Book Review Round-Up: Sloth Slept On, Pocket Money Cookery, Abney & Teal & Penpals At Home

Now the weather is getting colder and afternoons are getting darker earlier, Chunk and I have been spending more time indoors and one of our favourite things is to cuddle up on the sofa and read together.

I exhausted the children’s section of my local library when I was about 8 years old, so I’m hoping Chunk will have my same passion for reading as I feel English was always my strong subject partly due to my love of reading and the vocabulary it provided me with.

We have been given lots of lovely books and magazines to review recently, so I thought I would showcase them in a round-up post.

Here are our favourites this month so far:

Sloth Slept On

Sloth Slept on, by Frann Preston-Gannon, is a beautifully illustrated picture book about a group of children who find a sloth sleeping in their garden tree. The children have no clue what animal the creature is, so the book takes you through their active imagination about what it could be, before they then try to help the sloth get back home.

It’s a lovely, relaxing read and has become one of Chunk’s favourite bedtime stories already!

I’ve noticed that the author has written some dinosaur-themed books, so will be searching for some of these for Chunk’s Christmas stocking, as he is still madly obsessed with dinosaurs.

Pocket Money Cookery

Pocket Money Cookery by OoberKidsRepublic is a really useful recipe book for cooking Mediterranean dishes with children on a budget.

Cooking is something that I’m starting to include Chunk more with as he’s getting older, and baking is obviously all children’s idea of fun, so we are going to try the Chocolate Hedgehog recipe that looks very scrummy!

The book includes quirky facts about some of the ingredients used and there is even advice provided by a nutritionist which is always helpful when it comes to children’s meals.

Abney & Teal Magazine

This is a brand new CBeebies magazine and Chunk was lucky enough to try the first edition. It came with free musical toys (recorder and guitar) which have already been piercing my eardrums and consequently hidden for my own sanity.

The pre-schoolers magazine is full of activities including a reward chart based over four weeks, and the tasks include things such as helping an adult, being polite and learning things so we are definitely giving that one a try!

There are stickers and sections to colour, cut out and also games to practice writing numbers which is something I am eager to start doing with Chunk.

As well as these activities there is of course little stories with the Abney & Teal characters which were just as good as the programme.

Look out for this edition from 21st October in your local newsagents.

Penpals At Home

This is a new collection of books aimed to help children aged 3-5 with their handwriting at home. Penpals already are the leading brand in our primary schools around the UK, so they have decided to branch out and provide books for parents to do at home with their children.

It also comes with a free app, and there is a collection of books to choose from.

We were sent Penpals at Home: Forming Letters (Penpals for Handwriting) and Penpals at Home: Getting Ready for Handwriting (Penpals for Handwriting).

I like how the books are laid out and designed, as they are bright and clear which I feel helps to engage young children. The books focus on early handwriting skills including patterns and letter formation, and the app further enhances the learning process. There’s also support and advice for us parents to ensure we use the books with the children properly.

These are definitely staying on our learning shelf as they will be used heavily during the next couple of years I’m sure!

For the purpose of this post I was sent copies of the mentioned books. No payment was received and all opinions are honest and my own. 

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