Children's Book Review: The Twelve Days Of Christmas, by Alison Jay.

Well, the Christmas books have started making their way from the publishers and the first one is a beauty!

The Twelve Days of Christmas is the traditional Christmas tale, but this time illustrated by the critically acclaimed illustrator, Alison Jay.

I can never read this story to my boys without them asking me to sing it, so with an effort that far outweighs my ability, I sang our way through every gorgeous page.

Alison's stunning illustrations take us through a couple's Christmas Eve, where a man buys his love a partridge in a pear tree. From there, the couple move through town as the gifts pile up, leading them to a magnificent Christmas party. After some dancing, they make their way back home to their partridge in the pear tree.

The 'antique' look of the drawings make this book a visual feast, and one of the most most beautifully illustrated stories I've ever seen.

The Twelve Days Of Christmas would make a wonderful gift for any child to help celebrate the spirit of the festive season.

Publisher: Koala Books

Category: Picture Book

Title: The Twelve Days Of Christmas

Author/Illustrator: Alison Jay

Publication date: October 2014

Format: 254 x 254 mm

Extent: 32 pp

Age: 2+

Australian RRP: $14.99

Binding: Hardback

Printing: Colour

ISBN: 978 1 74276 114 5

Tracey ♥

*I was not paid for this post. I received a complimentary copy of The Twelve Days Of Christmas to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Children's Book Review: Orion And The Dark, by Emma Yarlett.

For a lot of families, having a child who's scared of the dark is a real issue. Not wanting to go to bed, waking up during the night, nightmares, and wanting to sleep in Mum and Dad's bed are just some of the effects that fear can have on children.

Orion And The Dark is a story that a lot of children will be able to relate to.

Orion is a little boy who is scared of a lot of things, but most of all, he's scared of the dark. Every night he dreads bedtime, knowing that he'll be sent to his room, full of shadows and mysterious noises.

One night Orion is fed up with being scared and he yells out to the dark to go away! What follows changes everything, and Orion discovers that the dark is not quite as scary as he thought!

Orion And The Dark was written and illustrated by Emma Yarlett, who also wrote Sidney, Stella And The Moon.

With themes including bravery and adventure, and with some quirky die-cut pages, Orion And The Dark is a story that will captivate and come to life as the pages turn.

Publisher: Koala Books

Category: Picture Book

Title: Orion And The Dark

Author/Illustrator: Emma Yarlett

Publication date: September 2014

Format: 260 x 260 mm

Extent: 40 pp

Age: 3-8

Australian RRP: $14.99

Binding: Paperback

Printing: Colour

ISBN: 978 1 74276 119 0

Tracey ♥

*I was not paid for this post. I received a complimentary copy of Orion And The Dark to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Children's Book Review: The Scarecrows' Wedding, by Julia Donaldson.

If you're a fan of The Gruffalo, then you're going to love the new story out by the creative duo Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

They have teamed up again to create The Scarecrows' Wedding, an engaging tale about two scarecrows who are in love!

Betty O'Barley and Harry O'Hay are two scarecrows on a farm who decide to get married. They intend it to be a wedding that no one will ever forget, so they make a list of the things they will need on the day. While Harry goes off to collect one of the things on the list, another scarecrow named Reginald Rake comes along and tries to take Harry's place!

 

With Julia's aptitude for rhyming, and Axel's vivid illustrations, this story will capture the hearts of children everywhere.

Publisher: Scholastic UK

Category: Picture book

Title: The Scarecrows' Wedding

Author: Julia Donaldson

Illustrator: Axel Scheffler

Publication date: September 2014

Format: 290 x 256 mm

Extent: 33 pp

Age: 4+

Australian RRP: $24.99

Binding: Hardback

Printing: Colour

ISBN: 978 1 407144 4 12

Tracey ♥

* I was not paid for this post. I received a complimentary copy of The Scarecrows' Wedding to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Children's Book Review: Monster Chef, by Nick Bland.

Nick Bland's books are treasured in our house, so I was very excited when I received a copy of his new children's book Monster Chef to review! Nick is the mastermind behind such titles as The Wrong Book (which is my boys' absolute favourite bedtime story), King Pig and The Very Cranky Bear, which won best picture book in the Koala Awards in 2013.

Now Nick has written a new story which is sure to delight both children and adults alike!

Marcel the Monster's job is to frighten children, but unfortunately he is terrible at it!

The problem is, Marcel just isn't scary!

But quite by accident, Marcel discovers a way to make children scream, and it's by performing his favourite thing in the whole world! Just by doing what he loves most, Marcel finds he is a master scarer after all.

With vibrant illustrations and and a funny, engaging rhyme, Monster Chef will become a valued addition to any family bookshelf.

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Category: Picture book

Title: Monster Chef

Author/Illustrator: Nick Bland

Publication date: September 2014

Format: 250 x 240 mm

Extent: 32 pp

Age: 4+

Australian RRP: $24.99

Binding: Hardback

Printing: Colour

ISBN: 978 1 74283 825 0

Tracey ♥

* I was not paid for this post. I received a complimentary copy of Monster Chef to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Welcome!

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Welcome to my new blog Bliss Amongst Books!

My current blog, Bliss Amongst Chaos, was becoming a review site (basically) which wasn't what I wanted or intended, so I decided to start this brand new blog especially for children's book reviews.

And boy, have I got some good stuff coming up!

So, if you're like me and you love children's picture books, stick around, as there's going to be heaps of new stuff over the next few months, especially with Christmas around the corner! (Yes, I can say that now as it is October tomorrow! Can you believe it?)

Thank you for joining me here and I look forward to sharing lots of wonderful children's stories with you.

Tracey ♥