Out in the bush by Yvonne Morrison

Rating 4 out of 5
Title: Out in the Bush
Author: Yvonne Morrison
Publisher: Koala Book Company

ISBN: 0864618093

EAN: 9780864618092

Age Range: 2-4 years

"Out in the bush" is a cute remake of the song "Over in the meadow" (if you don't know the tune google Wiggles Over in the Meadow). 

This book is educational on a lot of levels. Firstly it discusses Australian native animals with each page using a different critter. 

There is counting woven into the story and every page displays a number prominently, and then reinforcing it with the animals totalling that number on the page. My son loved counting the animals after i had read the text. 

Lastly the text rhymes and is a little silly so kids can really enjoy it (and if you know the song then you can sing it, even badly). As I knew the Wiggles version of this song (which is an old rhyming song) I couldn't help but read it as a song with the voice of Sam (former yellow wiggle) in my head.

I adore the art work which is bright and colourful and would not be out of place hanging on a wall.

For some reason I have not heard of Yvonne Morrison prior to my son bringing this book home from his school library. I have seen her books on the bookshelves in book stores though so was surprised to learn I knew the names of quite a few of her books. But I have to say this New Zealand/Aussie author has won a place in our personal book library as we just loved this book. I am going to get my hands on her "Out in the ocean" book next as master 4 will go bananas over it.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone as it is a fun engaging read.

Willbee the Bumblebee by Craig Smith

Rating 4 out of 5
Publisher: Scholastic New Zealand
ISBN:1869439430
EAN: 9781869439439
Age Range: 5-9 years

Fan's of Wonkey Donkey will love this story. This is the story of Willbee the bumblebee

Kids get to learn about insects in the garden and the bee's role in it. At first I thought "uh oh here we go a chance for the author to lecture children on environmental issues" but it doesn't feel like that at all.

The book was illustrated by Katz Cowley again. Craig Smith and Katz Cowley have collaborated on a few books now and I have to say her illustrations just make Craig Smith's story leap from the page. It is a great pairing.

We have the ipad app version of this book and my son loves it. The app isn't super animated it really is just the illustrations and the author reading (or singing) the book. You can record your own voice and have that read to your child.

I must confess I do not like the song. It annoys me. I prefer reading the book and in the case of the ipad having the narrator read it.

Book Brief

• Rhyming
• Educational (insects, environment)

There's A Hole In My Bucket by Jenny Cooper

Rating: 4 out of 5
Age Range: 5-9 years
Publisher:Scholastic New Zealand
ISBN:1775430464
EAN:9781775430469
Dimensions:25.0 x 24.0 centimeters

The classic song "There's a hole in my bucket" is brought to life in this fun children's picture book. There is a sing-a-long CD with it performed by The Topp Twins.

We have so much fun reading this book aloud as you can sing it, or just read it, but either way you can have so much fun reading the story. When reading Liza's section we like to put on a cranky and irritated voice and when reading Henry's section it is always patient and calm (no idea why you could probably do it the other way round?). By the end of the story my son is chirping "the bucket, the bucket!"

I just love the illustrations they are so fun and vibrant. Having the goat as Henry and a duck as Liza somehow fits perfectly. The cartoon but realistic style is just perfect and the illustrator (Cooper) captures Liza's frustration and Henry's stoic calm.

This book is a firm favourite in our house. It is cute, it is funny and the reader and person being read to can have so much fun with it. Even though the suggested age range is 5-9 my 2 and a half year old loves it.

Children's Book Brief

• Rhyming
• Lyrical
• Sing A Long
• Animals
• Funny
• Repetition

The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith

Rating: 5 out of 5
Reading level: Ages 3 and up
Paperback: 24 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (May 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0545261244
ISBN-13: 978-0545261241
Illustrator: Kaz Cowley
To purchase the iphone/ipad app go to the itunes store. At the time of this post the app cost $5.49 AU

The Wonky Donkey is a humorous tale about a donkey walking along the road. What is funny about a donkey walking along the road? I hear you say well the donkey is not a normal donkey, for starters he is a wonky donkey. From there the story slowly builds a hilarious description of the donkey who is rather different. For this post I am combining the review of the book (which I have purchased for nephews) and the ipad app (which my son has).

This can be read as a normal story or sung along to with the CD that comes with the book. It is a cumulative story with each page adding to the description before it. So each page reveals a new feature and the story repeats previous features plus the new one. By the end of the book you have a long but funny list of descriptive words of this funny donkey.

There are lots of funny noises like the donkey's hee-haw and funny words (well funny to a toddler or child) like stinky. As a reader you can go to town on these descriptive words and noises and have some fun by really emphasising the words and playing on it. For instance at the line "stinky donkey" I will say the sentence like the donkey is right there stinking up the place and then hold my fingers to my nose to block the smell. Then during the hee-haws say it like a donkey (or your interpretation of a donkey hee-haw) and do it really loudly.

But the illustrations make this book. They are fun and bright. Mostly they capture the cheeky nature of the donkey and the story. Katz Cowley has done an amazing job. You know when sometimes the illustrations and the story just go together? you couldn't imagine the story with any other kind of illustrations? This is one of those stories/books.

The iphone/ipad application is basic in terms of the animation, it is literally just the book illustrations with a small amount of animation (like the tale wagging or a bee flying). This for me is fine my son has apps that go wizz and bang and do stuff (see my review for Cozmos Day Off for that kind of app/ebook). You can record your own voice, the sing along version, or use the prerecorded voices (there is the author and the narrator). I personally love the narrator's voice he just really captures the story in a vivid way for a child.

As each word is read aloud by the narrator, the word highlights and becomes bigger, so your child can follow along. Also if you tap the individual word but you need to be out of the Read to me mode to do that. It is easy enough to switch between the read to me mode and no narration by just pressing the green play or stop button in the corner. There is also a basic colouring in feature but to be honest we have never used it.

I highly recommend this story, I have not met a child yet who does not like this story. It is VERY popular with kids. When I was working in a book store this book could not stay on the shelves, the minute we got a batch of books in they would fly out the door the next day. I am not exaggerating. You will not be disappointed reading this book and your kiddies will not be disappointed with you reading it.

Extras
Here is a cute video of the song "The Wonky Donkey". This is the book but in song format.