The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

Published: 27th June 2013Goodreads badge
Publisher:
Philomel Books
Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers
Pages: 36
Format: Hardcover Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

Poor Duncan just wants to colour. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: We quit!

Beige is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown. Blue needs a break from colouring all that water, while Pink just wants to be used. Green has no complaints, but Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking to each other.

What is Duncan to do?

If you haven’t heard of this book yet you are properly missing out. I love this book. It’s a great story about crayons who quit because they are tired of how their owner Duncan treats them. They write letters of complaints about being overused, colouring outside the lines, and neglect among other things.

I love everything about this book. On one page are these great handwritten notes from the crayons to Duncan, and on the other side are some of the examples of the pictures Duncan has drawn alongside the crayon in question. It’s a fabulous story as well with each crayon complaint unique and often quite funny.

This is a clever story and one that also can teach kids about diversifying their own colour endeavours. Duncan listens to his crayons and it’s a gorgeous story that is sweet and simple for all ages.

You can purchase The Day the Crayons Quit via the following

Book Depository | QBD

Fishpond | Wordery

BookWorld | Booktopia

We’ll Paint the Octopus Red by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen

Published: 1st January 1998Goodreads badge
Publisher:
Woodbine House
Illustrator: Pam Devito
Pages: 28
Format: Hardcover Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

As six-year-old Emma anticipates the birth of her new baby brother or sister, she imagines all of the things they can do together. They’ll go to Grandpa’s farm to feed the calves, ride in the back of the mini-van making faces at the cars that go by, fly on airplanes, and someday, they’ll even go to Africa on a safari.

I will admit I got a little teary at the end of this book because the message is so wonderful. Stube-Bodeen’s story is about a little girl named Emma who has big plans for her new baby brother. Emma tells her dad that when the baby grows up she will play with him, read to him, and take him on plane rides and to the art festival. These plans, however, are suddenly in doubt when she discovers he was born with Down syndrome.

Emma’s dad explains to her what Down syndrome is and what it means for her new baby brother, Isaac. Emma listens and slowly understands, and she asks her dad if she will still be able to do all her big plans with Isaac like she wanted to.

I loved how this introduces Down syndrome to kids. It normalises it, makes it ok, but also makes it clear that there will be some challenges along the way both for Isaac and his family. I think this book would be great at teaching kids about the disability and helps them understand exactly what it means and how it relates to activities that they understand.

There is also an excellent information page at the end of the story that provides all sorts of information on Down syndrome and normalises it for kids and helps them understand. It’s a fantastic little book and one that can help kids understand if they know someone with this condition.

You can purchase We’ll Paint the Octopus Red via the following

Amazon | Book Depository

Booktopia | Wordery

Dymocks

 

Parsley Rabbit’s Book about Books by Frances Watts

Published: 2007Goodreads badge
Publisher:
 ABC Books
Illustrator: David Legge
Pages: 16
Format: Hardcover Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

514kfq15sal-_sx218_bo1204203200_ql40_Celebrate the joy of reading and begin a lifelong love of books with the delightful Parsley Rabbit and his pesky little brother, Basil. Lively and entertaining, it features a remarkably clever and handsome rabbit and is full of fun, flaps to flip and questions to share.

This is a fun, quirky book that is exactly what the title suggests: a book about books. From the very first page of the book Parsley Rabbit explains with little notes what each part of the book is called and how you read it; including end page to title page and the publisher’s details. When you get to the main story the theme continues and the story is Parsley talking about books. He talks about what makes up the format of a book like page numbers and how the words are read from left to right and the different shapes and sizes books can come in. Each page is different, some talking about how books can be funny or sad, or have information in them, or even how some books have flaps that open that can hide things behind them.

It’s definitely interactive with the reader, Parsley addresses you and instructs you to do certain things as well so it engages with kids and shows them how to interact with the book and how it often connects with reading the story. This isn’t a book for toddlers teaching them to read, it’s a book teaching kids all the different parts of a book and how reading works. It’s quite clever, and Parsley Rabbit makes it fun and interesting even before the story has started to let you know this book isn’t like other books.

What also makes this book great is that Legge has used Watts’ words and made great illustrations to match. They are simplistic and often don’t feature anyone other than Parsley. But Legge’s drawings, Watts’ words, and the layout of the book all work together wonderfully to not need anything other than Parsley Rabbit to illustrate the story.

