Tag Rebecca Atkinson

A Long Tail

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A Long Tail
Rebecca Atkinson and Kate Read
Happy Yak

Children can have fun as they follow the tactile trail of the tremendously long tail in this tale, a tale narrated by a little girl who discovers its tip disappearing through the front door that is slightly ajar. She follows the tail with its wealth of patterns as it meanders over the pages zigzagging, curling, looping, twirling left, right, over and under and across, out of her house, through the park,

onto the bus to school and finally back home once more.

At the end of the trail waiting to meet its new human friend is a Looperloo. It is, as the little girl tells us ‘so hugely, so lollopy and sweet. The cutest, most magical friend you could meet.’ The two of them eat, enjoy a bath, play and read a story together before bouncing right into bed beneath a ‘great big tail-ey heap’ and falling fast asleep.

A delightfully unusual, playful story with occasional die-cut pages, and near the end of the book, a large fold waiting for the reader’s hand to reveal the creature.

Ask Me About Bedtime / Ask Me About Busy Wheels/ Where Do They Sleep?

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Ask Me About Bedtime
Ask Me About Busy Wheels
Rebecca Atkinson and Susie Hammer
Happy Yak

It’s almost Bedtime in the first book, the opening scene of which is the bathroom where a little blue creature is enjoying a bubble bath. Also in the bath – or almost – is what introduces itself as a ‘Quizzy Bean. On this first spread the Bean asks how many boats little humans can find. The little human must then count and move the slider mechanism found on the right hand side to the appropriate number.

Once dry it’s time to put on pyjamas and the little human is tasked with finding the pattern on the pair in the cupboard tucked behind a flap: do they have stripes, spots or squiggles and again the slider is moved to select. A vital pre bedtime task is tooth cleaning and the favourite toothpaste is almost hidden behind the mug: opening the flap reveals the choice, which is then indicated by moving the slider. Every bedtime routine needs a pre-slumber story.The question is ‘What is Quizzy Bean reading about? The final spread sends the little human back to count the total number of Quizzy Beans and last of all, to answer a question.

Ask Me About Busy Wheels presents five vehicles – a digger, a fire engine, a rubbish truck, a tractor and a snack van and works in a similar way to the previous title, with its ‘decider slider’ mechanism and flaps to lift. Both have Susie Hammer’s bold, amusing illustrations and together with Rebecca Atkinson’s texts offer entertainment as well as developing Early Years concepts such as colour, and shape, plus furthering the development of manipulative skills, counting and vocabulary.

Also about bedtime is:

Where Do They Sleep?
Adam Thompson and Erica Harrison
Messy Press

This very simple look at where and how some animals like to sleep uses creatures large and small as exemplars. For instance flamingos sleep standing on one leg in lakes; bats snooze in caves, mice snuggle in nests and dogs sleep in dog beds (rather a different shape from those humans use as we see in the bright illustrations). I wonder where elephant sleep? Find out by getting a copy of this board book to share with your small human just before they snuggle down for the night.