Pre-baby I was an avid reader. I love books; reading,
writing, reading about writing; so much so, I spent three years writing about
books for my degree. I even set up a blog about books to capture my thoughts
and recommendations. I am a book worm through and through (slightly strange
sentence… but you get my point!)
Since I fell pregnant and had A, unfortunately I haven’t had
as much time, energy or head space to sit down and read. I can’t complain too
much though, as thanks to the internet I am able to read a lot of fab articles,
blogs and content on my phone when I do get a few minutes to myself.
My fiction fix is now coming from the children’s books we
are reading to A. Now that she is eight months old, our little one is becoming
more engaged with the books we are reading to her and I’m hoping this will grow
into a love of reading as she gets older (*must try not to be pushy about
this*).
I want to share with you the children’s books we are
enjoying, so each month I will post up a review of our current favourite. And if
you have any to recommend then please let me know… I’m always looking to expand
our collection!
This month we are reading Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
Written by the same talented duo who created The Gruffalo, I had high expectations
when we chose this one to read. I was not disappointed. Set to the same rhyming
couplet structure as The Gruffalo, Stick
Man is about a Stick Man (!) who ventures out from his family tree one day
and unexpectedly ends up on an adventure. He finds himself moving further and
further away from his home and getting involved in all sorts of situations. ‘I’m not a stick, why can’t you see. I’m
Stick Man, I’m Stick Man, I’m STICK MAN, that’s me’ he cries out as he is
consistently mistaken for a useful stick, and in this book sticks have many,
many uses…
A enjoys the sing song rhythm of the story and seems to like the
beautiful illustrations. The pictures are bright and varied and A likes to show
her appreciation by smiling and banging the pages. She is too little to
understand the story just yet but likes to sit with me when reading and help
turn the pages!
Stick Man is ideal
for the winter months as it has a festive twist (you may have noticed the snow
on the cover) and would be good to start reading to your little ones in the
next few weeks. But the story is ultimately set all year round so don’t feel
restricted!
I think Stick Man
will appeal to babies and pre-school children as it has bright and detailed
illustrations, a varied story line and rhythmic language.
Have you and your family read Stick Man? What do you think?
