Knights and Dragons

Title Knights and Dragons

Stories retold by Joff Brown.

Illustrated by Robert Dunn, Roger Langton and Sara Silcock.

Published by Igloo Books in 2010

Format Hardback

Enter a mysterious world of magical kingdoms and enchanted creatures. Join in the thrill of the adventure with this exciting treasury of stories about brave knights and fire-breathing dragons.

My review

I bought this book as my Lil Monster is going through a dinosaur and dragon phase. The length of the stories means they're great for bedtimes or for those 5/10 minutes you want to fill. The good thing about the book is that in the stories the knights aren't always the heros and the dragons aren't always the bad guys so whether your Lil Monster is a knight or a dragon fan there are stories to suit all.

It's a collection of 20 stories about knights, dragons and mythical creatures. Each story is 8 pages long, with a mixture of text and illustrations.  The cover is lovely, mostly pastel colours with gold effect writing for the title. The picture of a firery dragon, a brave knight on his steed surrounded by a dark forest is a fun cover for the Lil Monsterz and makes it clear what to expect in the stories. The pages also have a gold effect edging which is one of my favourite things about the book.

Personally I was disappointed with this book and the main reason is the poor grammer and punctuation. There are too many mistakes, incorrect punctuation and words either missing or in the wrong order. The stories are copied, not original so I'm not sure if this is the reason for the mistakes. Unfortunately it can effect the flow of the story as you sometimes have to stop and try to figure out what it's meant to say.

It's market price on the back is £14.99, I persoanlly think that that is a lot for what it is. I managed to purchase it for £3 and I would say, if you have a Lil Monster that loves dragons and you can do the same, it is worth a try.

All in all Knights and Dragons is a book that unfortunately doesn't live up to what it could be, due to poor grammer and punctuation. However this point aside it is and can still be an enjoyable book once you get used to it. My Lil Monster still enjoyed having it read at bedtime.

Ladybird Singalong Rhymes: The Wheels on the Bus

 
Title The Wheels on the Bus

Illustrated by Fhiona Galloway.

Published by Ladybird in 2012

Format Board book

This sturdy singalong rhyme book from Ladybird is perfect for sharing with young children. There's a different verse from the clasic rhyme 'The Wheels on the Bus' to sing along to on each page plus fun peek-through holes that give a clue as to the next bus passengers.

My review 

This was another personal choice of my Lil Monster. He absolutely loves animals especially anything that resembles a teddy bear, so he was easily attracted by the cute animals on the front cover especially the panda and the bear driver.

This is a great book for your Lil Monster to read alone. Being a board book it eliminates the risk of ripping the pages. My Lil Monster loves getting the book himself and sitting down to look at the pictures. Even though this is a board book it is fairly slim line so it doesn't take up much room on your bookshelf.

However this is also a great book to read together. The rhyme/song is a well know one, with a nice rhythm to it and actions you can do together (the actions are not in the book but I made some simple actions up based on the words).

The illustrations are lovely. With gorgeous bright and bold colours. The animals have nice little touches, for example there is a Monkey with an umbrella and a Kangeroo with a backpack. There's also a cute little Ladybird on each page which your Lil Monster can enjoy finding. My Lil Monster still loves to find her on each page even after doing it again and again.

All in all The Wheels on the Bus is a sweet and fun book. Whether it's reading together, reading alone, singing the song or making a story out of the pictures, there are multiple ways to enjoy this book.

The Sunflower Sword

 
Title The Sunflower Sword.

Author Mark Sperring.

Illustrated by Miriam Latimer.

Published by Anderson Press in 2011

Format Paperback (although also available in Hardback)

In a land filled with fire and smoke and endless fighting, where knights fight dragons, there lived a little knight who wants to be big like the others, fight like the others and have sword like the others. But his mother won't let him. Instead of a sword, she gives him a sunflower, which, as it turns out, is powerful enough to stop a war.

My review 

This book was personally picked by my Lil Monster, he was instantly attracted to the bright, colourful cover. The whole book is beautifully illustrated, the use of bright prime colours makes it very eye catching. There are nice little touches spotted about, for example on the page where the little knight gives the dragon the sunflower, the dragons tail takes the shape of a love heart and on each page a white dove appears, which you can make into a game of spot the dove. 

Although there are knights, swords and dragons pictured through out the book, the boys mish mashed outfit of cowboy boots and a colander helmet and his mums pretty modern dress and ballet pumps make it appear as though the books events are all from the little boys imagination.

This book has a lovely message, that making friends and friendships are more fun than fighting. Peace is a clear theme through out, with the appearance of the white doves on each page and the very effective replacement of swords with sunflowers.

Like most picture books it is a great one to enjoy together, you can discuss what is happening in each picture along with enjoying the sweet, fun story. On most pages the text amount is small and the lanuage is simple, printed in bold print making it a good book for some Lil Monsterz to be able to read themselves.

All in all The Sunflower Sword is a charming picture book with a lovely message. The edition me and my Lil Monster read was a library book edition but I can safely say this one will be added to our own personal collection.