A must-have for any kid’s bookshelf.
(Review by Stephanie Millar)
There’s a bookshelf in my 6-year-old’s
bedroom packed with children’s books. Hardcover books. Soft cover books. Books
packed vertically and books piled horizontally. Bright new books and faded
hand-me-downs. It’s a colourful collection decades in-the-making, even
comprising books my husband paged through as a child.
The problem is, we’ve read all these books.
Finding an unread gem on his bookshelf is like stumbling upon a nugget of gold.
It’s an exciting rarity. So, when we first paged through The BIG Book of Animal Stories
- a chunky collection of new bedtime tales - my little one and I got excited.
And as fans of all things fluffy and cuddly, we were super-elated at the idea
of a book dedicated JUST to animal stories.
With eight stories in one book, we had just
over a week’s worth of bedtime stories. GOLD! On the first night, we agreed to
start with the first title to catch our attention: The Perfect Job for an Elephant. It was a smile-maker of a story
about a little elephant looking for a job that’s perfect for her. Nothing quite
works out until she finds one that’s just right. Convinced we’d already read
the best story, I didn’t expect to enjoy the following evening’s story as much.
I was wrong. The Special Guest was
another chuckle-inducing tale.
With every new story, I was wowed again and
again, repeatedly and unexpectedly, until we’d devoured every story, each one
as heart-warming and easy-to-adore as the next. Out of all of them, our
favourite was the fun and upbeat Fins,
Fluff and Other Stuff, a rhyming story that reminds us that we’re perfect
just the way we are – a lovely lesson for the littlies.
The
BIG Book of Animal Stories is made up of eight
stories, all featuring a number of characters who will tug on your heartstrings
– each brought to life by a variety of authors and illustrators. The Next Steps
section at the end of the book offers wonderful and engaging suggestions of how
to enjoy the stories once they’ve been read. These include guessing games,
quizzes and discussion ideas.
Colourful, easy-to-read and a joy for both
reader and listener, The BIG Book of Animal Stories is a must-have for any
kid’s bookshelf.
Titles in this book include The Special Guest; Monty the Hero; Space
Walkies; The Perfect Job for an Elephant; Little Hedgehog’s Big Day; The
Nearsighted Giraffe; Fins, Fluff and Other Stuff and Be Careful, Barney.
The
BIG Book of Animal Stories is published by Struik
Children ISBN number: 9781432308742. Price R190. - Stephanie Millar
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