book to your child, you could explore this book in other ways, i.e asking what sounds do the different animals make, where do the animals sleep? Ask them to spot the other animals that can be found on the pages, such as a cat, frog or bird. Lots of fun can be had with this book and maybe an early way of introducing farm animals before actually visiting a farm..

Though I have yet to test this with a little one, the pull outs feel sturdy and I can imagine exploring this book many times throughout their early years.

A day on the farm is available to buy now from all good bookstores and online from Top That Publishing.