Top That! For Froobles Fun and Future Fashionistas

Froobles Fun Things To Make and Do and Froobles Magnetic Play and Learn Counting...New For September From Top That!

We love the fun fruity and veggie Froobles, stars of a series of books from Top That! Publishing.  So we were delighted to receive the latest Froobles titles for Freddy.  The Fun Things To Make and Do book is a paperback book packed with ideas for imaginative activities for children to do and includes over 400 stickers to help with projects.  From potato stampers to sock puppets to recipes for yummy treats there are projects to excite little  creatives.  There are even ideas for practical jokes so look out for cheeky tricks being played on you!  We loved the Finger Doodles project where you can make farmyard animals using fingerprints for their bodies and stickers as eyes.  The book is colourful and filled with Froobles characters on every page.  The full colour stickers will add fun to every project. This is a great rainy day book.

 The Froobles Counting  (RRP £4.99)

Magnetic Play and Learn Counting is an ingenious book that includes magnetic numbers and objects that stick on to the board pages.  Each page has a fun sentence featuring a Frooble.  Children are encouraged to find and match a missing object and the relevant number magnet to put onto the page to complete the picture.  The magnets fit neatly  into a compartment built into the top of the book.  With missing lollipops, lions, dinosaurs and butterflies to find and count, the book offers a fun and interactive learning experience for pre-schoolers.  The illustrations are really cute and appealing and the friendly and familiar Froobles  will keep little ones entertained as they learn.  Other titles include Shapes, First Words and Colours.

     The Froobles Fun Things to Make and Do (RRP £5.99)

Fashion Doodles With Pattern Pages

Older children with a passion for fashion will love the Fashion Doodles book.  This large size softback book lets you create cool fashion looks that can be customised using the sheets of patterned paper included.  The book is divided into sections to represent the Fashion Weeks of New York, London, Paris and Milan and focuses on the Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter collections including dresses, accessories, shoes, hair and make-up.  Partially drawn pictures allow budding fashionistas to complete the drawings adding their own creative flair to make fabulous outfits and original looks.

The book includes tips and hints for hair, make-up and fashion ideas.  Kizzy is very interested in the fashion and beauty industry and really loved this book.  There are so many activities to exercise your style and so many ideas to inspire girls to create their own catwalk collection.  There are 97 doodle pages and more than 40 different designs of patterned paper including florals, ginghams and retro prints.  Pop Star Doodles is also available.

The Fashion Experts Doodle Scrapbook (RRP £9.99)

Top That! for Phonics and Bumblebees!

Top That! Publishers have sent us a fabulous bundle of books to review.  We have a lovely, big glossy picture book and some Flip-over Phonic books to aid children with reading and spelling.

Po-Tolo is a picture book with a green message.  When spaceman Po-Tolo came to Earth on a quest, the brave, busy bumblebee Izzy helps him save his planet.  In Po-Tolo's world, the bees have all gone and all the plants are dying.  The environmental message is clear, making young children understand the importance of the humble bumblebee.  Po-Tolo's plan diagrams show how bees collecting pollen leads to more plants!

The CGI illustrations are bold and bright and the fun story is entertaining to little ones as well as having the important green eco message.  Freddy laughs out loud at this story, when Po-Tolo's spacesuit springs a leak thanks to a naughty wasp!  It also makes little ones realise that they don't have to be big to be a big help! It costs £6.29 and is suitable for ages 3 and up.

We also received three free-standing flip over Phonics books: Short Vowels, Three Letter Words and Word Families.  The books are quite sturdy with thin card pages.

Each page is split into three, allowing children to flip through to match up the correct letters, rhyming words or phonemes to make words or groups of words.

Freddy is a bit too young yet to really benefit from these as they are recommended for children aged 5 and over.  They will however be great aids in learning to read and spell.  The books come with notes for parents to help the understanding of phonics.  By using colour and picture matching, children can find the correct matching pages, even before they have learned the alphabet. This is a great resource for pre-schoolers!

Top That! for Christmas

However technical children's toys get, there is something so special about storybooks.  Nothing beats snuggling up and sharing a book with your little ones, so don't forget to pop a book or two under the tree this year.  

Top That! Publishing have a wonderful selection of gorgeous children's books to choose from, and they have sent us "Time for Dinner" and "The Tangle Fairy" to read.  Both books are big and glossy with gorgeous illustrations.

