Books of the Month: October

With December just around the corner, October feels like a rather distant memory, however as both October and November are incredibly busy months in our house full of birthdays and lots of excitement, we hadn't quite got round to sharing our favourite reads of last month until now so here goes...

Books of the Month: September

Hello, today we are sharing our favourite books from September. Whenever I sit down to write our monthly favourites post, I am amazed that it is that time again but here we are already more than a week into October. It will be time to go Trick or Treating before you know it!

Speaking of Halloween, you may have already seen our post about our favourite Chapter Book this month, Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone. As our choice is already such a well known book, instead of doing a standard review, I shared our experience of reading Harry Potter to the Mini Reviewers . You can read the full post here: When to read Harry Potter to your Little Bookworms.

As well as a favourite Chapter Book, we have picked our favourite Non-Fiction Book and Picture Book from last month too. We do hope you enjoy our choices!

A Family Day Out at the BBC Good Food Show

Last year we decided to take Mini Reviewer, Izzie (6), for a fun-filled  family day out to the BBC Good Food Show. From Thursday 29th November until Sunday 2nd December 2018 the BBC Good Food Show is back at Birmingham's NEC. So if you are considering taking your own Mini Chefs or Star Bakers, take a look at how we got on.

Books of the Month - July & August 2018

The Mini Reviewers have been back at school and nursery for a few weeks now and that combined with the distinct change of weather, means that Autumn has most definitely arrived! You may have noticed we were a little quiet over the Summer months, this was mainly because we were too busy reading as well as having a few bookish adventures of our own. Poohsticks anyone? Or perhaps a spot of Gruffalo Orienteering?

Hand-picked Favourites from The Book People - Book Review

At Along Came Poppy we are passionate about finding affordable books and one of our favourite places to shop online is The Book People. We previously mentioned The Book People in our post about budget books so when they asked us to take a look at their amazing selection of Books for Kids and share our thoughts, we jumped at the chance!

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.

Books of the Month - April 2018

Over the last few months we have read some fantastic books including old classics as well as brand new titles. Therefore it seems appropriate that the top books we read in April include a mix of both.

Touring Book Club: Up In The Leaves #TouringPictureBook

Hello and welcome back to Along Came Poppy! We are very excited to confirm that we have joined forces with fellow picture book enthusiasts and UK based bloggers BookBairn, Mamma Filz and Acorn Books to create the Touring Book Club. Together we aim to give you four different perspectives on a newly released picture book and we will magically transport you beyond the story itself by sharing our unique ideas for exploring the themes within the book.

Non-fiction round-up: Let's hear it for the girls!

At the start of the year we promised to review a non-fiction book each month and although we have been picking our favourites, we have completely neglected to write about them, so we thought it was about time for a non-fiction round-up. As you'll see there's a bit of a theme, this was purely unintentional but it works well especially as it was International Women's Day at the beginning of March, so without further delay "Let's hear it for the girls!"

Our Favourite Books of 2017

Hello and Happy New Year! 2017 was a fantastic year for us as a family and also for children's literature! We enjoyed discovering so many amazing books and have already been checking out the new releases lined up for 2018.

We can't wait to share a few of the books we are most looking forward to reading this year. However, before we do, here are the Mini Reviewers' favourite books of 2017. Now with all the stories we read, you may think it would be quite tricky to choose just one each but apparently this is not the case for the Mini Reviewers, here are their FIRM favourite books of 2017.

Festive Delights: Stories, Baking and the BBC Good Food Show!

From a really young age Mini Reviewer, Izzie, has loved cookery programmes her favourites including anything with Mary Berry or the Hairy Bikers and, of course, The Great British Bake Off. In fact when Izzie discovered Mary was not going to judge the latest series of GBBO she actually sobbed uncontrollably for about half an hour, however once the first episode got going she quickly recovered and happily sat through every episode after that - sorry Mary, six year olds are rather fickle!

Hello October: Books to welcome Autumn and celebrate Halloween

Hello October! Autumn is well and truly here and with it those chilly mornings and dark evenings. However, with plenty of puddles to splash in; leaves to throw; and conkers to collect, we think it could be our favourite time of year! So we are really looking forward to the half term holiday at the end of the month and, of course, Halloween!

Last year we celebrated Halloween with some spooky book-inspired baking and crafts, before dressing up and going trick or treating. We also read a few "not-so-scary" Halloween books. You can read all about last year's stories here and, in anticipation of this year's celebrations, we have already added a few more "not-so-scary" books to our collection.

Novel Non-Fiction for Younger Kids

The Mini Reviewers are now 1, 3 and 5 years old. Over the past year there have been some incredible non-fiction releases aimed specifically at the younger end of the children's market. Here are five non-fiction books that we feel really stand out from the crowd...

