Alfie in the Bath
Debi Gliori
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
The irrepressible Alfie is back: he’s in the tub this time and what better place to let that fertile imagination of his run riot. At first he’s washing his toys but before long, he’s become a tentacle-waving monster ‘Glub, glub, glub!’, a claw-snapping crab, a tumultuous gale HOO-WOO and then oh no! ‘bubble-bubble hiss’ he’s on the ocean floor.

Is this the end for Alfie? But no – up he bobs again, a water-spouting whale ‘KERSPLOOOOOSHHH!’ and we can see who’s firmly in charge of the mop-up operations…

Simply told with delicious join-in-with sounds , beautifully portrayed in soft focus – there’s a great fold-out spread,

and a delight to share with the very young (though probably not just before a bath).

 

Who Puts the Animals to Bed?
Mij Kelly and Holly Clifton-Brown
Hodder Children’s Books
Can you imagine blowing a crocodile a kiss goodnight? No? Then you obviously haven’t set eyes on the adorable one sporting bedroom slippers and jumper in this charming book

that starts like this:
At the end of the day,
at the start of the night,
when the earth is half dark,
when the sky is half light,
who puts the
animals to bed?
We are then invited to consider among other things, who helps the cat down from the shed,

finds the bear, soothes the sea-lion pup and sings a lullaby to the lion.

All these and other possibilities are proffered, not only to us but also to the small child shown in the final spread surrounded by her entire toy menagerie.

The combination of dreamy, soft-focus illustrations and lilting, rhyming text makes for a gently soporific bedtime read; however this one’s just too good to be kept only for the pre-slumber hour – it’s the perfect snuggle time book for all times of the day, for individuals or group sharing.

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