Fluff and Billy do everything together

Fluff and Billy do everything together by Nicola Killen (Egmont)

PB RRP $16.95
ISBN 978-140525425-0
Reviewed by Lillian Rodrigues-Pang
www.thestoryline.com.au

Fluff and Billy are best friends. The two penguins do everything together. When Fluff climbs up, so does Billy, when Fluff slides down so does Billy, they have a great time playing, yelling and copying each other. When Billy hits Fluff with a snowball Fluff is hurt and not impressed and their friendship takes a turn for the worse. Thankfully their playful attitude overcomes any problems and the friendship resumes.

Bright blue, a lot of white and yellow are used liberally throughout this book. The graphics are entertaining and easy on the eye. The layout of text and the placement of graphics is fun. It adds another level of enjoyment for young readers.

This is a heart-warming story. The text includes a high level of repetition, which young readers to actively engage. The graphics compliment the story and allow independent interaction with the story. My three year old enjoys reading this book with me as she understands the pattern of the text and can say her lines with ease. It is already a bedtime favourite in our household.

Not me!

Not me! written and illustrated by Nicola Killen (Egmont)

PB RRP $6.00

ISBN 978-14054830-3

Reviewed by Lillian Rodrigues-Pang

www.thestoryline.com.au 

How do you guarantee a book is attractive to children? Present mess on every page? How do you make a book attractive to parents? Present the children cleaning up at the end.

This is essentially the story of Not me! With double spreads of full colour graphics the book offers gorgeous images of all the mess and trouble that kids (or a puppy) can get up to, from handprints on the walls, puddles on the floor to muddy bike tracks indoors.

The very cute resolution gives us an image of a tired puppy and the kids having to clean the house. This is a book that could be read as a warning for all those kids who are begging for a dog.