Tag Zoe Waring

Our Beach / Walter the Wonder Snail

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Our Beach
Rebecca Smith and Zoe Waring
Harper Collins Children’s Books

It’s wonderful what a collection of bits and pieces can lead to and that’s what we discover in this story of a little girl and her granddad who spend the day together.

As the book opens we see the two hand in hand, grandad carrying a large bag, making their way towards the sea shore.

They enjoy exploring rock pools, collecting seashells and pebbles and most important each other’s company.

Then comes a sudden change and a spread shows what is really happening before the flights of fancy recommence, and with them, the resurfacing of precious memories. It’s Gran’s “Time for our tea!” announcement that brings the two back to reality,

somewhat reluctantly perhaps as they eek out their imaginative experience for as long as they can before sitting down to share the tasty meal set out on the table.
A delightful celebration of the power of the imagination and a special intergenerational bond.

Walter the Wonder Snail
Neil Clark
Happy Yak

Tired of the tedium of leaves, Walter the Snail believes there must be more to life; he longs to escape the confines of his leafy existence and discover what the wider world offers. With hat atop his horns and shell packed, off he slides into the great unknown.

Our intrepid traveller faces challenges aplenty on his journey, but there are plenty of other creatures ready and willing to offer encouragement and help.

Nonetheless Walter is also able to adapt to a variety of terrains and weather conditions,

and to think outside the box, especially when it comes to making his way back home.

On his return Walter imparts some wise words to his fellow snails: “I know that anyone can do anything they put their mind to.You’ve just got to think big!” That’s a vital life lesson for young humans too and one they’ll learn subconsciously through Neil Clark’s wise words and his diverting, richly coloured, scenes of Walter’s travels. I love the variety of viewpoints and page layouts.

Rich in classroom potential but above all, a thoroughly enjoyable story.

SuperDaisy

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SuperDaisy
Rebecca Smith and Zoe Waring
Harper Collins Children’s Books

Young Daisy is an aspiring princess and really feels like a fairy princess when she dons the pink gown and crown from her dressing up box. This make-believe helps Daisy to forget about the less happy parts of her life, for this little girl has cancer and often needs to go and stay in a hospital far from her home to have medicine that makes her feel sick and weak. Worse though is that the medicine causes her hair to fall out.

Then back at home she rediscovers that forgotten pink sparkly wig and when she puts it on, Daisy is transformed into Daisy the Superhero complete with flowing cape and matching shimmery mask. Wearing this amazing attire Daisy transports herself to the town zoo where she comes to the aid of some lemurs being cruelly frightened by a boy.

She goes on to rescue a bear trapped beneath a fallen tree in the forest and to help a little girl at the seaside who has dropped her ice-cream in fright when a seagull came too close. Now when she’s back in that ward for treatment Daisy wears her pink hair, bolstered by the knowledge that her kindness power has made her a superhero able to face anything.

Eventually Daisy’s hair grows back: the wig has done its job and more.

This inspiring, uplifting rhyming book based on a true story is published in support of the Little Princess Trust, which supplies wigs for children with cancer. With its plethora of pink touches as well as that wig in Zoe Waring’s illustrations, this is definitely one to share with youngsters like Daisy undergoing cancer treatment (or perhaps sick with another serious illness).

Little Bear’s Picnic / Peek-through: Around Town & Peek-through: Jobs We Do

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Here are some new Little Tiger board book treats for toddlers:

Little Bear’s Picnic
Sebastien Braun and Kathryn Smith
Little Tiger

Picnics are the best fun if you collect some of the components on the way and that’s what happens in the second in the Cook With Me! lift-the-flap series.

Little Bear’s pretend play gives Big Bear an idea. The adult bear puts some items into a basket and off they go through the vegetable garden, pausing there to harvest some delicious veggies for the picnic.

By the stream Little Bear asks about another green plant and learns that it’s watercress – another tasty item to add to the basket.

The buzzy bees in the woods lead them to discover a honeycomb in the trees and then it’s time to settle down to a lunch.

Suddenly down comes a shower of rain so they gather up their things and dash for cover. Soon, sheltered beneath the canopy of a large tree the two bears watch as a rainbow appears in the sky and they tuck into their yummy ‘Rainbow Wraps Picnic’.

There’s a recipe for these beneath the final flap inside the back cover of the book.

Seb. Braun’s attention to detail is as always superb, so there’s plenty to get involved with including flaps to explore and a question to respond to on every spread such as ‘Can you help Little Bear pick some watercress?’

Toddlers will enjoy the playful picnic game and have fun guessing what the book contains as well as trying out its recipe.

Peek-through: Around Town
Peek-through: Jobs We Do
Jonny Marx and Zoe Waring
Little Tiger

Dusty the dog is a bit of a snooper so tired of being cooped up inside (familiar?) off he goes to explore what the town has to offer. Starting with the café, he visits the bookshop – hurray!,

the clothing store, the music shop, the sweet shop, the greengrocer and at the end of the day, meets up with a friend in the restaurant.

Roxy Rat also likes exploring and meeting others. Her perambulations take her to the police station, the fire station, a restaurant kitchen, a clothes shop, a garage, the bank and the hospital. That’s her final destination for we discover on the final spread that Roxy is a nurse whose turn it is on the night shift.

Both titles have a question on each recto above which is a peek-through flap to open and find the answer.

There’s a wealth of vocabulary development potential if toddlers share these chunky board books with an adult or older sibling.