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Books of the Month - May 2018

Hello and welcome back to Along Came Poppy for another fantastic round-up of children's books. This time we are sharing our favourite books we read in May.


Non-fiction Book of the Month


First up is our non-fiction choice for May, What's Hidden in the Body? This unique picture book has been written and illustrated by Aina Bestard and published by Thames & Hudson. It is the third book in the What's Hidden series and we would be quite keen to track down the other two as well! Aina's previous books are titled What's Hidden in the Woods? and What's Hidden in the Sea? 


What's Hidden in the Body? is not a newly released book, but it is one we have been exploring a lot this month as the Mini Reviewers have taken a real interest in it, especially Theo (4). The reason this book is a bit different from the other body books we have come across is that it comes with coloured glasses to look through and also a pull out poster. When you look at the intricate pictures through the three different coloured lenses, as if by magic, different sections of the human body are revealed!

The incredibly quirky illustrations are accompanied by just enough factual information to introduce young children to the workings of our amazing bodies. The Mini Reviewers have been fascinated by all the things they have learned but what I really appreciate about this book is that the illustrations are educational yet remain creative and fun, which is sometimes not the case with non-fiction books. We recommend this clever book to encourage hands on learning.




Picture Book of the Month


Our Picture Book of the Month is the brilliantly funny Magna Cow written by Barry Hutchinson, illustrated by Cate James and published by Little Door Books. We have chosen this newly released book as it has given us all the giggles this month.

Here's the blurb:

Brisket longs to fit in 

with the rest of the herd, 

but her strange magnetic powers
are always causing problems.
When disaster strikes,
she discovers that being
different is not only a good thing,
sometimes it might even 
save the day...
Yes, you read that correctly, this is a book about a magnetic cow called Brisket! And not only is Brisket magnetic, we are told that she also glows faintly in the dark and that all her cow friends love to dance. So as you can imagine this makes for a real laugh-out-loud story time! There is excitement too when a runaway tractor threatens to spoil the cows' dancing fun and it falls to Brisket, a rather unlikely hero, to save the day.

The Mini Reviewers just loved the illustrations throughout the book, especially those of Brisket's dancing friends in tutus but their favourite pictures were definitely the ones of Brisket accompanied by the loud "KAAALUNK" as all the metal things around the farm stick to her.



This story is a great conversation starter about many things; celebrating difference, friendship and of course, magnetism! We even went beyond the book and, inspired by the story, hunted for magnetic items around the house. Theo had a great time testing the items with his giant magnet and then separating them into magnetic and non-magnetic piles. 

Chapter Book of the Month


Finally our Chapter Book of the Month was Cuddle the Magic Kitten, a book that is perfect for newly independent readers, you can read our full review here.

All these books and lots more can be purchased via our Amazon Store here (affiliate link).

We hope you have enjoyed our favourite reads from May, 
what have you been reading this month?

Until next time... HAPPY READING!
Kate & the Mini Reviewers xx


Disclaimer: We received copies of all three books for review purposes. However, our opinions are, as always our own. This post contains affiliate links you can find out more about what this means here.

14 comments:

  1. I particularly like the look of the body book. The coloured glasses are a novel idea. My boys always enjoyed a similar topic book full of flaps #readwithme

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    1. I love it when books are a little different, there are also some great shine-a-light non fiction ones too :)

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  2. Wow, I love the look of the body book! My daughter went through a phase of being really fascinated by the body, this might be just the book to get her interested in it again! #ReadWithMe

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  3. What's Hidden in the Body? looks really fun. I love the coloured glasses!

    #ReadWithMe

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  4. Aaaa some lovely choices here, I'm liking the sound of Cuddle the Magic Kitten, my youngest two would love that one! Thanks for sharing with #readwithme

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  5. I love seeing your monthly choices! #readwithme

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  6. What a lovely selection of books. I love the look of the body book, I used to find books about the human body fascinating when I was a kid (to be honest, I probably still do!).

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  7. The body book looks great, my daughter likes anything like that. #KCACOLS

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  8. Love the look of all of these books to be fair! Kids are ardent readers like their mum and they devour anything new #KCACOLS

    www.shanelliswilliams.comm

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  9. How gendered is the 'What's Hidden?' book. I'd be interested in that for my son. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time.

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    1. That's an interesting question Bread, I'll have another look and get back to you. x

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  10. Oh I'd love to get Magna Cow. It looks so so fun and I'd also love to read the human body book with my daughter as she is learning about that at the moment and I'm a fan of non fiction kids books! #KLTR

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  11. These books look lovely. I've recently started going to the library again and love picking up new bedtime reads for Olivia #KCACOLS

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  12. I think both of my children would love the book on what's hidden in your body it looks fab! #KLTR

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