Pop!
Matt Carr
Scholastic

If you’re looking for a wacky way to encourage small children to practise counting to ten then get your hands on this rhyming story that begins to explode one rainy afternoon when the contents of a packet of popcorn is sent tumbling into a pan atop the stove. On goes the lid and happy to be out of the bag, the corn pieces are in party mood despite the rising temperature. Suddenly there comes a POP! It’s Dave delighted at his muscly new shape.

There’s no time to brag about being unique though, for almost immediately comes POP! number two; Monique has joined Dave making a ‘pair of superhero corn’. Small explosions continue as Shaun, Clare, Dean, Debbie, Ben, Sue, Wendy and Brian. joined the pair in rapid succession. A hip-hop popping party if ever there was one.

Eventually those pops stop and onto the popcorn pals there comes a shower of sugar.

Then from their new resting place the crew settles down to watch – wait for it, a movie. The kind of movie will perhaps make adult sharers cringe at it’s punny nature.

Ridiculous, irresistible fun: this book is sure to become hugely POP-ular with little humans who will want to hear it over and over as they eagerly join in with all the popping.