Ten Little Dinosaurs has been such a sensational hit in our house that it’s been out for almost two months now, and this is the first chance I’ve had to write about it!

The story starts with ten baby dinosaurs hatching, seeing their mum is asleep, and deciding to go off exploring.

The line “Ten little dinosaurs all say… ROARRRRR!” is a great hit, and really helps everyone get into this exciting adventure.

The plot is about these baby dinosaurs being ‘removed’ from the story in one way or another, as we count down to one (SPOILER: they come back at the end).

The first one gets stomped on by a Diplodocus, but before you worry that this may be too scary for little people (although,to be honest, in my experience they seem to be more blood thirsty than many adults), each way of removing a character is innocent, or fun for the dino.

The Diplodocus stomp gets covered in mud and carried off:

Another “scary” event is when a T-Rex chases one baby dino off…and you can see by the look on the baby dino’s face that this is a hilarious game:

Of great amusement to my little girl is finding different aspects on each page. A dino hidden, a bat in a cave, a crab on a tree…or what is that yellow blob mum?

This had me completely flummoxed for the longest time…then I worked out that it’s the plesiosaur from the next page!

This sudden revelation made me view the book in a whole new light – each image reflects what is about to come. It’s very cleverly done.

The only thing that I dislike about this story is how the countdown is laid out each page. You have the “adventure”, then “now there are…” then you turn the page and get to see the number left. For me this means less time talking about what’s happening on the page. Which works well if I just want to race through a bedtime story, but this is such a great book to talk about, with so many simple (but fun) things going on. Thankfully, I’m an adult with basic maths skills, so can work out how many are left without needing to turn the page.

The only time that there’s any sadness is when there is just one dinosaur, sitting on a rock crying.

“One little dinosaur. Has he met his doom?
What’s that scary creature
stomping through the gloom?”

(SPOILER: it’s mum and all the others)

From the shiny cover, to the interactive text, from the delightful illustrations to the fun rhyme, Ten Little Dinosaurs by Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty is simply wonderful. Put it on your Christmas wish list.

Imagine by Alison Lester is one of our favourite stories, and it allows so much variation in the way it can be read that it lends itself to being picked up at any excuse.

The story follows two children (boy & girl) as they play different adventuring scenarios, with a call for the reader to join in on their imaginary play.

Each scenario is two double pages, the first sets the scene…

With simple text, where you can really feel yourself falling into your imagination…

Imagine
if we were
away on safari
where crocodiles lurk
and antelope feed
where leopards attack
and zebras stampede

While on the opposite page the children are acting out their imaginative story…

THEN… you turn the page to this amazing double spread of exciting adventure. The illustrations are beautiful, and detailed. Around the edge, forming a border, are names of all the things you can find in the picture.

This lends itself to being a quick bedtime read, where you read the story, turn the page, point out one creature and turn the page…or you can take your time and really explore each world, discussing your young readers imagination, and what things they would like to see.

At the back of the book is a great series of “key” pictures, that list all the creatures, and their positions on the page, which has been invaluable for the dinosaur page. We might be a little obsessed with the dinosaur page.

Which brings me to my warning, and raises a strange issue…the realism in the dinosaur adventure. I do admit, *I* am not used to seeing dinosaurs trying to eat each other. Yet, Miss 2.5 seems quite accepting of this, with no concern. She plays games where she tries to gobble you up (as learnt in Little Red Riding Hood), and now where she eats you up, because she’s a scary dinosaur. However, I would recommend approaching this openly, and it may depend on your child’s exposure to violence or pain (mine is pretty innocent of such things).

Yet, we go from dinosaurs eating/kissing each other, to Australia…the land that has the MOST things that will try and kill you, but according to this, is a pretty cool petting zoo. Not a single snake or spider to be seen (although there is a Tasmanian Devil). This amuses me endlessly.

The wonderful places you get to visit are:

• A Jungle
• An Ocean (and I struggle to say anemones every, single, time)
• The Arctic icecap
• The country
• A Prehistoric land
• An African Safari
• Australia
• Home

I can’t recommend this book highly enough, it’s such a wonderful story, and creates so many fantastic talking points. You can spend so long discussing different aspects, from counting chickens, to spot the spider, every time we read Imagine we find something new to talk about.

Something for everyone.

Mad About Megabeasts by Giles Andreae and David Wojitowycz

Mad About Megabeasts is the second book in this wonderful series that I have been lucky enough to read with Miss 2. And re-read. And re-read. And just one more time. Pleeeeeease.

