The Dinosaur That Pooped a Lot! by Tom Fletcher & Dougie Poynter

Book review: "The Dinosaur That Pooped a Lot!" is a 2015 World Book Day book and as such is/was available for just one GBP, or in exchange for a World Book Day voucher. It is aimed at 2+ year-olds and I read it with my 4-year-old daughter.

Rather disappointedly it is just a recap of two other books in the series, but in rather condensed form. The story follows Danny and Dinosaur as they "lay there thinking of times they'd had fun", which is basically them remembering their adventure in space from "The Dinosaur That Pooped A Planet" and their adventure through time from "The Dinosaur That Pooped The Past"

Naturally my daughter's favourite part is when the dinosaur poops to save the day.

It would have been better if the book were original, although the authors may have been under time pressures, and this is really a showcase book anyway. But my daughter liked it anyway.

Publication date: 26 Feb 2015

Amazon UK link (for £1): The Dinosaur That Pooped a Lot! by Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter

Magic Animal Friends: Lucy Longwhiskers Finds a Friend by Daisy Meadows

Book review: "Lucy Longwhiskers Finds a Friend" is a 2015 World Book Day book and as such is/was available for just one GBP, or in exchange for a World Book Day voucher. It is aimed at 5+ year-olds and is by Daisy Meadows, author of all the Rainbow Fairy books. 

Similar to the Rainbow Fairy series the story has two young girls as its main characters - Lily and Jess - and they have a special secret. Using a hidden door in the Friendship Tree in the middle of Brightley Meadow they are able to access the magical world of Friendship Forest, "an amazing world where animals live in cottages, brightly coloured dens, or even on boats, and everyone of them can talk!"

This time it is Story Day in Friendship Forest, "the day we get new books here in the forest made magically by the Book Tree, which only makes them on Story Day." However there is one person who wants to spoil it for everyone, Grizelda. She hates books, she hates stories and she hates Story Day. Using a spell she wraps vines around Mrs Taptree's library so that no one can get in or out, and no one can access all the stories inside. Of course it falls upon Lily and Jess to sort out the mess, with Lucy Longwhiskers, a shy rabbit, making a new friend along the way.

The series seems to have a Beatrix Potter influence with character names such as Molly Twinkletail and Mrs Featherbill but it is good that Daisy Meadows has branched out into this new series as the fairy books were getting very formulaic. Also it is great that they produced an original story for World Book Day, one that is even themed to the event. Of course it's a little shorter than the other books in the series. Nevertheless my 8-year-old enjoyed this book very much.

Publication date: 26 Feb 2015

Amazon UK link (available for just £1 at time of writing): Magic Animal Friends: Lucy Longwhiskers Finds a Friend 

Elmer's Parade by David McKee book review

Book review: "Elmer's Parade" is a 2015 World Book Day book and as such is/was available for just one GBP, or in exchange for a World Book Day voucher. It is aimed at 2+ year-olds. My 4-year-old used her voucher she received from nursery on it.

The story follows Elmer as he rounds up the other jungle animals for the annual fancy dress parade. It features popular characters who have appeared in previous Elmer books such as his cousin Wilbur, although the story is completely self-contained. Every page is full of colour with little white appearing throughout, except on the cover for some reason, and there are plenty of appealing patterns too on the animals and the surrounding vegetation. As a bonus there is a special activity for all the young readers/listeners to partake in on each page to help keep them engaged with the story if they aren't already.

Maybe this book isn't as long or as big as the other Elmer books, it is a WBD book after all, but my 4-year-old loved it, what with the colours, the patterns and the story. Putting all these elements together it is easy to see why Elmer is so popular.

Publication date: 26 Feb 2015

Amazon UK link (available for just £1 at time of writing): Elmer's Parade 

The Tapper Twins go to War (With Each Other) by Geoff Rodkey

Book review: "The Tapper Twins go to War (With Each Other)" is an account of a "war" the 12-year-old Tapper Twins, Claudia and Reese, had. The account was initiated by Claudia "so that historians of the future would know exactly what happened and whose fault it was (Reese's)."

The account is arranged as an oral history (i.e. interviews) with all the main players getting to have their say, with photos, illustrations, online chat logs and telephone text conversations being interspersed along the way. The layout being arranged into smaller chunks of text like this should appeal to younger readers.

The war itself is over little things, but also there is a conscience to it all with both parties expressing regret at what they do in their attempts at revenge. "I am NEVER going to war with anybody again."

The book is very funny with different viewpoints being expressed over the same events, and little digs that the twins have at each others' expense. All-in-all a book well worth reading.

Publication date: 2 April 2015

Amazon UK link (from £5.99): The Tapper Twins go to War (With Each Other)