Tag Archives: picture book

Jun11

Underpants, Thunderpants by Peter Bently and Deborah Melmon

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IMG_0508Underpants, Thunderpants by Peter Bently and illustrated by Deborah Melmon, paperback picture book, published by Parragon in 2011.

On a fine and sunny day, Dog hangs out his underpants to dry on the line. Then a thunderstorm whips up the wind, blowing the underpants right off the line and spreads them all around. They land in some interesting places, including in the jungle and the ocean, and one pair even gets blown right out into space.

At a time when my children are obsessed with toilet humour, this book was a good find. They think any story about underpants is funny, and this rhyming tale definitely tickled their funny bones! A perfect book for preschoolers, with a short story, large text and clear, colourful pictures. I like the octopus that gets four pairs of the undies, and no surprises,  my kids like it best when the hunter goes splat in the poop. I wasn’t quite ready for the book to end actually, it just felt like there should have been more, but maybe that was because my kids were laughing and I wanted to extend the experience! Underpants, Thunderpants is a fun book.

Jun11

The Big Beet by Lynn Ward and Adam Carruthers

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IMG_0440The Big Beet by Lynn Ward and illustrated by Adam Carruthers, paperback picture book, published by Omnibus Books in 2013.

When Thelma McGruff feels like a burger for tea, her husband Bertie goes out to the field to pull a fresh beetroot. The oversized beet is hard to pull up, and Bertie suggests having canned beets instead. Thelma prefers fresh and she goes to help Bertie pull up the beet. Even with the two of them, they can not pull up the beet. A couple going by stop to help, and then a few more helpers arrive, until there is a line of people trying to pull up the big beet. Then along comes a tiny girl in a frilly tutu who wants to help too, but everyone thinks she will be too small to make any difference.

This book has rhyming text and a good rhythm when read aloud. It is perfect for sharing, and is loved by my preschooler. She laughs at the story and at the illustrations. She loves that there are lots of animals below ground trying to hold the beet in while all the people above try to pull it out. She also likes the other things she can see underground, like the space ship and some dinosaur bones. Every time one of the people falls over, she laughs, it is a funny read.

According to the back of the book, this is based on a traditional folk tale, but I don’t think I know that one. It has certainly been given an Aussie twist though. Beetroot on burgers is very Australian, along with the barbie and Pavlova, playing wheelie bin cricket and the character’s nicknames too. I liked this about the book.

This story actually reminds me a bit of Pamela Allen’s Who Sank the Boat? in that it is the smallest and most unlikely participant that tips the balance. Working together can accomplish things that an individual cannot, and everyone can contribute. This is a good lesson that children can take away from this story. The Big Beet is most suitable for preschoolers and lower primary school children, but I also enjoyed it.

Jun11

T-rex’s Terrible Tooth by Kathryn England and Ben Redlich

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IMG_0445T-rex’s Terrible Tooth by Kathryn England and illustrated by Ben Redlich, paperback picture book, published by Koala Books in 2010.

Young Tyrone the T-rex has a toothache. A toothache so bad that he is unable to eat his normal meaty diet without horrendous pain. Convinced that he is about to die of starvation, he breaks down wailing. A passing Brontosaurus informs Tyrone that soft fruit and vegetables are plentiful, and by changing his diet he will certainly survive. Tyrone gives his new diet his full attention with unexpected results.

This is a delightfully humourous rhyming story featuring dinosaurs, one of my kids’ favourite topics, so it is a hands down winner in our house and has been read numerous times to both my preschooler and second-grader. We love reading this book out loud to make the most of the rhyming text, and it always makes us laugh. My preschooler likes the meat meals Tyrone dreams of but can’t eat, such as Triceratops lollipops, while I like his melodramatic response to his toothache. The ending is very satisfying and my kids think it is hilarious. A great book for preschoolers and lower primary school children, I highly recommend T-rex’s Terrible Tooth for every little dinosaur fan!

Jun11

The Pocket Dogs by Margaret Wild and Stephen Michael King

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IMG_0439The Pocket Dogs by Margaret Wild and illustrated by Stephen Michael King, paperback picture book, first published by Omnibus Books in 2000, this edition published by Omnibus Books in 2001.

Mr Pockets owns a big blue coat with two big pockets. His little dogs, Biff and Buff, ride in his coat pockets every day as he walks to the shops. A hole develops in Biff’s pocket, and it gets bigger and bigger until Biff falls right through it and is lost. Several people try to help Biff, but he runs away because he is Mr Pocket’s pocket dog and he just wants to be reunited with Mr Pockets and Buff.

This is a cute picture book that my kids really like, it is also popular at their school with the preschoolers and lower primary school children. The language is easy, the story interesting and the pictures are engaging. It shows that knowing who you are and feeling that you belong somewhere are important in life. Biff finds that he is a pocket dog and only a pocket dog, and he belongs with Mr Pockets and Buff, and that makes him happy. My preschooler likes to curl up in my lap to read this book together when she is tired. She likes Biff’s short adventure and his reunion with his best friends.

Jun10

When Henry Caught Imaginitis by Nick Bland

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IMG_0442When Henry Caught Imaginitis by Nick Bland, paperback picture book, first published by Scholastic Australia in 2008, this edition published by Scholastic Australia in 2010.

Henry was an unusual child, neat and tidy and always serious. Then a strange thought popped into Henry’s head, and suddenly he was off on a pirate adventure, and wrestling with dragons. This didn’t seem right to Henry, so he looked for a good sensible book to read instead, and discovered he had caught imaginitis. There’s only one cure for imaginitis, and he has a long wait to fill.

