Dear Dad, I Want To Be Just Like You

Dear Dad, I Want To Be Just Like You by Ed Allen, illustrated by Simon Williams (Scholastic Australia)

HB RRP $16.99

ISBN 978-1-76015-349-6

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

This sweet book is a tribute to fathers everywhere. Told in letter form, baby animals tell Dad just what they love about him and although each letter is specific to the animal writing it, each could apply to human Dads as well.

Dear Dad, Thanks for looking after us when we were little and Mum was away. You said we were the most important thing in the world to you. Remember when Percy got lost in the crowd? You never gave up until we found him. Now that Mum’s back maybe you can teach us how to fish? Love Percy and Penny.

This is, of course, a letter to a penguin Dad.

The illustrations are lovely, bold, bright and very appealing with expressive, cute animals on every page. The playfulness and cheeky humour expressed on these pages show close and loving bonds between children and their fathers.  This humour is in both pictures and text.

Some letters are on the page, some under flaps and some can be removed from envelopes, making this a fun and interactive read. I’m sure this will get young readers thinking about what skills, abilities and traits they love and admire in their own father. There is a blank ‘letter’ at the end encouraging children to create their own Dear Dad letter.

This new edition of popular picture book Dear Dad, I Want To Be Just Like You, comes out in time for Father’s Day and is Ed Allen’s companion book to Dear Mum, I Love You, released earlier in the year. Look out for the crocodiles; I think they’re my favourite!

Dear Mum, I Love You

Dear Mum, I Love You by Ed Allen, Illustrated by Simon Williams (Scholastic Australia)

HB RRP $16.99

ISBN 978-1-74362-632-0

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

There is only one thing cuter than baby animals – that’s baby animals writing letters of thanks and love to their mothers. And along with fabulous illustrations, this sweet book out just in time for Mother's Day is filled with both.

Each page features a different animal with its own special letter of appreciation to Mum. Baby Elephant loves the way his mum splashes him in the bath, Baby Cheetah wants to be a champion runner just like his mum and Baby Koala loves the cuddly snoozes he and his mum take together.  The thanks each child expresses are specific to their situations, yet they could also apply to anyone who reads this book and children will recognise and understand these qualities within themselves and their mothers.

Children will also enjoy ‘finding’ the letters. Some are on the page but many are beneath flaps or inside envelopes.

The illustrations are colourful, fun and full of cheeky humour. Williams captures the playfulness of the mother/child relationships which helps this picture book avoid becoming overly sweet. There are adventurous ducks, a wonderful  rabbit burrow fill of baby bunnies with separate personalities and an echidna family with a great twist on mum finding baby's soft toy (it's stuck on the spikes of Dad's bottom - Mum's eye rolling is fabulous).

Dear Mum, I Love You is a great book for parents, grandparents and older siblings to share with young children. It will generate conversations about the feelings expressed within the book and children can also create their own Dear Mum letter on the blank one, helpfully provided in an envelope on the last page. 

10 Smiley Crocs

10 Smiley Crocs by Ed Allen, illustrated by Simon Williams (Scholastic Australia)

PB RRP $9.99

ISBN 978-1-74283-635-5

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

  Four smiley crocs baking ginger snaps.

  Four smiley crocs baking ginger snaps.

  And if one smiley croc has eaten all the scraps,

  There’ll be three smiley crocs baking ginger snaps.

10 Smiley Crocs is Ed Allen’s crocodile version of the popular 10 Green Bottles song and I found this version especially delightful. The rhyme doesn’t always work as well as in other books but it didn’t matter as there is a charm amongst the pages I found particularly attractive.

I loved the activities the crocodiles partook in – being pirates, building cubby houses, baking biscuits – and I think they will appeal to young children. And the illustrations of the smiley crocs are fabulous. My favourite page is number six where the smiley crocs are pretending to be logs in the water and a squad of frogs are leaping onto a very surprised croc. The facial expressions on the crocodiles throughout are fantastic. Have a look at the yoga page.

But mostly this book is just fun. Preschool kids will have a ball with it, with the words, with the pictures, with the hidden numbers and with the counting. This may become a favourite on the bookshelf.

10 Hooting Owls

10 Hooting Owls by Ed Allen, illustrated by Simon Williams (Scholastic Press)
PB RRP $13.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-698-0
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

I really enjoy these counting books based on the Ten Green Bottles song. 10 Hooting Owls is yet another enjoyable and amusing version, perfect to read aloud to young children.

The rhyme works well and is consistent throughout and each owl has an amusing reason for leaving the flock. In nine the owls are in disguise and the poor owl dressed as a magpie is being shuffled off by other magpies who don’t seem to notice the difference. In seven, one of the skating owls becomes a champion.

I love the illustrations. Williams’ owls are fabulous, especially their facial expressions and body language. In six, the fluffy pink owl gets chicken pox and is all droopy while the other owls have moved to the far end of the branch and watch him out of the corner of their eyes as they knit.

This is a vibrant, joyful book. One in which the pictures tell as much of the story as the creative and rhythmic text. And as an added bonus the relevant number is hidden on each page and is not always easy to find. 10 Hooting Owls is a really fun backwards counting book which will be enjoyed by adult readers and the young children they read it to.