There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Mozzie

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Mozzie by P. Crumble, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $14.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-852-6
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

‘There was an old lady who swallowed a mozzie,

I don’t know why she swallowed that mozzie ...

She’s gotta be Aussie!’

This Australian slant on the classic rhyme There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly provides this very amusing tale. A tough old lady swallows all sorts of Australian animals from the humble mozzie up to the mighty croc! At which point something’s got to happen to make her stop.

As a fan of both Shea and Crumble, I haven’t always loved the books in this series, but this one is really enjoyable. Crumble’s rhyme is smooth and the rhythm works really well. This makes it fun and easy to read aloud.

Shea’s unique bold and bright illustrations, along with his trademark expressive animals, are humorous without the tinge of darkness which appear in some of the other books in this series.

This is my favourite book in the series and well worth a look. Check out how the old lady manages to catch the dingo and the croc.

Young children will have a lot of fun with this book.

Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Do Your Ears Hang Low? sung by The Topp Twins, illustrations by Jenny Cooper (Scholastic NZ)
PB RRP $16.99
ISBN 978-1-77543– 104-6
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Do Your Ears Hang Low? is a well known and very catchy song. I’m sure most people know the tune. This book version is fantastically illustrated by Jenny Cooper and features the cutest animals with amazing ears, including a sheepish looking basset hound with his ears tied in a bow, a buck toothed llama with ears standing high and a charismatic mouse who directs the action throughout.

My nine-year-old daughter read this and was immediately singing the song for days, adding her own words and flavour as she went. Kids have so much fun with the words:

   Do your ears flip-flop?
   Can you use then as a mop?

and the total silliness of the suggestions:

    Can you semaphore your neighbour
    With a minimum of labour?

The pictures are truly humorous and endearing. I especially love the cover illustration of the mouse, pulling the hound along by his ears. Cooper is brilliant at capturing animals and the expressions on their faces.

There are plenty of easy actions kids that can add to the tune as they sing-along and the interaction continues to the last page where the reader can check out their own ears on the mirror provided.
At the end are some astonishing, silly and funny facts about ears.

The accompanying CD has two tracks, one with The Topp Twins singing Do Your Ears Hang Low? and one with the instrumental version for anyone to sing along to. This book is entertaining and perfect to share with kids from pre-school age up.

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Good Night, Sleep Tight by Mem Fox, illustrated by Judy Horacek (Scholastic Australia)
HB RRP $19.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-257-9
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

It is bedtime, and Bonnie and Ben are told a goodnight rhyme by their favourite babysitter Skinny Doug. When they request it again he replies ‘No’:
“But I’ll tell you another
I heard from my mother:”
and he recites another rhyme.

Where is the Green Sheep? is a long time favourite and it is great to see another book by this author/illustrator combination. Mem Fox is always a joy to read aloud and Good Night, Sleep Tight is especially fun with its changing rhythm and pace - from the text of the main story, to the nursery rhymes and back to Bonnie, Ben and Skinny Doug.

The illustrations by Judy Horacek are bright and energetic. She blends beautifully the world of Bonnie and Ben with the action of the nursery rhymes by involving the children in the rhyming worlds. Bonnie’s stuffed horse becomes their steed in This is the Way the Ladies Ride, and the children, along with their babysitter, ride into the picture at the end of the line of ‘ladies, gentlemen and farmers’. Horacek also manages to balance the lively illustrations and characters with the bedtime atmosphere.

Good Night, Sleep Tight has great rhyme, rhythm and repetition. Young children will find familiarity in the seven classic nursery rhymes such as Good Night, Sleep Tight, Pat-a-Cake and It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, as recited by Skinny Doug. The characters are fun and engaging and the message, of stories before sleep, is beautifully and simply portrayed. It makes a wonderful bedtime story for the under fives.

The Wheels on the Bus

 The Wheels on the Bus [Board book] illustrated by Mandy Foot (Lothian/Hachette)
BB RRP $12.99
ISBN 9780734413116
Reviewed by Hilary Smillie

This great little in-house board book offers a new slant on the ever-popular nursery rhyme/song. The driver and passengers are all Australian fauna, and Mandy Foot's bright and quirky artwork tells a great story.

The cute Wombat bus driver is taking his passengers on a trip around Australia. At Coober Pedy the wheels get stuck and help is needed from Kangaroo. In Tassie, Joey, chased by a Tasmanian Devil, is hoping the doors of the bus won't shut until he is aboard. At Bondi Beach a surf-lifesaver koala is on duty and Emu is eager to step out of the bus to go for a swim, but Kangaroo is keen to hop back in the bus...

There is plenty more fun and action throughout the book. Toddlers will laugh at the bus becoming water-borne on the Great Barrier Reef where the wipers certainly need to swish a lot. In the outback the emu family find the track especially bumpy, and when the baby emus and joey start to waah! their mothers are quick to shhh! them as the bus crosses a Darwin creek full crocodiles.

Young readers will enjoy singing the song, naming the animals, and looking for the green gecko on each spread. The music score is found on the end page while a map of Australia on the inside cover shows all the destinations, lending a further educational aspect to this delightful board book.