Tag Hippo Park

A bear, a bee, and a honey tree / Dinosaurs: A Pop-Up Book

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A bear, a bee, and a honey tree
Daniel Bernstrom and Brandon James Scott
Hippo Park

The book begins with the three natural objects named in the title each shown in an illustration of their own. The bee – a busy one of the honey obsessed kind – then flies out from the tree to visit a flower. The bear – a hungry one – sallies forth intent on obtaining some honey from that tree. On the bee’s return we see two busy creatures in the tree looking far from happy. The drama escalates as the honey hunting ursine faces a swarm of ‘fuzzy buzzing bees’, then cascades down to the ground coming to land in a weedy patch above which one angry bee searches and the bear hides before both the million buzzing bees, still busy, return to their tree and a very disgruntled, exceedingly hungry bear returns to it’s cave.

With its cleverly constructed text using minimal words by Daniel Bernstrom and dramatic story telling scenes by Brandon James Scott, this playful board book will entertain both little humans and grown-up sharers.

Dinosaurs: A Pop-Up Book
Ingela P Arrhenius
Walker Books

There are five double spreads allocated to dinosaurs in this large format novelty board book, each one introduced by popular illustrator, Ingela Arrhenius. First we meet the Long Necks, all nine featured are herbivores, each with a long tail, very long neck and small head.
Next come the Spiky Dinos – ten in all, and every one had bony plates along its back and spikes on its tail. (A Sauropelta (new to me) had spikes all over its body however.) Lifting the flap beside the Kentrosaurus (also new to me) is a sentence about its brain – despite the creature’s huge size, its brain was only the size of a walnut.
The third spread has nine dinos, all with bird-like beaks. Most also sported frills on their necks and some had horns. The least frilly of the Frilly Heads, Psittacosaurus got its name on account of having a parrot-like beak: Psittacosaurus means ‘parrot lizard’.

Fourth come the Feathered Friends, dinosaurs that walked on two legs and were often feathered and winged. The smallest known dinosaur is featured here: it’s the Microraptor.
The final spread features dinosaurs Fast and Fierce and includes Tyrannosaurus Rex, Spinosaurus and Allosaurus. Some of these beasties moved extremely fast, others had sharp claws and teeth with which they would attack and consume their prey.
Most small children are dinosaur mad so this book with its flaps, central pop-ups and brief factual snippets will be a winner for Ingela.

The Ogre in the Hall

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The Ogre in the Hall
Céline Sorin and Pascal Lemaître
Hippo Park (Astra Books for Young Readers)

Jojo is in urgent need of a wee but it’s night-time and although the bathroom is close to his bedroom, the presence of an ogre makes it a dangerous walk through the hallway. Nonetheless, needs must, so, sword in paw, Jojo ventures forth into the darkness only to find that the bathroom is occupied, but who is within? Not his mum or dad but sitting on the loo is the ogre; moreover he has a tummy ache. But why use somebody else’s bathroom? It turns out that this ogre is scared of the dark and there’s no light in his own bathroom.

Having used the loo, the ogre needs to wash his hands, however this too is problematic. Jojo’s other bathroom – the one with a sink – is also in use, by an octopus that’s languishing in the bathtub. Henceforward further mayhem unfolds in the shape of a pair of crocodiles and they are scared of a ‘monster’ in the hall.

All this time poor Jojo is still holding on, increasingly afraid he’ll wee in his pyjamas. How will this all end? To tell would be to become a story-spoiler so you’ll need to find a copy of this highly amusing book with its hugely funny illustrations and discover for yourself. Young listeners will certainly enjoy it but whether you’ll want to share it at bedtime is open to doubt.

Zeki Hikes With Daddy / Fiona on the Swings & Herbert Climbs to the Top

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Zeki Hikes With Daddy
Anna McQuinn and Ruth Hearson
Alanna Max

This latest Zeki story is so full of joy from the front cover illustration right through to Ruth Hearson’s final scene showing a blissfully slumbering infant being carried home on the back of his smiling father after their wonderful day together.

As they explore the great outdoors Zeki notices small details such as a tiny falling leaf, crisp footprints left by a bird in the squelchy mud beside the water, a delicate feather and a bumpy pine cone: what lovely rich descriptive language Anna uses in her verbal pictures of these natural objects and the others mentioned.

It’s great to see both father and son being excited by the natural world,

as well as spending quality time in each other’s company. Spending time in the company of Zeki and his family is always a delight for small children and their adult sharers; both audiences will surely cherish this shared time too.

Like all the others in the series, this book deserves to be part of the early experiences of every toddler. It’s pitch perfect for encouraging talk and new learning.

Fiona on the Swings
Herbert Climbs to the Top
Rilla Alexander
Hippo Park: Astra Books for Young Readers

Just like little humans, Herbert and Fiona Hippo love using the equipment in the park: Hippo Park is where they meet their friends including a frog, a mouse, and a turtle.

Fiona is eager to learn to swing though needs help to get herself up onto a swing seat but Herbert is on hand to assist and provide an initial push to give her some momentum. Following his instructions, she’s soon kicking and tucking her legs as she swings back and forth till Herbert too starts his swing and then it’s time to let their imaginations take flight …

The top referred to in the second title is that of the arched climbing ladder. Urged on by his pals, Herbert takes tentative steps gradually gaining confidence as he goes step, pull, step, pull right to the very highest part. Overcoming sudden wobbliness and the dropping of Teddy, back down he climbs and off into a flight of fancy with frog et al.

Endearing, cartoonish drawings of the activities at the park combined with simple, chatty storylines of friends at play will please the very youngest.