"Time for Dinner" is a humorous picture storybook with a comic twist that will amuse children time and time again.  It's time for dinner and all the animals are hungry and trying to find their next meal!  With the cat looking at the bird, the bird looking at the spider and the spider looking at the fly...will anyone end up on the dinner menu?  The fast paced ending when a dog shows up and upsets the status quo made 2 year old Freddy giggle!  

The illustrations are lovely, although the spider did make Freddy scream!


The story has animal noises which always adds fun to storytelling.  "Time for Dinner" is available to buy from the Top That! website for £5.39.

"The Tangle Fairy" is a story that little girls with tangled hair will love!  Jaya wakes up with knotted hair every morning and asks the Tangle Fairy why.  The fairy has some very outrageous suggestions as to why it happens, but Jaya offers solutions to the fairy yet she still gets tangly hair by morning!  When Jaya gets to the bottom of why it happens she is actually quite happy with the reason!

The rhyming text makes this a joy to read and the lovely pictures of Jaya and the fairy are quite exquisite.  The fairy's tall stories about dragons and witches are really fun and capture little ones' imaginations.  "The Tangle Fairy" is available from Top That's website for £5.39.

Take a look at topthatpublishing.com for their amazing range of children's books which make perfect Christmas presents or stocking fillers for children.

Also on the website you can find all the latest news on The Froobles!  The enhanced audio ebooks with celebrity narration have been released on iTunes. The four read-along titles feature the vocal talents of Johnny Vaughan, Denise van Outen, Reggie Yates and Edith Bowman and are available, for a limited time, at a special promotional price at £1.49. 

Meet the Froobles

Top That! Publishing have launched a whole new series of books based on their fabulous new characters The Froobles.  They are fruit and vegetable characters that have been brought to life by the magic of children's imaginations.  The Froobles ever-changing and magical world has been created by playgroup children which is a lovely touch.  The delightful stories follow the tale of one of the Froobles and their friends.  There are twelve books to collect with simple, emotive texts that tackle lessons about growing up to the target readership.  The "engaging characters will entertain children, spark their imaginations and teach them valuable lessons about growing up!" says Dan Graham, the Editorial Director.

Top That! Publishing have sent me two of the titles in the range featuring Ozzy Onion and Apps Apple.  The small sized paperback storybooks are glossy and printed on thick, quality paper.  The characters are based on familiar fruits and vegetables which makes them really appealing and instantly recognisable to children.  Freddy recognised what the characters were and was very interested in the book, pointing at the pictures and naming objects.  The stories are simple but fun and fast paced and give a message to the child, such as play nicely with your friends, making them very relatable.  Freddy keeps going back to them and the books are a perfect size for him to look at himself encouraging an independent interest in pre-reading skills.

The back page is a sticker sheet allowing the child to make their own scene using images from the story book.  Children love stickers so this is a lovely addition adding a further dimension to the play value of the Froobles brand.

Following the launch of the books this month, interactive Froobles iPhone, iPad and Android apps will be available to purchase on iTunes from November.  Narration is provided by the voice talents of celebrities Johnny Vaughan, Denise Van Outen, Edith Bowman and Reggie Yates.  It is Top That!'s first character brand that has been developed simultaneously in print and digital formats.

There is also a dedicated website www.froobles.com  introducing the characters to children with fun educational games and activities.  We are really enjoying the site with each character having its own unique game.  Freddy liked Little Jack Potato's Dressing Up Game and Penny Pineapple's Fly Swatting Game...great to enjoy with your toddler.

The books retail for £2.69 at Top That! Publishing online.
Follow Froobles on Twitter and like them on Facebook to join in with the fabulous Froobles fun!

Top That! for Summer Holidays

We're now into the long six weeks of the summer holidays and if you are anything like me, you'll be looking for ways to keep the kids happily entertained.  Top That! Publishing have sent me two books that are just perfect, especially when travelling with little ones.

Colours is part of Top That!'s Sticker Activity Book range.  Introducing key early learning concepts is made fun with this book.  It comes with 100 re-usable stickers that children will enjoy matching to the colours on each page.  Fun activities will keep the little ones entertained, perfect on a long car, plane or ferry journey.

