Snuggle Up
Make Some Noise
Emma Dodd
Templar Books

These are two board books in a First Stories for Baby series. In Snuggle Up the youngest humans are introduced to Little Bear cub with her soft fur and ‘sniffly, snuffly’ nose; then goes Little Dolphin who loves to splash in the shallows of the sea using her shiny flippers and swishy tail to help her swim, leaving as she moves a ‘shimmery bubble trail.’ Little Owl is awake in the moonlight, his big round eyes peeping from a hole in the tree until the sun rises and Big Owl tucks him under her wing. Finally comes stripy Little Tiger that loves to leap and pounce under the watchful eye of Big Tiger till, come nightfall they snuggle close ‘in a tangled tiger heap’ and fall asleep.

Told through a gentle rhyming text and black and white illustrations that will immediately endear their subjects to humans both tiny and adult sharers.

Make Some Noise has the same characters and tiny children are introduced to sounds the little creatures (and sometimes their parents) make. Little Bear giggles “GRR! GRR! GRR!” as she’s tickled by Big Bear and following a playful time jumping and climbing together, Little Bear snuggles up to Big Bear with a contented “SNORE” Little Dolphin spends her time splashing splashing ‘SPLOSH’ and sometimes she jumps up from the water with a ‘PLOP!’, all the while under the watchful eye of Big Dolphin as they ‘SPLASH’ together through the waves. Little Owl waits, hidden in the RUSTLY leaves of his tree home and sometimes calls softly “TU-WHIT TU-WHIT TU-WHOO!” to Big Owl and as Big Owl flies back to her little one, gives a similar reply. Finally we join Little Tiger at dawn as he wakes with a YAWN before spending time playfully pouncing, prowling and chasing his tail with a “ROAR” and a “GROWL”. Then along comes Big Tiger with tongue at the ready to wash his fur, which makes him happy so he “purrs and purrs and PURRS”. Adult sharers can encourage their little humans to make some of the animal sounds as the book is read aloud to them – I suspect, over and over.

It’s as well they are sturdily built: both books are delightful.