Blog Tour: No Sleep For Bear by Duncan Beedie

It’s not often I get to do a blog tour for a picture book! No Sleep For Bear is a sweet and funny read that’s perfect for bedtime.

Kitten Corner: Short Books, Big Ideas

This is quite a varied selection today, but what these very different books all have in common is that they’ll get kids engaged with learning new concepts, even if they don’t necessarily realise it! All of these books were sent to me free of charge, but that doesn’t affect my opinions.

Kitten Corner: A Cornucopia of Nature Books

We’re in the full flush of spring now, and if you’re looking forward to getting outside more often, I have a great selection of picture and board books that have a focus on nature, whether that’s the plants you might grow or the creatures you might discover. All of these were sent to me free of charge, but my opinions are my own as always.

Kitten Corner: Funny Animal Picture Books

Kitten Corner: Sweet, Relaxing Picture Books

This week on Kitten Corner I wanted to take a look at some of the calmer, more gentle picture books that have come out recently. All of these books were sent to me free of charge by Little Tiger, but all opinions are my own, as always.

Kitten Corner: Bears and Birds!

This week I want to share with you three funny and sweet picture books featuring animals. All of these were sent to me free of charge, but as usual all opinions are my own.

Kitten Corner: Christmas Reads!

It still seems very early to me to be talking about Christmas, but since you have to be prepared, here’s a selection of adorable new festive reads for little ones! All these books were sent to me free of charge, but opinions are my own.

I Love You More Than Christmas by Ellie Hattie and Tim Warnes, from Little Tiger Books

This picture book is adorable! I really love the way these bears are drawn – they have such kind faces and feel so full of love. They kind of remind me of Bear in the Big Blue House, but I might be dating myself with that reference! This is a sweet book full of the chaotic joy of Christmas – so much to be done and made, so many people to see – with a clear message that what matters the most in all of these things is who you celebrate with. There’s a mixture of rhyming text and plain prose, which sounds odd but works really nicely in context for reading aloud. And bonus points for not giving Little Bear a gender on page, which makes this easy for a kid to see themself in. Between the warm, cozy artwork and the cute family feel, I think this one will easily be a favourite for years to come.

Is It Christmas Yet? by Jane Chapman

Ted can’t wait for it to be Christmas, but there’s so much to do beforehand! This sounds similar to the previous book, with bears doing a whole host of Christmas activities, but it’s got a more humorous slant than a cosy one, with lots of things going wrong – Big Bear will ring very true with stressed out parents whose festive to-do lists are miles long! I was surprised to find that this actually has a lot of text for a board book – it’s more like a sturdier, smaller picture book than a book for really tiny ones, so it packs a lot into its small size. The illustrations are sweet and funny, and overall this is a very cute read.

Nibbles: Christmas by Emma Yarlett

This is my first time coming across Nibbles, but I’m thoroughly charmed and will definitely be looking up the other books in the series. This is a board book that makes great use of flaps and cutouts to get kids to interact with Nibbles the Book Eating Monster – you might not be able to tell at first, but he’s chomped a hole through every page of the book (even the back cover!). The story is told in a clever counting rhyme that had me smiling, and I can’t resist Nibbles’ cheeky little face. It’s great fun!

Kitten Corner: Autumnal Reads

The days are getting shorter and the weather’s getting colder, which means autumn’s the perfect time to curl up with a book! These sweet reads all felt really autumnal to me – they were all sent to me for review, but my opinions are my own as always.

Who Said Twit-Twoo? by Becky Davies, illustrated by WYi-Hsuan Wu, from Little Tiger

Kitten Corner: It’s Never Too Early For Halloween!

I know, I know, we’re barely even into autumn yet, but I love Halloween so much, and there’s a fabulous crop of spooky kids books this year! All these books were sent to me free of charge, but all opinions are my own.

Kitten Corner: New Animal Fun!

I missed last week’s Kitten Corner so here’s a round up of some lovely books we’ve been reading recently, which all turned out to be animal themed! All of these books were sent to me free of charge by the publishers, but all opinions are my own.

Flip Flap Zoo by Axel Scheffler, from Nosy Crow

This zany mix-and-match book is great fun! It’s a little bit advanced for my one-year-old, but the adults in the family have been having a great time mixing up the top and bottom halves of animals to create weird and wonderful creatures. We particularly like the sloose (part sloth, part moose)! Each half of the animal is drawn to line up with all the possible bottom halves, and vice versa, creating a really entertaining set of pictures in Scheffler’s unique style, and there’s a four line poem accompanying each half, which makes for some funny reading both in their correct and unusual formations. It’s hard to read this one straight through, but hilarious to dip into and out of.