Another wonderful book from Nick Bland. I love his style of illustrations, with black and white tones moving into more and more colour as Henry’s imagination is sparked. Children don’t need to be always serious and sensible, they should relish their imaginations and play and pretend for as long as possible, that is the joy of childhood. Henry finds out that he shouldn’t be in a rush to grow up, his imagination can take him anywhere and let him be anyone. This is a nice message for our children.

This book is suitable for lower primary school children to read and for sharing with preschoolers. My preschooler is very fond of this book, she likes the things that pop into Henry’s head, especially the big red dragon. The illustrations are lovely and the story is different and I enjoy sharing it with my kids, and then discussing some of the things we would like to pretend to do.

 

Jun10

The Bus to the Zoo by Mary Murphy and Josh Lee

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IMG_0441The Bus to the Zoo by Mary Murphy and illustrated by Josh Lee, paperback picture book, first published by Omnibus Books in 2009, this edition published by Omnibus Books in 2011.

The big blue bus is on its way to the zoo, picking up passengers at every stop along the way. The passengers waiting for this bus are a bit unusual though, there are seagulls in school ties, a donkey with earrings, a goose in a party hat, and many other animals. The bus driver is a penguin, and she wants the passengers to keep moving down the bus to make room for more and more passengers, but it’s getting pretty crowded, and it’s looking very chaotic. Who is the last passenger to get on the bus?

The bus to the zoo is also the bus carrying the zoo, a bit of a Noah’s ark on wheels. It quickly becomes packed with an assortment of interesting creatures. While the story is fun, and it rhymes, it is the illustrations that make this book so engaging. My preschooler loves to study the pictures, finding different animals, and strange things that the animals are wearing or holding, such as the monkey’s camera, or the toad’s snow globe. When we read this book together we like to try to name and count as many of the animals as we can. This is a great book for sharing with preschoolers, and for independent reading for lower primary school children.

Jun10

Pete the Sheep by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley

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IMG_0443Pete the Sheep by Jackie French and illustrated by Bruce Whatley, paperback picture book, published by HarperCollinsPublishers in 2004.

Shaun is a shearer, and Pete is his pet sheep. Pete helps Shaun in the shearing shed. The other shearers have sheepdogs to help them, but when Shaun and Pete come along, suddenly all the sheep want to see Shaun. The shearers kick Shaun and Pete out of the shearing shed. Shaun doesn’t know what to do then, as shearing is his life, but Pete has an idea to start a Sheep Salon for funky sheep-cuts.

This is a very Australian book, and we love it. The illustrations are amusing, and we love the special hair cuts the sheep get. The story is fun and different with simple language. Until I’d read this book I’d never thought about sheep (or other animals) getting such unique hair cuts. And it has a happy and inclusive ending, where everything works out just right, which is important to my kids, they like their books to end well.  My preschooler particularly likes that when Pete says “Baaaaa!” he’s actually talking to the other sheep, but Shaun can understand him too. Suitable for young children such as preschoolers and lower primary school children, we like to read this book together.

Jun9

At the End of the Rainbow by A H Benjamin and John Bendall-Brunello

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IMG_0428At the End of the Rainbow by A H Benjamin and John Bendall-Brunello, paperback picture book, published by Little Tiger Press in 2004.

Badger and Fox see a rainbow in the sky and try to follow it to find the treasure at the end of the rainbow. Along the way they meet some animals, all with a different idea as to what constitutes treasure, and it isn’t gold or jewels. Badger and Fox discover that friendship is a far greater treasure than any material goods could ever be.

This gentle story about friendship and what is really important in life is a very nice picture book for sharing with young children from preschool age. I particularly like Old Hare with his half-spectacles, and his wisdom. Both my children like this book, and it has been read many times in our house. When my eldest daughter was three she even took this book to playschool to show for news because she liked it so much. She said it makes her feel happy.

 

 

Jun4

There Was an Old Bloke Who Swallowed a Chook by P. Crumble and Louis Shea

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IMG_0169There Was an Old Bloke Who Swallowed a Chook by P. Crumble and Louis Shea, paperback picture book, published by Scholastic Australia in 2011.

P. Crumble and Louis Shea have created another Aussie twist on the tale of the Old Lady who swallowed the fly. This time it is an Old Bloke, and he’s swallowed a chook! And a galah and a possum and a number of other Australian animals, until he swallows his ute.

This is a funny book great for pre-schoolers and lower primary school children. The story is simple, fun and repetitive, and very appealing for kids. The illustrations are fantastic too, making both myself and my children laugh. My preschooler likes the chook that is knitting while sitting on her eggs, the mole that is using a map, and the dinosaur skeletons that were preserved mid-chase. I like the illustration of the bloke on the front cover with the chicken leg sticking out of his mouth. This is also a great book to share.

 

Jun4

Grug and the Rainbow by Ted Prior

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IMG_0160Grug and the Rainbow by Ted Prior, small format paperback picture book, first published by Hodder & Stoughton Australia in 1982, this edition published by Simon & Schuster (Australia) in 2009.

Grug is a creature from the Australian bush, and features in his own series of books. An Australian classic, these books have been republished for a new generation to enjoy.

In Grug and the Rainbow, Grug sees a rainbow in the distance for the first time. He is curious, and tries to get closer, but it keeps moving further away.

The story is simple and easy to read, perfect for lower primary school children. Grug is a lovable character. I like his adventures, and the solutions he creates for any problems that arise. The illustrations are lovely, and the small format is great for little hands. I loved Grug as a child. They were some of the first books I read independently, and now my children love them too. It is such a joy to read some of my childhood favourites with my own kids.