Walker Books' Picture Book Party

The second half of the Summer holidays has been plagued with dreadful weather which has really hampered our play efforts. Gone were all the wonderful plans I had for picnics on the beach as it was just too cold or rainy for such an activity. Of course we still went outside to play, but not as much as we'd hoped.

As a result, when we were sent a selection of books from Walker Books in order to hold a Picture Book Party, we decided an indoor picnic was the way to go.

The books sent to use showcased a range of authors that I haven't heard of before, yet the stories were enchanting and imaginative, and The Boy enjoyed every single one of them, laughing and giggling along in all the right places.

We settled down in the living room on a picnic blanket with a picnic tea, the books and some party balloons to add to the festivities. While The Boy ate his tea, I read the stories with him and we discussed the plot lines and which we felt were the best and why.

• 'The Zebra Who Ran Too Fast' by Jenni Desmond: A wonderful tale of friendships and learning to accept the different personalities of people that we're friendly, 'The Zebra Who Ran Too Fast' features three friends, Elephant, Bird and Zebra. They worked well together to complete activities and complemented each others' strengths. However, one day Elephant and Bird lose patience with Zebra and his exuberance with devastating repercussions for the friendship. Can they learn to accept him for who he is? Will the friendship recover?
• 'Frances Dean, Who Loved To Dance and Dance' by Birgitta Sif: Frances Dean is a little girl who is passionate about dancing but lacks confidence in herself. She believes that no-one would want to see her dancing and so only dances in secret. One day she sees a sight in her nearby park that starts her toes tapping. This was a lovely story which highlighted that everyone has their own talents and should be welcomed to showcase them.
• 'Help! We Need A Title' by Hervé Tullet: I've never seen a book like this before, it has been written in a very different way to most others, drawing the reader into the page and ensuring the characters of the story engage with readers. The story starts with two characters in the book playing catch with each other, when they suddenly notice that they are being watched. Other characters turn up and discuss what they should do to entertain the reader, eventually they go in search of the author who conjures up a story for them. Not only does this book not have a title as such, but the ending has been left deliberately vague. I didn't particularly enjoy this story but The Boy loved it!
• 'Vanilla Ice-Cream' by Bob Graham: Following the journey of a young, curious sparrow in India as he inadvertently travels across the oceans in a bag of grain. Arriving in a large city, he has a chance encounter with a young girl. This is a quite simplistic book which can be used for a lot of discussion work and further project work.
• 'Bruno and Titch' by Sheena Dempsey: This was our favourite book of the five, not least of all because it was about a guinea pig and a young boy, and we had recently looked after the school's guinea pigs during the Summer holidays. Titch is a lone guinea pig in a pet shop, desperate for an owner. Bruno is a lone boy, desperate for a pet. This book shares their first few days together and how they developed their friendship and understanding of each other's needs into something special.

As The Boy is about to start in his new school, this selection of books is a timely reminder of the important of friendships and what makes a good friend.

Please pop over and visit the other bloggers taking part in the Picture Book Party this week:

Playing By The Book, Mummy Mishaps, Culture Baby, and Being a Mummy.

—

I was sent these books for the purpose of this post, my opinions are honest and unbiased.