The language is in a fun rhyme that is a delight to read aloud, and bright cheerful images turn the most ferocious of animals into a warm fuzzy hug. Perhaps this is not the best book if you are trying to teach your child the dangers of the Siberian Tiger, but as an enjoyable story to share it’s a winner.

This is a feel good look at some of the biggest animals that have ever roamed the earth, with quite a few surprises.

Some of us like grass and leaves

And other tasty plants.

Some eat up whole animals

Without a second glance!

The first thing that really surprised me is that they’ve opened with “Woolly Mammoth” as their first megabeast. Don’t get me wrong, mammoths are cool, and it’s true that they were huge, I just found it unexpected. If I’m to be brutally honest, I was a little disappointed. The mammoth isn’t really hairy enough to be easily differentiated from an elephant, so I’ve given up trying to correct. Our first beast is a big, big, elephant.

Written loosely in an encyclopaedic style, each megabeast gets its own two page spread and the authors cover quite a variety of megabeasts. Yet in only four lines for each megabeast don’t expect a dissertation.

• Woolly Mammoth
• Emperor Penguin
• Elephant Seal
• Giant Squid
• Giant Manta Ray
• Blue Whale
• Argentinosaurus
  (Ar-jen-TEEN-oh-sor-us)
• Python
• St Bernard
• Buffalo
• Siberian Tiger
• Brown Bear

It is a toss-up as to which is the absolutely cutest most adorable megabeast between the Giant Manta Ray and the Giant Squid. Although the Brown Bear does look remarkably like a teddy. While the images are delightfully sweet, and the rhyming fun, the actual text is occasionally amusingly grim (if full of excellent advice)

I’m the Siberian tiger

The largest big cat in the land,

So don’t try to stroke me

Or tickle or poke me

Because I’ll just bite off your hand!

I was going to complain about the Argentinosaurus being pink, until I thought I’d best actually check. Sure enough, they were, apparently, a pinkish brown colour. So don’t let it be said that you can’t learn a thing or two from picture books, no matter how old you are (there’s also a very handy pronunciation guide for the Argentinosaurus).

Definitely a great picture book for early readers or as a read aloud story time book.

Giles Andreae is the author of Giraffe’s Can’t Dance, another favourite in this house, and with David Wojtowycz has a whole series of fantastic picture books that are sure to delight.

Mad About Minibeasts by Giles Anreae and David Wojitowycz

Mad About Minibeasts is a beautifully illustrated introduction to the wonderful world of things that creep, wriggle, fly and skitter, with a fun rhyming text that rolls off the tongue.

It starts with a great verse welcoming the reader to explore, and be excited by, the world of creepy-crawlies. By introducing these as “Minibeasts” any negativity that may already be associated with “bugs”, “insects” or “creepy-crawlies” is removed (and anyone who wants to point out that spiders are not technically insects can breathe a happy sigh of relief). I also have to say YAY for ladybirds rather than ladybugs.

If you step a little closer

Maybe you can see

A ladybird, a dragonfly

A beetle or a bee.

The illustrations are bold and bright, with lots of things to be found on closer inspection. From striped snails to hiding ants, there’s plenty that allow for in-depth discussions about things that are going on. And we’re only at the first page!

The majority of Mad About Minibeasts is formatted like an encyclopaedia, with each page dedicated to a separate Minibeast.

• Snail
• Slug
• Worm
• Spider
• Fly
• Beetle
• Earwig
• Stick Insect
• Ant
• Caterpillar
• Ladybird
• Centipede
• Bee
• Dragonfly
• Grasshopper

Despite the encyclopaedia style, this book is about fun, not education. Flies merely buzz and dragonflies are queens of the pond, but it has a lovely way of inspiring interest in these minibeasts.

I particularly love this as a bedtime book. It starts off quite lively, but the rhythm is quite relaxing for a nice quiet time read, and at the end all the minibeasts are sleeping.

For the most part the rhyming nature of the stories are fun to read aloud, but there is the odd phrasing that doesn’t roll off the tongue as nicely as could be, yet this is a great book for readers that are starting to read independently, not just for reading aloud.

Giles Andreae is the author of Giraffe’s Can’t Dance, another favourite in this house, and with David Wojtowycz has a whole series of fantastic picture books that are sure to delight.

The news has been going around the traps all day, proving that we’re very excited about children’s literature in New Zealand, the finalists for the NZ Book Awards For Children and Young Adults have been announced (and it’s a fantastic lineup).

