Tag Archives: Egmont

Millie Shares

Millie Shares is a new book which is due to be published by Egmont on 30th January 2014.

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Millie Shares by Claire Alexander, Egmont, Hardback £10.99, Paperback £6.99

Millie loves her toy Monkey very much, and when her best friend Lily wants to play with him, Millie gets very cross.  She won’t share Monkey and she won’t share the other toys at nursery either.  The other children don’t want to play with her in case she takes their toys away.  Will Millie learn that sharing can be fun?

We have been enjoying this book and Tiddler especially likes it.  It’s a gentle story, with simple, appealing illustrations, and a clear message about the benefits of sharing.

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Mr Men: The Christmas Tree

Having decided at the last minute to read a Christmas book a day in Advent, I was pleased to receive some more review books in the post this morning.  If I decide to do this again next year, maybe I’ll be more organised and contact some publishers in advance with my plan, but for now winging it seems to be working okay!  The book we chose for today was Mr Men: The Christmas Tree.

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Mr Men: the Christmas Tree, Egmont, paperback, £2.99

It is Christmas Eve and Mr Forgetful has forgotten to buy himself a Christmas tree.  He sets off through the snow, into the forest, to cut one down instead.  However he gets lost and it is getting dark and cold.  In desperation, he cries for help.  “And as luck would have it, help was at hand.”

This is a funny story, written by Adam Hargreaves, based on the original concept by Roger Hargreaves.  The children liked it and they laughed out loud at several points.  I enjoy reading Mr Men books with them because it reminds me of my childhood, even though there are far more stories now.

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After reading the story, the children drew some pictures of Mr Forgetful.

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This led on to reading our new Mr Men magazine and completing some of the activities.

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All the children enjoyed the book – it appeals to a wide age range – and it is a good addition to our Christmas story collection.

We received a copy of this book to review.

Little Robin’s Christmas

Today we continued to read our Christmas poems, and we also read a new story – Little Robin’s Christmas.

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Little Robin’s Christmas, Jan Fearnley, paperback, £6.99, Egmont

This is the story of a little robin, who has seven warm vests to wear for each day in the week leading up to Christmas.  Each day he gives away a vest to a friend who is cold.  On Christmas Eve he is alone in the snow with no vest to keep him warm.  Read the story to find out who comes to his rescue, and why robins have read vests to this day!

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It is a gentle, heartwarming story with very appealing illustrations, perfect for sharing at bedtime in the days leading up to Christmas.

We received a copy of this book to review.

Sir Charlie Stinky Socks

The children were very excited earlier this week when we received a copy of Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Tale of the Wizard’s Whisper to review.  They have recently been enjoying Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really Big Adventure at Granny’s house.  I think it is the mark of an excellent picture book if it can hold the attention of a nine year old as well as a three year old, and both the books certainly do that.

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Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Tale of the Wizard’s Whisper, Kristina Stephenson, paperback, £6.99, Egmont.

The story opens with the arrival of a wizard at a castle on top of a hill.  He tells the king that he is looking for a legendary knight who is well known for helping people.  It just so happens that Sir Charlie Stinky Socks is in the castle and he is looking for a new adventure.

“Listen well,” said the wizard, “here’s what I need you to do.  Take a treacherous track, to a spooky-wooky wood and look for a deep, dark cave.  Inside the cave is a little black sack, tied with a silver string.  Bring that sack back to me,” he said, “but…DO NOT look inside.”

Sir Charlie sets off with his faithful, fearless cat and his good, grey mare, meeting a frightful ogre, a scurry of scallywags and a red-eyed crone on the way.  He collects the little black sack, and returns to the castle where a surprise awaits him.

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We have read the book together several times over the last few days, and the children have drawn some pictures based on the illustrations.  Yesterday, a friend who was visiting read it to them too, and today Rabbit decided to read it herself.

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I think this conversation we had today sums up her views.

Rabbit: Mummy, who made the Sir Charlie Stinky Socks books?

Me: Kristina Stephenson

Rabbit: Well whoever did it, they’re really good!

We like this book because it is funny, and the pictures are good, especially the one where he is reading books about himself.  We also like the picture of the wizard’s whisper.

We also enjoyed looking out for alliteration (faithful, fearless cat; good grey mare; treacherous track, deep dark cave), interesting adjectives (treacherous, frightful, quaking, shaking, pilfering, dismal, fearful), words with echoes (spooky-wooky wood, twisty-wisty path) and rhyming words (treacherous track/ little black sack/ bring that sack back to me.)

It would be an excellent text to use to inspire children to write their own stories, and I think we might try that next.

Thank you, Egmont, for sending us such a brilliant book!

We were given the book free for the purpose of this review.