The Monsters' Ball - a Halloween-themed book review

I don’t like it when things go bump in the night. Or in the middle of the day for that matter. As was the case when the postie delivered my copy of Tamara Small and the Monsters’ Ball (not to be confused with the film or anything to do with Lady Gaga).  It landed with an ominous thud…and immediately I felt a creepy chill in the air (although I later discovered this was because the rest of the mail had wedged the post hatch open).

Thankfully Little Bean seems to be less of a wuss than her mother. The dark places under beds are hiding places for toys and her wriggly self rather than monsters, and she has no qualms about going to sleep in a dark room. This is completely opposite to her mother who needed a nightlight until eighteen, and only then did away with it because my uni roommate would have laughed at me.

So back to the book. It starts off scarily. On a dark and windy night, a seemingly nasty hairy monster sneaks up on the heroine, Tamara Small, and spirits her away to a dark and foreboding place. But there things start improving as it turns out to be the annual monsters’ ball and little Tamara has a dance with every dodgy character going. Morals? Face your fears and don’t make a swift judgement on appearances. So far, so Twilight.

If I’m completely honest, I did think the monstery bit at the beginning might frighten the more sensitive souls, but then I forget that I grew up on witches who kept little children in cages (Hansel and Gretel), Grandma-eating wolves (Red Riding Hood), and ‘chiddler’-eating giants (Roald Dahl's BFG).

All in all, I think this is a wonderfully colourful book with a positive outcome for both humans and monsters. A perfect little trick and treat for Halloween in fact - and less scary than a visit to the dentist after all the sweets.

Details

Title: Tamara Small and the Monsters' Ball

Author: Giles Paley-Phillips
Illustrator: Gabriele Antonini
Publisher: Maverick Books

*This book was sent to me for the purpose of review.

Lost in London #FridayReads

Something about this book title The Dog Detectives - Lost in London really appealed to me - ‘lost’ as I've mentioned before is my favourite four letter word after all.

Dog detectives I wasn’t so sure about, but Little Bean seemed perfectly convinced by the Holmesian hounds so I decided to throw caution to the wind and pretend that it was perfectly acceptable for dogs to be wearing shirts and riding bicycles. (I'm realising I have to be more fluid with reality since becoming a mum. Having less sleep does help too I suppose. If the Gruffalo started delivering my mail I probably wouldn't bat an eyelid.)

The premise of the book is this: The legendary ravens have gone missing from the Tower of London - ‘If the ravens leave the Tower, the kingdom will fall…’and it’s up to Detectives Jack and Deputy Poco Loco to get them back. With some help from the Rat Riddler the two perplexed pups must solve a series of puzzles which lead them all around the sights of London.

There are some lovely, easily identifiable illustrations of iconic landmarks such as the London Eye, St Pauls Cathedral and Big Ben. Little Bean loved the bold colours but this is perfectly suited for older kids too who are keen to learn more about London (perhaps before a visit?) and who can try work out the Rat’s little riddles, the last of which was my favourite:

‘What starts with a T and ends with a T and has T in it?' If you can work it out, the Gruffalo promises to deliver your post too.

The Dog Detectives - Lost in London

*The book was supplied by publishers Maverick Books for the purposes of review

Barefoot Books

Little Bean’s library is growing at a rapid pace and last week three new books joined the party. The lovely people at Barefoot Books (see more about them in the video below) sent us Clare Beaton’s Nursery Rhymes, Action Rhymes as well as the wonderfully whimsical I Took the Moon for a Walk.

The beauty about the two Beaton books is that they’re the nursery rhymes you already know but had either forgotten about or can’t quite remember the words. If you think Mickey Mouse's Hot Diggity Dog song is catchy, you’ve clearly forgotten about ‘Head and Shoulders, knees and toes’, ‘Incy, Wincy Spider’ and ‘One Potato, Two Potato’ (not to be confused with ‘One Tequila, Two Tequila’ etc).

I want Little Bean to love reading as much as I do. You learn so much. And if I can’t bring her the moon on a stick, I’ll just have to read her I Took the Moon for a Walk instead. 

See her turning pages with her toes - genius child. Or maybe a monkey...

Although at first she tried to bite it (thank goodness it’s good solid board), she did eventually get the hang of turning the pages. She loved the bright illustrations in any case and the rhyme was really sweet and original:

'We raced for the swings where I kicked my feet high

and imagined the Moon had just asked me to fly

Hand holding hand through the starry night sky,

When I took the Moon for a walk'

And if you're interested in freebies (who isn't?) have a look at the free digital content available on Barefoot Books' website, including storytime podcasts and animated videos.

Now I just can't wait till Little Bean is old enough to use the World Atlas app. How cool does that look?!

Thanks to Barefoot Books for providing review copies of the above-mentioned titles.