The full media release (also available on NZ Booksellers) is below.

A huge congratulations to all finalists. Keep your eyes out for announcements of author appearances in your area in the first week of August, and we’re all going to be waiting with bated breath for the winners to be announced on the 13th August 2015.

NZ Book Awards For Children and Young Adults

	Construction by Sally Sutton and Brian Lovelock Walker Books Australia
	I Am Not a Worm by Scott Tulloch Scholastic New Zealand
	Jim’s Letters by Glyn Harper and Jenny Cooper Penguin Random House
	Keys by Sacha Cotter and Joshua Morgan Huia Publishers
	Little Red Riding Hood . . . Not Quite by Yvonne Morrison and Donovan Bixley Scholastic New Zealand

	Ghoulish Get-Ups: How to Create Your Own Freaky Costumes by Fifi Colston Scholastic New Zealand
	Māori Art for Kids by Julie Noanoa and Norm Heke Craig Potton Publishing
	Mōtītī Blue and the Oil Spill by Debbie McCauley and Sarah Elworthy Mauao Publishing
	The Book of Hat by Harriet Rowland Makaro Press/Submarine
	Under the Ocean: explore & discover New Zealand’s sea life by Gillian Candler and Ned Barraud Craig Potton Publishing

	Conrad Cooper’s Last Stand by Leonie Agnew Penguin Random House/Puffin
	Dragon Knight: Fire! by Kyle Mewburn and Donovan Bixley Scholastic New Zealand
	Monkey Boy by Donovan Bixley Scholastic New Zealand
	The Island of Lost Horses by Stacy Gregg HarperCollins
	The Pirates and the Nightmaker by James Norcliffe Penguin Random House/Longacre Child

	I Am Rebecca by Fleur Beale Penguin Random House
	Night Vision by Ella West Allen & Unwin
	Recon Team Angel: Vengeance by Brian Falkner Walker Books Australia
	Singing Home the Whale by  Mandy Hager Penguin Random House
	While We Run by Karen Healey Allen & Unwin

	Hoiho Paku by Stephanie Thatcher Translated by Ngaere Roberts Scholastic New Zealand
	Ngā Ki by Sacha Cotter and Joshua Morgan Translated by Kawata Teepa Huia Publishers (translation of Keys, a finalist in the Picture Book category)

Mum Goes to Work is a wonderful picture book, with expressive illustrations, a positive storyline, and hidden extras that tell a sub story. It’s a story that has a little something for everyone.

The book runs two stories in parallel. The main arc follows a group children as they go to daycare and the exciting times they have. On each page a new mother is introduced, with details about their job. The story then goes on to talk about that mothers child and the fun things they’re doing.

Just as the children at daycare all play and interact with each other, the parents end up interacting with each other through the course of their normal jobs. This forms a story that is cleverly hidden in the pictures. Laurence’s mother trips over a dog lead of Anne’s fathers’ dog, injures herself and has to go to hospital, where she’s seen by Max’s mum, the nurse. The dog escapes and the story helps the dog find its way back to Ann’s father by illustrating what various mothers do at work.

This is such an excellent idea for a picture book, and extends the book for shared reading exploration and dialogic reading, as there are so many other stories hidden in the pictures that can be discussed. Yet the illustrations are not busy. They are simple, but expressive faces, with solid detail in the background.

There is also great variation in the jobs that the mothers that reflect real life. It’s nice to see the stay at home mum, café worker, and shop assistant represented alongside a teacher, gardener and architect. Although a few more “high powered” jobs would be nice.

Although there is one dad and a male day care worker in the story, Mum Goes to Work is very female-centric.

I also love the play the children are doing, and the wonderful illustrations that emphasise this. “Rosie, Jack and Nadia wash all the dolls and teddies and put them out to dry” has the kids in an outside tub washing all their soft toys, with already washed soft toys in a tree drying. It’s such realistic vision.

This is a delightful book, with text that pleasantly rolls off the tongue, without being in a sing-song rhyme, illustrations that are expressive yet simply expressed, and hidden stories within the pages that enable long discussions. I thoroughly recommend this book for all ages.

Review published in full on NZ Booksellers. https://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/2015/05/14/book-review-mum-goes-to-work-by-libby-gleeson-leila-rudge/

Mum Goes to Work
by Libby Gleeson & Leila Rudge
Published by Walker Books
ISBN 9781921529825