| Baby books: *18 months and over*
April 2000 THIS MONTH'S FAVE RAVE:
Dad of an almost-two year-old comments: "I read this story a minimum of three times a night, and I'm not bored yet – and neither is my son." Published by Kingfisher, £6.99 THIS MONTH'S HONOURABLE MENTION:
Published by David & Charles, price £4.99 For more books in this age range see our baby books archive. |
This book is great. It's a proper story for toddlers,
with an ideal combination of elements that help maintain interest for both child and
carer. It's in an easy-to-hold square format, and the pictures are big, bright, and not
one bit tame inside. If you're looking for a pretty-pretty book, this one isn't for you.
The Hippo is shown to be noisy to the point of embarrassment. But when Ruby comes out of
the sweet shop carrying her favourite strawberry fizz bombs, and a big scary crocodile
jumps out intent to grab them from her, who should come to the rescue but that big noisy
friend, Hippo. It makes a lovely point about the importance of letting childhood
enthusiasm run free (well, some of the time, at least).
This neat, square book with pull-tabs and flaps from a series of four has
some genuinely funny set-ups. The fresh paper engineering ideas really add to the story
about an inquisitive puppy called Polo, rather than being just clever novelties. My other
favourite title in the series is about Polo encountering a speedy frog and learning to
swim.
