Animal Magic

Animal Magic

By Phil Allcock & Gina Maldonado

Published by Maverick Arts Publishing

Is it a hedgehog, or a toad, a worm or dog? Children are encouraged to guess which animal comes next in this magical nonsense rhyme board book.

"I saw a funny hedgehog who walked across a road. Then right before my very eyes, it turned into a..." What comes next? Animal Magic encourages young children to guess the next word, in this case its guess the next animal. A fun and cute book from author Phil Allcock, with bright and colourful illustrations from Gina Maldonado. This is a lovely little board book which will help children put their rhyming hats on and join in on the magical animal fun. 

Animal Magic is available to buy now from all good bookshops. For more information on the book and author check out the Maverick Publishing website here.

Princess Stay Awake

Princess Stay Awake

Written by Giles Paley-Phillips and Illustrated by Adriana J. Puglisi 
Published by Maverick

 

 

After first reading this book, my first thought was, this is my daughter! We are currently going through a phase of fighting sleep in the day and refusing to go to bed at night, utterly exhausted! I’m sure other parents will be able to relate to this book, or if you’re one of the lucky ones who has a child that sleeps through the night, well, I’m sure you’ve heard of those sleepless children.

 

 

Princess Stay Awake is about Layla, a little princess who refuses to go to bed and doesn’t like sleep at all. Layla likes to skip around her room, play with all her toys and generally avoid shutting her eyes for a kip. The King and Queen try everything; singing lullabies, reading tales and even instructing a wizard to cast a sleeping spell - which backfires and makes him sleep instead! They call in a jester which just makes Layla laugh out loud. They make a knight run Layla around a maze and touch her toes to see if that would tire her out but it has no effect. "Perhaps a softer bed?", the king next suggests, but this just makes Layla imagine her bed is a trampoline and that she’s in the circus. The King and Queen are at their wits end (I know how they feel) when they have one more idea… It’s time to send for Grandma!

 

Grandma arrives in Layla’s room and suggests not sleeping at all and to stay awake. Layla is rather confused and unsure but as she says “I’m Princess Stay Awake!”, her eyes begin to droop, her legs and arms go floppy, and with a yawn, Princess Layla settles down to bed. Hooray!

 

This funny tale where Giles Paley-Phillips uses rhyme, which works and flows well throughout the story. The illustrations are big and bright, and the reader can clearly see what cheeky Layla is up to - avoiding going to bed!

This is the third Maverick book by author Giles Paley-Phillips - and after scary monsters and dark chilling tales, this rather different tale will be loved by your little princesses and Grandmas, because everyone knows Grandmas usually do know best. Princess Stay Awake is available to buy now in all good bookshops. More information on the title can be found on the Maverick website.

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.