I love the big glossy pages which combine photography and illustrations.  The spaces for the colourful stickers complete the pictures.  The activities support National Curriculum early learning objectives and include drawing, spot the difference, dot to dot and colouring.  The book includes smiley face stickers to reward your child as they learn about colours.

Priced at just £4.49 from Top That! this lovely quality 32 page book is a perfect solution for keeping the kids happy on their travels or entertained on a rainy day.  Other titles in the series include Counting, First Words and Shapes.  They are suitable for ages 3+.

Explore, Dream, Discover is a travelling book for creative kids.  Described as a travel-diary, memory-maker, doodle-pad, brain-engager, boredom-stopper, idea-waker, captain's-log and a thought-provoker, it is a truly unique book.  It is a hard backed journal which will make a wonderful travel companion for children aged 7+.

With sections dedicated to different aspects of their holidays, children are challenged to think, predict, research and observe things before, during and after their travels.  Diary pages are made interesting as children are challenged to write their entry in imaginative ways such as in rhyme, as if they were a time traveller or from the point of view of their shoes!  There are ideas for taking holiday photos with purpose such as using reflections, framing shots through doorways or selecting interesting themes.  You can then stick in your shots on the album pages.  A storage pocket lets the child store tickets, messages, menus, leaflets etc from their holiday.  The book is packed with over 100 activities, games and projects.

I for one would have loved this book as a child.  Holiday journals are such fabulous keep sakes but can sometimes feel like a chore for the child.  This book is inspirational, fun and full of amazing ideas and children will love keeping their holiday diary and it will be something unique to look back on in future years.

Priced at £7.19 from Top That! this is a wonderful book for creative kids.  I absolutely love it!  I know my girls will enjoy filling it in on their next holiday!  

*Top That!'s When I Dream Of ABC that I reviewed here, has won the children's category of the People's Book Prize 2011 Awards.  Congratulations to Henry Fisher and Top That! on their prestigious award!!*

Top That! for Bedtime Stories

Top That! Publishing is an award winning independent book publisher specialising in books for tots through to adults. Their pre-school range is designed to promote child development, enrich relationships and foster creativity and imagination.

I am extremely proud to have been selected as a Yummy Mummy book reviewer for Top That! Publishing.  I am delighted to be able to review a selection of their books Inside the Wendy House.  The first two books we have been sent are the very beautiful "When I Dream of ABC" and "Pandamonium".

"When I Dream of ABC" is a beautiful, soothing bedtime book set in an amazing dreamworld.  Wonderful fantasy characters are introduced for each letter of the alphabet. From opera singing mermaids to fairies that grant wishes if you tickle their nose!  The illustrations are sumptuous and detailed.  The wording is humorous...I was laughing at the deadpan wit while the children were enchanted by the tales of the friendly creatures.  It is a wonderful twist on learning the alphabet, and a lovely story to share at bed time.  

F is for Fairy...

The large sized 64 page paperback book is written and illustrated by Henry Fisher.  It has been shortlisted as a finalist for The People's Book Prize and I can completely understand why.  It is lovely and Freddy enjoyed looking at the gorgeous illustrations and listening to the funny text.  It's a lovely and very unique way to learn the ABC's!! (RRP: £6.99)

Big Sister Ella shares a bedtime story with Freddy xxx

"Pandamonium" is a hilarious story written in rhyming text about the pandamonium that occurs when the octopus lets the animals out of their cages one night at the zoo.  The zookeeper snoozes through their antics as the animals party lead by the dance-loving pandas.

The illustrations are fantastic showing the animals' antics beautifully.  Everything goes well until the skunk lets off a terrible stink which sees the animals running for cover.  The smell is so bad even the zoo keeper's nose starts twitching!  The sing-song rhythm of the rhyming text is fun and Freddy loves to listen to the words over and over again.  The added element of toilet humour evoked giggles galore! 

A Change in the Mood, Pandamonium ensued!

Written by Dan Crisp and illustrated by Mark Chambers, this delightfully funny picture book is 32 pages long.  Children will love the animal characters who are so expertly brought to life within the full colour pages.  It is a rousing read...probably not best at bedtime...far too funny!! (RRP: £5.99)

Ready for Pandamonium.

Both books are perfect for pre-schoolers.  I loved the fact that the humour in both titles was so refreshing making the books a delight to read to my son.  Ella 15 and Kizzy 8, both enjoyed sharing the stories with their little brother.  Both are a real hit!