Picture Books on Review - Marshmallows for Martians, Pete the Cat and Stop Sticking Stan

Marshmallows for Martians

George is a boy on a mission to find out what sort of sweets aliens like to eat.  Armed with a whole load of his favourite sweeties and a home made rocket, he heads off to Mars.

The book is brilliantly illustrated with detailed pictures and the fast paced, witty rhyming text is lots of fun.  

As the story unfolds, George discovers that the Martians favourite food is marshmallows, but not for the reasons you might think!!  It turns out that the sweets have a very welcome use for the inhabitants of Mars.

Released on June 5th 2014, this latest storybook from the author of Spaghetti with the Yeti is priced at £6.99 RRP and is published by Egmont.

Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes

Pete the Cat loves his brand new white shoes so much, he walks down the street singing about them.  But on his travels, his shoes don't stay white.  As he steps in different things, his white shoes change colour.  Instead of fretting, Pete just changes his song and keeps singing, embracing the new colours as he goes along his way.

This story has a great moral for little ones - whatever happens, just keep walking and singing your song because it's all good! Pete overcomes the things that could have upset him with an unswerving yet understated optimism.  

The quirky illustrations and the simple, repetitive text is really effective.  Pete is a groovy and bluesy cat with a cool attitude. I love this book and the message it delivers!

There is an MP3 recording featuring the cool song that Pete sings along with other assets at www.harpercollins.co.uk/Petethecat. The book is out now priced at £6.99 RRP published by Harper Collins.  On July 3rd the next Pete the Cat adventure 'Four Groovy Buttons' is out. 

Stop Sticking Stan

Stan is a boy who loves collecting things.  When he receives a sticker as a reward for tidying his room, Stan decides that he is going to be super good so he can collect lots and lots of them.  Soon, Stan's sticker collection gets so big he ends up decorating the whole house.  Mum and Dad call a stop to his latest collection...but unwittingly start a new one!

This book comes with a page of stickers just like Stan's...which Freddy promptly decided to stick on the walls just like Stan did.  Oops!  Thankfully they aren't too sticky and peeled off easily.

This story is a gentle way to introduce the concept of a reward chart for young children, and has lovely illustrations throughout.  It has a RRP of £6.99 and is published by Egmont.


*Freddy received the books to review but all opinions are our own.

Books For Getting Freddy Ready For School

Freddy has recently been sent two new titles from Harper Collins which have a school theme.  The picture books are a perfect introduction to the concept of school which is particularly valuable to us with Freddy due to start school in September.

Come to School Too Blue Kangaroo

When Lily starts school she is a bit nervous at being new.  Blue Kangaroo goes with her on her first day and watches as the children paint, draw, do sums and listen to stories.  Blue Kangaroo is delighted by all the lovely activities that Lily is doing. In all the excitement, Lily leaves Blue Kangaroo at school.  Next morning when she arrives in class, the teacher discovers some wonderful paintings and drawings that have been done overnight.  Who could have done them?!

Tim, Ted and The Pirates

When Tim goes to school, his imagination comes to life as he and Ted listen to the teacher's story.  They embark on an exciting underwater adventure, meeting some scary pirates looking for treasure!  The fast paced, rhyming text and the quirky illustrations lend themselves perfectly to the thrilling story.  Freddy was riveted!  The funny ending made him giggle and he is now looking forward to listening to stories when he goes to school!

Both of these delightful picture books are perfect at calming the nerves and allaying any fears that little ones may have at the prospect of starting school in September.  They are very reassuring for pre-schoolers.  We are enjoying reading them and having discussions about all the exciting things that Freddy has got to look forward to!

Children's Picture Books

If you are looking for some great children's books to add to your kids' home library, here are two lovely titles that we have been enjoying together from Harper Collins.

The Runaway Bunny

This Essential Picture Book Classic has an old fashioned simplicity and a powerful messsage filled with reassurance and affirmation of a mother's love for her child.  When the baby bunny thinks about running away, his mother tells him all the ways that she would bring him back home.  First published in 1942, this is a real classic with gentle magic in its words and illustrations.  The tale of unswerving love and maternal devotion will never grow old.

By Margaret Wise Brown
RRP £6.99 PB

Splat Says Thank You

Splat is a cat that my children already love and here he is back for a new seventh adventure.  In this title Splat wants to thank his mouse pal Seymour for being his friend, in a bid to cheer him up.  Splat makes a book listing all the funny and sweet reasons that he is so thankful to him.  The illustrations are fabulously detailed, lively and  beautifully humorous.  The text is heart-warming and filled with laugh out loud moments that pre-schoolers will love.

By Rob Scotton
RRP £6.99 PB

Both of these books are available to buy now from good stockists and are also available as e-books.

Harper Collins Books for Christmas

Lovely new books always find their way under our tree at Christmas.  Giving books to the children encourages a love of reading that will hopefully last a lifetime.  My older girls are avid readers and I hope my younger children will follow suit.

This year Harper Collins have some gorgeous new titles and I have been lucky enough to receive three lovely books to review.

Diary of a Christmas Wombat

Mothball the wombat is a beautifully illustrated character that we have fallen in love with.  The slow and simple animal seems to have one thing on its mind....carrots!  This means that Santa's reindeer have a fight on their hands if they want to enjoy the carrots that have been left out for them by children on Christmas Eve. 