Five Favourite New Books for 2017

Hello July! The first six months of 2017 seem to have whizzed by and the summer holidays are quickly approaching, so I thought it was about time I shared a round up of some of the amazing new picture books that have been released so far this year. Perhaps it will even inspire you to pick up a new book this summer...

My Little Book of Big Freedoms illustrated by Chris Riddell

When this small yet incredibly important book arrived in the post this week, I was extremely excited and I could not wait to share it with the Mini Reviewers.

My Little Book of Big Freedoms portrays the 16 different freedoms of The Human Rights Act in a series of enchanting and very beautiful pictures. Each picture is accompanied by simplified text taken from the act itself. The book has been illustrated by awarding winning writer and illustrator and former Children's Laureate, Chris Riddell. It has been published by Buster Books in partnership with Amnesty International UK, the world's largest human rights organisation.

As a former lawyer, I am impressed at how effortlessly this little book conveys the importance of The Human Rights Act and explains how the special rules look after all of us, keeping us safe and free. Although aimed at children, this is a book to inspire generations and I cannot see how anyone, young or old, could fail to be moved by such poignant illustrations.

This special little book is undoubtedly my favourite release of the year so far and I can see it being read in homes and classrooms up and down the country.

My Little Book of Big Freedoms is available from 22nd June 2017, RRP £9.99.

*We received a copy of My Little Book of Big Freedoms for the purpose of this review, all opinions are as always our own.

Unique Board Books for Babies and Toddlers

At the beginning of May, Independent Children's Publisher, Nosy Crow launched a new range of books with The British Museum. The range, aimed at ages 0-12, includes these two incredibly interesting and unique board books.

Filled with fascinating photos of items originating from all over the world and from throughout time, these robust first concept books are designed to introduce children to letters and numbers. Although aimed primarily at babies and toddlers, Mini Reviewer, Izzie (5) found the images very engaging and she desperately wanted to know all about the different items on each page. Fortunately we were able to scan the QR code to find out a little more - although apparently not enough for Izzie! She particularly liked the collections of different keys, dolls, beads and kites and was in fact more interested in the books than her two younger siblings!  Although they too enjoyed looking at the pictures; counting the objects; sounding out the letters; and, of course, turning the pages themselves. Below are just a few of the images we found to be the most eye catching:

What's So Special About Dinosaurs?

Do you have little ones that love Dinosaurs? Then you may be interested in this fantastic series of non fiction books by Nicky Dee.

Parragon's Perfect Books for Preschoolers #StartLittleLearnBig

Over the past week we have been trying out the Start Little LEARN BIG range from Parragon Books. These colourful board and activity books are aimed at preschoolers age 3-5 and are designed to make learning fun. As Mini Reviewer, Theo, is very nearly three and has just started preschool, we were delighted to be able to take a look at some of the range.

What's in the box? #LittleLearnersRelaunch

Early last week we received an amazing book buddies' box from Parragon. I already knew that it was going to contain a selection of books from the newly relaunched Little Learners range. These sturdy board books have been especially designed for babies and toddlers to encourage them to learn through play. I was really keen to see just how engaging the books would be and also whether they would withstand being "explored" by the youngest two Mini Reviewers. 

What's in the box Poppy? 📦📚#littlelearnersrelaunch #parragonbookbuddies #toddlerbooks #babybooks #childrensbooks #kidbloggersofig #readwithme #readersareleaders #readingismagic #instabook #kidlit #bookaddict #booklover #read #booksforkids #childrensliterature #kidsbooks #ilovebooks #bookworm #bibliophile #booknerd #bookblogger #raisingreaders #librariesofig #pbloggers #mbloggers

A photo posted by Kate (Along Came Poppy) (@kate.eccles) on Jan 10, 2017 at 3:09am PST

Theo (2) and Poppy (1) obviously had no idea what was in the box so it was a bit like Christmas all over again! Why not take a look at them unwrapping the parcel and see what a huge hit the books were from the start?

Now that you have had a good giggle at our rather wobbly video, I'm going to tell you a little more about the five books we received. After the initial unboxing both little ones enjoyed playing with the books and the tissue paper (of course!) for quite some time. We then returned to the books many times throughout the week and explored them together. We all certainly developed our favourites so here are our thoughts on each title...

Mummy and Me (RRP: £3.99) is a delightful rhyming storybook with a cute finger puppet elephant. Poppy was seriously amazed to see the elephant wiggle! The small size of this book makes it perfect for little hands to hold and it is also fantastic for popping in your changing bag.

