Lulu and the Treasure Hunt: Emma Chichester Clarke (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2013)
This is the second in the Wagtail Town series and both MG and DG love both this and Lulu and the Best Cake Ever. What’s not to like in a town full of dogs? In this story the school children go on a treasure hunt to the local park following clues to the final treasure. Lulu volunteers to look after Bonnie as she’s the smallest but gets impatient and leaves her behind! Her friends get cross and leave Lulu to find Bonnie. I feel sorry for Lulu here because the whole group could have waited before instead of leaving both Lulu and Bonnie behind but fortunately all ends well, Lulu is very sorry but Bonnie doesn’t mind and between them they find the best treasure.
The details in the dog breeds for the Wagtail Town books will delight any dog enthusiast (I prefer cats!) and the gentle message of not leaving someone behind just because they are small is good for young children. MG and DG give Wagtail Town a big thumbs up!
Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of Lulu and the Treasure Hunt by HarperCollins Children’s Books for review. No other financial reward was given and the opinions are my own. I was not asked to write this post.
Beautifully illustrated, funny and with a great message too.
These are much nicer dinosaurs though, they’re curvy, less angular and don’t have such big sharp teeth! They’re also incidental to the story as the little somethingosaur may not be an -osaur at all…
This Moose Belongs To Me: Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2012)
A House In The Woods: Inga Moore (Walker, 2011)
Come to School Too, Blue Kangaroo by Emma Chichester-Clark. Lily and Blue Kangaroo are well loved characters and in this latest adventure, Lily is about to go to a new school. It’s not said whether this is her first school or if she is changing school but the book works for either so would also be good for families that have moved and had to change schools. Lily is scared but her fears are shown via Blue Kangaroo – she asks his questions and is reassured by all the friendly adults in her life. Wonderfully reassuring and of course beautifully illustrated, this is a lovely book to share with small children.
Foxy by Emma Dodd. Rather than showing the first day at school, Foxy is a funny book to take away worries from the silly things that Foxy does. Emily is worried about her first day but Foxy’s magic tail produces all the things she’ll need for her first day – eventually. Foxy’s mistakes – a penguin instead of a pencil; an elephant instead of an eraser; and so forth – bring smiles and fun. Most importantly, no magic at all is needed for Emily to make friends. Hugely fun illustrations and humour make this a lovely addition to any bookshelf.
Martha and the Bunny Brothers: I Heart School by Clara Vulliamy – reviewed previously 
The Bear with Sticky Paws Goes to School by Clara Vulliamy. A third school book from Clara, and I wholeheartedly recommend any of them (and all of them!) 
Lucy and Tom go to School by Shirley Hughes. Keeping it in the family, here is a lovely little book I found in a charity shop. Lucy is almost five and about to start school but her little brother Tom is too young. This tale full of nostalgia takes us through Lucy’s first day and how sometimes she loves school and sometimes she doesn’t. Tom really wants to go to, and he gets to go to playgroup. This is so like my two – MG likes school but some days she’s not keen but DG has wanted to go as soon as MG started, she tried on her (not compulsory) uniform as soon as I bought some second hand and on the first day she was allowed to start at three she ran in ahead of her sister! A little piece of nostalgia for the era I grew up in (first published two years before I was born) and more beautiful observations of family life.
How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague. I love the How Do Dinosaurs… series. How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? was MG’s bedtime book from a few months old for over a year and I don’t think I’ll ever bore of it. DG was always too fidgetty to do a bedtime story with at that age (we read several stories every night of course, this was just the final one every night for a very long time!) The series is lovely, brilliant rhyming text with huge pictures of dinosaur toddlers with human parents. It starts with things we shouldn’t do: Does he drag his long tail? Is he late for the bus? Does he stomp all four feet? Does he make a big fuss? and after a list of these there’s a No followed by what we should do: A dinosaur carefully raises his hand. He helps out his classmates with projects they’ve planned. A wonderfully subtle introduction to manners, the whole series is a must-have in my opinion!
Harry and the Dinosaurs go to School by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds. I have a huge soft spot for Harry and the Dinosaurs too, maybe I just love dinosaurs. Did I say I? I meant my daughters of course… Seriously though, they do love Harry, he is a very loveable character. I love that proper dinosaur names are used, because I hate talking down to small people, and again the series covers ‘issues’ like the dentist (one I will definitely be using again this week as we’re all due a check-up) and of course school. In this story, Harry is starting a new school and notices a very quiet boy who he helps gain confidence playing with the dinosaurs. Lovely stuff, gorgeous pictures. If you haven’t any Harry books, go and grab one now. Preferably an armful…
Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton. Splat comes out with lots of different reasons why he shouldn’t go to school: “Maybe I should go to school tomorrow instead?” At school, he questions everything the teacher says (I love this, independent thinking!) and then we find out why: he has a pet mouse! Seymour the mouse shows the cats that mice are friends after all and Splat can’t wait to go to school again. There are lots of very funny imagery for small children to giggle at, this is a book for any time of year.
) and ends up in the children’s ward for six weeks. At last her parents say she’s not precious so she can stop being reckless again.