The wombat's eye view is such a quirky way of conveying the story.  The text is really simple and the pictures add so much to the storytelling that even the youngest children will enjoy following Mothball's Christmas adventure.

RRP £6.99 paperback

Hello Kitty Annual 2013

Christmas isn't Christmas without an annual or two to enjoy.  Packed full of fun, activities and games they make a fabulous Christmas gift.  This official Hello Kitty Annual features Kitty's advice on all kinds of topics: your superstar style, making perfect cupcakes, growing pretty flowers, creative colour matching, making perfume and more.  It's a perfect companion for girls.  The pages are colourful and busy, filled with hello Kitty fun on every page.

RRP £7.99 hardback (but keep an eye out for bargains on annuals!)

The Octonauts

Fans of the hit TV show The Octonauts will be thrilled to bits to find this big, gorgeous book under the tree on Christmas Day.  The crew of eight cute animals love to explore the big blue ocean from their underwater base, the Octopod.  There is always fun and excitement on their adventures.

The Octonauts are researching underwater habits around the world when Tunip the Vegimal starts to wonder where he came from.  So the Octonauts go on an underwater adventure on a quest to find Tunip's true home.  The nautical adventure will delight fans and the glow in the dark pages will add a real element of fun to a bedtime story.  Inspiring a whole new generation of marine biologists, this is a lovely book full of intricately detailed illustrations that little Octonauts fans will love.

RRP £12.99 hardback

Find these titles in all good children's books stockists.

World Book Day with Harper Collins

One of the greatest gifts you can give a young child is a love of reading.  Books open up a whole world of imagination where anything is possible.  They can transport you to magical destinations where you can embark on amazing adventures.  Books can also provide a source of comfort with familiar settings that help make sense of your own experiences.  World Book Day allows us to celebrate the literary world. Schools encourage children to dress up, take part in activities and every child is given a £1 book token to spend on a book of their choice.

Harper Collins has been a publisher of  quality books for over 200 years.   With titles spanning all genres, Harper Collins publish a brilliant range of children's picture books.  We have been lucky enough to receive a bumper bundle of books which my kids have enjoyed pouring through together.  This is what we thought of the titles we received.

Nick Butterworth's gorgeous board books for tiny tots, When We Play Together and When There's Work To Do depict familiar situations to little ones with beautiful illustrations and simple text.  The life of a toddler is brought to life, as Sam plays with his toys and helps out with the chores.  The six toy characters are really appealing and they love joining in with Sam's activities.

They are due for release later in the year and will be priced at £4.99 each.  They are perfect for little hands and are strong and sturdy.

My Henry is a a magical and moving book by Judith Kerr that actually made me sob.  The poignant tale is a celebration of the love between an old lady and her husband Henry who died and is now in Heaven.  Everyday the old lady sits in her chair, but in her mind she is having amazing adventures with Henry such as going on dinosaur rides, climbing Mount Everest or having a tea party in the jungle.

Rhyming text describes the magical adventures and lively illustrations depict the charming imaginings of the widow.  In the end, however, her most exotic daydreams can never quite compare to the real life they shared together before he died.  I adore this book...I'm welling up now as it write this!  It's one to treasure.  It is available now for £6.99.

Up and Down sees the return of Boy and Penguin, characters from Oliver Jeffers hugely successful book Lost and Found.

Penguin decides he wants to fly and goes in search of a way to take to the skies and runs away.  He eventually finds a way to achieve his dream but soon realises that without the boy with him, flying suddenly isn't as important as he had thought.  In fact he is terrified and just wants the boy to help him.

This is a tale of friendship and reaching for your dreams.  It is a heart warming story with great illustrations.

It comes with a CD read by Richard E.Grant and costs £7.99.

The Lorax is another classic from Dr Suess and is about to become a major motion picture at the cinemas, following in the footsteps of The Grinch and Horton Hears a Hoo.  The Lorax is the ultimate eco-warrier and his message is as relevant today as ever. The Lorax tries to save the brightly coloured Truffala trees from the axe of the greedy Once-ler who is getting rich selling Truffula-tuft knitted Thneeds.  His factory is polluting the air, water and land, and he is destroying the forests.

The story is narrated by the greedy Once-ler who gets overcome with greed as his business grows and grows.  He destroys the forest and causes all the creatures to leave.  But by the end he realises the error of his  ways and knows that unless someone cares, things will never get better.  The Lorax was right all along.

The fun, rhyming verse, nonsense words and illustrations are all typically Suess and I am a big fan.  This book is part of a new "Essential Suess" range bringing the wonderful stories to a whole new generation.  The film is due for release in Summer and I'm sure we'll all be going Lorax mad!  The book comes with a CD read by the brilliant Rik Mayall...and is worth every penny of the £7.99 price tag.

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon is bringing comic book heroes to young children.  The big glossy picture book is packed with cool illustrations of this awesome superhero.

His adventures include battling his arch-nemesis The Flaming Eyeball.  When he gets cross he worries about destroying cities.  Awesome Man has a very secret identity and when he retreats back to his Fortress of Awesome, we find out exactly who he is and what it is that makes him feel awesome.

This lovely book would make a great gift for your little superhero and costs £6.99.

These books are all lovely and would make excellent alternatives to Easter Eggs for little ones this year.   My top recommendations would have to be The Lorax and My Henry.  Both very different, but both set to be family favourites, each with their own poignant message.  Remember you can use your child's book token against any children's book and bring home a classic to delight, inspire or entertain your family!