Morning everyone!

I’m here with some more mini reviews today – twice in one week?? I DO treat you well. I bloody love picture books (I find them the hardest to part with because I just love them so!). My pledge to review every book I read in the year is going well… and that’s all down to mini reviews (when you read as many books as I do, you don’t have space/time/brain power to write full on reviews of everything!)

Today’s post features three picture books I’ve read in the past few weeks that I’ve really enjoyed! So let’s go…

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The Magic Crayon – Amy Sparkes and Ali Pye

Jack was seven and Chloe was six. Jack liked his sister, but loved to play tricks . . .
So begins this rollicking, rhyming tale of sibling rivalry – with a difference! When Chloe’s silvery crayon develops magical powers, it sparks a thrilling chase through a fairytale world – an unbelievable adventure where her drawings spring to life! Can Chloe use all her creativity and inventiveness to rescue her brother and save the day?

When Chloe’s older brother makes a big mess and Chloe gets the blame, she is not happy! Stomping off to her bedroom, she sees a magical crayon and what follows is some absolute brilliant madness. She tries to get back at her brother, but it ends up going a bit awry! This is like being transported to the most magical, fantastical fairytale land imaginable! This is jam packed with familiar characters and some wonderfully inventive new props! I loved the rhyming pattern and this would be a brilliant one to read aloud to younger kids! The illustrations by Ali Pye just filled me with proper delight. I’d love my own magical crayon to help me draw this beautifully!

Duck, Duck, Dad – Lorna Scobie

One dog… SO many ducklings! When one little dog finds himself becoming Dad to a flock of ducklings, it leads to hilarity, mix-ups … and a lot of love. Out for a walk, Ralph the dog stumbles across an egg. Of course, he decides that the best thing for him to do is walk right on by. But, CRACK! the egg hatches, right then and there! What’s inside? A very cute, very fluffy little duckling. And though Ralph isn’t sure he wants a duckling, the duckling is definitely sure it wants Ralph!

This is a gorgeous picture book which properly made me laugh. I’m all for diverse representations of family and in this, you’ve got a wonderful exploration of what it means to be family. Dog ends up father to many ducklings and he’s not really sure how to handle them – there’s many many mix ups and shenanigans being father to all of these ducklings. Among all of the shenanigans though you’ve got some gorgeous messages about love in all of its guises – just because someone doesn’t look like you doesn’t mean they don’t and can’t love you. I absolutely adore the illustrations – just look at all of those amazing different ducklings. It’s hard not to fall for them all!

The Unicorn That Said No – Marc-Uwe Kling and Astrid Henn

In the prettiest parts of the Forest of Hearts, a cute little unicorn was born. Its mane was puffy, its fur SUPER fluffy… But as adorable as it looked, it didn’t behave like the other unicorns in its herd. ‘NO’ was its favourite word! No matter how many sweet lucky clovers or soft squishy cuddles that the other unicorns offered, the answer was always ‘NO’. And so this unicorn became known as the uNOcorn. It’s no surprise that one day our contrary unicorn decides to break free of its cotton-candy world and have an adventure of its own. Along the way, the uNOcorn meets a raccoon who never listens (‘Huh?’), a dog who doesn’t care (‘So what?’) and a rude princess (whose favourite word is ‘YES!’). What a wonderful team they make, because being stubborn is much more fun together!

This is a brilliant picture book that celebrates what it means to be unique. We are all different and even the things that make us different to others are the things that people can love about us. I’m sure we all know argumentative people and people who say no to everything… and we’ve even BEEN those people, ha! This is told in a brilliantly quirky way and has some blooming gorgeous illustrations too! The unicorn refuses to accept that the world is as wonderful as the rest of his friends does. This is witty and clever and will definitely appeal to slightly older kids, but absolutely would go down a storm with ANYONE listening!

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A massive thanks to Scholastic, Templar and Puffin for sending me these review copies! They have found firm homes in my school library! I hope you guys enjoyed these mini reviews! I’d love to know what picture books you’ve been reading recently! Share with me in the comments or on twitter!

S x