Such a cutie! #childofig #momswithcameras #childhoodunplugged #worldoflittles #totsphotos #candidchildhood #myhappycapture #pbloggersuk #mummyblogger

A photo posted by Kate (Along Came Poppy) (@kate.eccles) on Jan 15, 2017 at 2:02pm PST

Ring-a-Ring o'Roses (RRP: £6.99) is definitely Theo's top choice, which will come as no surprise if you watched our unboxing video! Not only does this book play music, there are four buttons to press and these all light up! The pages contain the text of the nursery rhyme and there are cute illustrations of the animals doing the actions to the rhyme. Here it is in all its glory, take it away Theo:

123 Count with Me (RRP: £4.99) is a simple and very sturdy first numbers playbook. The text and pictures are very clear so your little one can easily spot the animals and learn to count to five. The small cut out in the corner of the book makes it great for you to hold, while your child looks at the pictures.

Eyes, Nose, Ears, Toes (RRP: £5.99) is described as a "peek-a-boo playbook". This is both my favourite and Poppy's favourite book of the selection. I found it brilliant for helping me really engage with Poppy. There is a question on each page such as "where is your nose?" and "can you blink your eyes?" The animal characters also play peek-a-boo through little holes in the book, which is a fun addition. However the reason Poppy loves this book so much, is it has a handle and she can carry it everywhere!

I think she may love this new book with a little handle, it's perfect for carrying around or cuddling! #littlelearnersrelaunch 📚💕 #kidbloggersofig #readwithme #readersareleaders #readingismagic #instabook #kidlit #childrensbooks #bookaddict #booklover #read #booksforkids #childrensliterature #kidsbooks #ilovebooks #bookworm #bibliophile #booknerd #bookblogger #raisingreaders #librariesofig #pbloggers #mbloggers #ukbloggers

A photo posted by Kate (Along Came Poppy) (@kate.eccles) on Jan 13, 2017 at 2:33am PST

My First Shapes (RRP: £5.99) is a touch and explore book. It is a very simple tactile book and introduces the following shapes to little ones: circle, square, triangle, diamond and star. Poppy and Theo immediately started to trace the cutaway shapes with their fingers when we explored this book together. This would make a great first book.

Little Learners

Overall the Little Learners range have gone down extremely well with the Mini Reviewers. We have thoroughly enjoyed sharing them together. The books really have been cleverly designed to promote learning through play. We love that the range is so varied and the books are very tactile and engaging for little ones.

Do you have any favourite books for your little learners?

*Disclaimer: We were sent a selection of books from the Little Learners range by Parragon Books in exchange for this review. All opinions are, as always our own.

Books to Inspire

Mini Reviewer, Izzie, loves a good princess story. I used to frown upon filling her head with such "nonsense" but then I realised we all need to hear a few "happily ever afters" from time to time. Although I am now on board with the frilly fairy tales, I think it is really important that all my Mini Reviewers hear stories of real women. With this in mind, I started my search for Books to Inspire, stories of strong and brave women, women who did truly amazing things. I quickly came across these two new titles, which I would like to share today:
femi

First up is Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World published this year (2016) by Bloomsbury. This fantastic non-fiction book has been written and illustrated by Kate Pankhurst. It includes the amazing stories of 13 women throughout history, who did indeed change the world. These pioneers, from all walks of life, inspired fashion revolutions; fought for equality; went on great adventures; and made some incredible discoveries.

The book covers a hugely diverse range of individuals from literary great, Jane Austen, to Suffragette, Emmeline Pankhurst. From Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, to Jewish teenager, Anne Frank.  The book is packed with interesting facts yet the clever presentation means the information is accessible and remains appealing to young readers. Visually the book is delightful and Pankhurts's illustrations are really fun and witty.

Izzie has been captivated by these stories of greatness and the book has taught me a thing or two as well! We have really enjoyed reading this together and it is one we keep returning to. At almost five, Izzie is a bit young for this book but all this has meant is a little more explaining on my part. The book has certainly prompted some very interesting conversations! Her personal favourites are the stories of scientist, Marie Curie and, paleontologist, Mary Anning. I just hope she is inspired to follow her own heart and dreams as she grows up.

The second book I would like to share is Ada Twist, Scientist written by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts and published this year by Abrams Books.

This is a wonderful fictional story about a young girl, Ada Marie, who, we are told, doesn't talk until she is three years old. She then wastes no time in making up for her silence by asking questions about anything and everything. Endlessly curious, she drives her parents insane as she goes on fact-finding missions and even carries out her own experiments. The brilliant rhyming text and fantastically funny illustrations really appeal to the Mini Reviewers. They thought the pictures of Ada doing her smell tests were particularly hilarious! Izzie was also delighted to discover from the author's note that Ada Marie is named after two great women, scientist, Marie Curie and Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer.

We would highly recommend both these books for inquisitive girls and boys everywhere!

Next month we will be reviewing the following Books to Inspire:

Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova - Laurel Snyder and Julie Morstad

Coco Chanel - Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Ana Albero

We would love to hear from you if you have any recommendations of Books to Inspire and we always enjoy reading your comments.

Disclaimer: We received free copies of both these books from the publishers for the purpose of these reviews. All opinions are as always our own.