BEA'S BOOK NOOK "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once." C. S. Lewis “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Bea Reviews Read To Your Toddler Every Day by Lucy Brownridge & Illustrated by Chloe Giordano

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date:
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository*  | iBooks* |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Science tells us that young children develop best when they are read to. In this follow-up to Read to Your Baby Every Day, soothe your toddler with retellings of traditional folk tales, fairy tales and fables from around the world paired with images of Chloe Giordano’s charming hand-embroidered illustrations on cloth.

Every tale is the perfect length to read aloud to your toddler before bedtime and carries a message of empathy, friendship and care for the world around us. Bond with your toddler and help them grow as you read to them these timeless stories:THE THREE WISHES, Scandinavia

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER, Ancient Rome

BRER RABBIT AND THE WELL, North America

HOW THE BEAR LOST HIS TAIL, Iroquois

THE MAGIC PEAR TREE, China

WHY THE BANANAS BELONG TO THE MONKEY, Brazil

THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE, Syria

THE STONECUTTER, Japan

THE RAINBOW SERPENT, Indigenous Australia

THE CLEVER LITTLE TURTLE, Mexico

THE SCRUFFY DUCKLING, Denmark

THE LION AND THE THORN, Ancient Greece

ANANSI AND THE TURTLE, Caribbean

KING MIDAS, Ancient Greece

A BAG FULL OF STORIES, Cambodia

THE MICE AND THE ELEPHANTS, India

SNOWFLAKE, THE SNOW CHILD, Russia

WHY CATS CHASE MICE, Nigeria

HOW THE WREN BECAME KING OF THE BIRDS, Ireland

THE FEAST, Mali


My Thoughts:

I decided to read this because I am a firm believer in reading to children on a daily basis, even though the blurb gave me pause. This bit was concerning - "carries a message of empathy, friendship and care for the world around us" Now, those seem like good things, and they are. But, I worried the stories would be too moralistic and wouldn't focus on the story. That was definitely true for some of the stories but not all of them. I am not a fan of stories that are strongly moralistic, though they can have their uses. I prefer the message, if a story must have one, to be woven into the story subtly. So, that was something I knew I probably wouldn't like about the book.

As you can see from the blurb, the book has a nice variety of stories from around world. The stories that I was familiar with were slightly changed, mildly updated for modern readers; in some cases, shortened. While I agree that one should read to their toddler every day, I don't see these as being stories for toddlers. They are short, which is good, but the stories are not likely to catch and hold their interest, and many are strongly moralistic, as I mentioned earlier. The artwork is good and the color scheme soothing, all of which should appeal to young children. Each mini-story has one, maybe two illustrations. I think this book would work better for children four years or older, not toddlers. 

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