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Rabbit’s Pancake Picnic / Little Owl’s New Friend

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Rabbit’s Pancake Picnic
Tegen Evans and Paula Bowles
Nosy Crow

Rabbit is a determined, independent character and insists she’s going to make pancakes for her picnic all by herself. That’s the plan but then she discovers her recipe book is missing from the basket she’s packed. Botheration! She’ll have to wing it she decides as she starts adding ingredients to her mixing bowl.

In go first, strawberries (10) then syrup (9 spoonsful), followed in decreasing numbers by apples , lemons, bananas, cheese chunks, tomatoes, blobs of cream, spoonsful of sugar and finally a single pinch of salt. All the while she firmly resists her friends’s suggestions, but the end result is a ghastly-looking mess. Poor Rabbit; she dashes off to the woods to hide herself away.

But then along comes Bear and he has something that might just save the day …

A sweet, but unlike Rabbit’s mixture – far from sickly tale of teamwork, listening to the advice of one’s friends and the delights of working together. There’s so much for young listeners to enjoy including the adorable characters, the repeat refrains to join in with, the counting opportunities and then there’s the bonus of Rabbit’s Perfect Pancake recipe at the end. MMM!

Little Owl’s New Friend
Debi Gliori and Alison Brown
Bloomsbury Children’s Books

In this new Little Owl story, the chief protagonist is far from happy when his mum interrupts his play with his toy hedgehog, Hedge, announcing that “Small Squirrel has come to play.” A flat refusal comes from Little Owl: no way is a new friend joining in their Hungry Lion game.

Now Mum needs to use some clever tactics,. Can cinnamon buns (now I’d certainly weaken at the mention of those), change her offspring’s mind?

Small Squirrel seems to like them. If not perhaps a bear hunt, picnic-marauding Snaffleworms, or even a ‘Hush-Hush’ might save the day?

There’s SO much to talk about here. Both author Debi and illustrator Alison beautifully capture the feelings of youngsters who are apprehensive about making new friends. Young children will delight in Mummy Owl’s clever ploys while also empathising with both Little Owl and Small Squirrel.
Add to early years collections and home bookshelves if you have little humans of the preschool kind.

Hibernation Hotel / Still Stuck

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Hibernation Hotel
John Kelly and Laura Brenlla
Little Tiger Press

This book really made me think of winter, starring as it does, a bear, who despite it being past hibernation time, is still wide awake.
Bear’s sleeplessness is all down to his over-crowded cave but it looks like he’s thought of a solution.
A phone call later, followed by a drive in his jalopy and he’s checking in at a smart hotel in the mountains. The perfect place for some uninterrupted shut-eye, especially as he’s asked the receptionist for a March 1st wake-up call.

How wrong could Bear be? Noisy, partying guests, an over-soft bed, and heavy bedding are far from sleep-inducing, and the TV shows just upset him.
Perhaps an empty tummy is the cause of his insomnia; room service should soon fix things …

And fix things it does, entirely satisfactorily; only not quite in the way Bear anticipated.
Kelly & Brenlla’s enormous ursine character with his fascination for hotel freebies, fixtures and fittings, is a peevish delight.

In that luxurious alien environment he discovers that creature comforts can come in unexpected forms.
Just right for a pre-bedtime giggle with little ones, especially those who need a bit of help dropping off.

More bedtime shenanigans in:

Still Stuck
Shinsuke Yoshitake
Abrams Books for Young Readers

It’s time for a bath and the independent-minded toddler protagonist refuses help with getting undressed. Good on you, little one. But then, almost inevitably thinks the experienced nursery teacher part of me, his shirt gets stuck – well and truly so.
This sets the infant off on a surprisingly upbeat contemplation of the challenges of ‘stuckness’ and their problem-solving solutions – being thirsty for example …

Then there are the possibilities of friendship with other similarly stuck individuals: that could be lots of fun …

Coldness starts to invade his thoughts so the lad has another go at extricating himself, starting with his trousers – a valiant effort but definitely not a success.

Eventually Mum appears, disrobes the boy and lugs him off (wait for giggles at the bum views) to the bathroom.
But then, come the pyjamas – hmmm. What could possibly go wrong?

Yoshitake’s dead-pan text combined with wonderfully observed, cartoon comic, digitally rendered visuals make for a chucklesome pre-bedtime share for adults and infants.