This book was the winner of the 2012 Prime Minister’s Award for Children’s Fiction, and the 2008 Children’s Book Council of Australia and while the story isn’t really a story, it is very clever and interesting and a great way to learn how books and reading works.

You can purchase Parsley Rabbit’s Book about Book via the following

Publisher | Dymocks

Booktopia | Amazon

Book Depository | Wordery

 

The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton

Published: 18th May 2010Goodreads badge
Publisher:
Little, Brown Books for Young Reader
Illustrator: Christine Davenier
Pages: 32
Format: Hardcover Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★   ★  – 5 Stars

While her friends and family may not believe in fairies, Geraldine knows, deep down, that she is a VERY fairy princess. From morning to night, Gerry does everything that fairy princesses do: she dresses in her royal attire, practices her flying skills, and she is always on the lookout for problems to solve. But it isn’t all twirls and tiaras – as every fairy princess knows, dirty fingernails and scabby knees are just the price you pay for a perfect day!

 

This is a fantastic little book. It caught my eye because of Julie Andrews’s name and I fell in love with it because of the story. Davenier’s illustrations capture Gerry’s spirit and the rough but styled illustrations show off Gerry’s world and her place in it with that touch of carefree unruliness she also possesses.

Gerry is a great character. In a way, she is wild and boisterous, but she does follow the rules at times and understands how to behave. I love that Gerry has no worries; she does what she wants and expresses herself in her own way. She is overly positive about life which is contagious even as you read, it excites her, she makes it fun, and she uses her role as a fairy princess to bring joy to her life and help others find it as well.

She is very supportive of her friend, even when she doesn’t believe Gerry is a fairy princess. She tells her that she sparkles in her own way doing her own thing. She brings her fairy princess ideals and logic to her world and adds her own sparkle to day to day activities, bringing even mundane things into her magical world.

Gerry is creative and expressive. She knows who she is and doesn’t let people telling her she isn’t something stop her from being it. She has a solution to problems and she makes the world work for her and her idea of what a fairy princess is.

There are some wonderful messages in this book for kids. Gerry dictates a lot of rules about being a fairy princess and these include things like ‘fairy princesses know when to take charge’, ‘fairy princesses are very supportive’, and even things like fairy princesses wear joggers and get dirty because ‘fairy princesses are practical’. The best message comes from Gerry herself when she proclaims that “you can be whatever you want to be. You just have to let your SPARKLE out!”

This is the perfect mix of teaching little girls it’s ok to express themselves and what they love, don’t be afraid to be yourself and don’t let others tell you who you can and can’t be. This is a wonderful book and it is nothing less than what I’d expect from the queen herself, Julie Andrews. There are many more great Fairy Princess books in the series which you should check out as well.

You can purchase The Very Fairy Princess via the following

Audible | Booktopia

Dymocks | Barnes & Noble

Publisher

 

Eve and Elly by Mike Dumbleton

Published: 16th May 2016Goodreads badge
Publisher:
 Random House Australia
Illustrator: Laura Wood
Pages: 32
Format: Paperback Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

Elly is Eve’s toy elephant, but he’s also her best friend. When Elly goes missing, Eve is the one who is lost.

What drew me to this book were the illustrations. I loved the cover by Laura Wood, and as I kept turning pages I loved them and the story even more. Elly the elephant comes alive in Eve’s mind, he has expressions, he mimics Eve’s movements, and Wood makes the whole thing incredibly adorable. The pictures are relatively basic but reflect the words on the page, and depending what they’re depicting have varying degrees of detail.

The blurb tells us that when Elly goes missing, it is Eve who is lost. I loved that when Elly is gone Eve’s dad doesn’t try to make her feel better per se, he understands but offers up another one of her toys as “someone who [also] needs her” and tries to make her love her other toys for the time being until Elly comes back.

It’s a sweet story about how to cope when a child loses a favourite toy. Dad has a good solution and it is one that could be easily adopted if need be because lost toys are not always recovered. Dumbleton has been creative and clever in his writing, it suits what a parent might do and say to their child who is upset over the loss of a toy but it does also come with its own troubles as mum and dad discover.

There are moments for the parents to enjoy as they read and the kids will love seeing Eve’s love for her toy and get to think about what they would do if they lost one of their favourite toys.

You can purchase Eve and Elly via the following

Book Depository | Dymocks

Booktopia | Kobo

QBD | Bookworld

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