0 G is for Gravett, Emily : Again Review

G is for Gravett, Emily

Emily Gravett
An author , an illustrator, an artist, a book binder, Winner of Kate Greenway medal twice for Wolves and Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears - Much loved at The Bubble Ink.

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
Again, Dogs, Orange Pear Apple Bear, Matilda's Cat, Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears, Blue Chameleon and Cave Baby.

Books read to the Bubbling:
All the above except Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears

Bubble Ink pick:
Again.

Bubbling Pick:
Cave Baby [Written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Emily Gravett]

Some more that we think are great:
Monkey and Me, The Odd Egg, Wolves and Wolves don't bite.

Since we already did Cave Baby, we will review Again.

The Book:
Again is written and illustrated by Emily Gravett

Available at a great price on Amazon.in here . Also check on  Flipkart here. 
Some More Emily Gravett - Genuis Gravett and at Great prices there.


The Bubble:
The book is a story of a baby dragon who gets a book to his mother requesting her to read him to sleep. The mother reads a story of Cedric, a red dragon who doesn't ever want to sleep , kidnaps princesses to make himself dinner , torments trolls and wants to do all of this AGAIN and AGAIN. Every time the story ends, the baby dragon in our story, demands it to be read "Again". The mother reads the book - this time, tweaking the story to trick the little one, saying Cedric should be sleeping at night. But, "Mom Proposes, Child Disposes" - "Again" says the baby dragon. She re-reads it, shortening it some more and eventually falls asleep herself. This angers the baby dragon that he eventually burns a hole in the book! 

The illustrations which show the expressions of the mommy and baby dragon are mind blowing. The book within this book is also illustrated very intelligently to depict what is happening in that story and in view of how the baby dragon visualizes it.

Bubble Ink's verdict:
There is so much to love about the book. The attention to detail in the illustrations, the intelligent way of incorporating a book within a book, the imagination that has gone into designing the book, the hidden messages in the illustrations to gel with the story , the furious little dragon blowing a hole in the book - reasons aplenty to love the book.

The inner story that is being read by the mother-dragon to the baby-dragon gets tweaked, shortened at every subsequent read by the drained out mom to trick the little dragon to doze off. Haven't we all done that ourselves to our book-loving children? Shortened the story, tweaked the story to convey it is bedtime and witnessed the rage of our little ones!

If you have got a book loving toddler , the one who demands a book to read again and again at bedtime, "Again" would definitely be that book.

We bought ours at the LightRoom Bookstore in Bangalore.
We give it 5-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
The bubbling is a bit young to understand and appreciate the book in its entirety. But while we read the book, we adapt it to her level. So the actual story we read as is and the inner story is  usually modified / adapted to convey the message but we don't read that story aloud. 
But she gets the actual story well and she giggles says "Amma, Again!" and "Oh-Fire - Book gone!" - She loves the book no doubt, but not giving a bubbling rating on this one. 
We will come back a while later to have the bubbling read it completely.

0 F is for Fleming, Denise - In the Small Small Pond

F is for Fleming, Denise

Denise Fleming
Winner of the Caldecott Medal for In the Small Small Pond is an author and illustrator.

Pic Courtesy: Google Images

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
In the Small Small Pond

Books read to the Bubbling:
In the Small Small Pond

Bubble Ink pick:
In the Small Small Pond

Bubbling Pick:
In the Small Small Pond

Some more that we think are great:
In the Tall Tall Grass

We will review In the Small Small Pond.

The Book:
In the Small Small pond is written and illustrated by Denise Fleming

Buy here on Flipkart:
The Bubble:
A book that is excellent in illustrations and in rhyme. The book introduces on each spread animals, the actions or the things that they are upto on the pond with just 4 words to describe them.

All pond animals are introduced one on each page with action words to describe them or by naming them. Tadpoles, Geese, Raccoons, Muskrats, Crabs, Fishes, Herons, dragonflies and all of that appear in the book.

Sample lines:

Wiggle Jiggle, Tadpoles wriggle

Splitter splatter, minnows scatter

Click Clack, Claws crack

Dabble Dip, Tails Flip

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love the illustrations and the intelligence in being able to convey the text in excellent rhyme and amazing brevity.
Our interpretation of the plot in the book is of a frog who is trying to go to sleep but is going around the pond being disturbed by all the action like minnows splattering, crabs clacking, paws flashing. The frog is even shown as dozing off in one of the spreads. But slowly towards the end, after all the action in the pond, the frog settles down as it starts snowing, "Cold Night, Sleep Tight"

For the youngest book lover, the illustrations and the spotting the frog appeal.
For beginning readers, the rhyming text, learning some new animals in the pond work well.
For older readers, the large font aid in reading and a great start to a good vocabulary.
Ours was a borrowed read.
We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
She loves books where we name each animal and the spotting the frog from this book. She starts the book with Frog jumping over the boy.
It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three (A very recent read for us)

0 E is for Eric Rohmann : My Friend Rabbit : Review

Part of the A to Z authors Illustrators

E is for Eric Rohmann

Pic Coutesy:http://www.ericrohmann.com/

Eric Rohmann
Winner of the Caldecott Medal for My Friend Rabbit is an author and illustrator.

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
My Friend Rabbit

Books read to the Bubbling:
My Friend Rabbit

Bubble Ink pick:
My Friend Rabbit

Bubbling Pick:
My Friend Rabbit

Some more that we think are great:
Oh! No.

We will review My Friend Rabbit.

The Book:
My Friend Rabbit is written and illustrated by Eric Rohmann and is a Caldecott Medal winner for 2003.

#CaldecottCollector s click on image to Buy Now or on Flipkart here
The Bubble:
The book is about a Rabbit and a Mouse who are friends. Rabbit though means all well gets into trouble with everything he does.
The Mouse gives his airplane to the rabbit to play invites big trouble for him. The airplane gets stuck. Rabbit, again, meaning only well, gets animals one by one for the mouse to reach the tree, he himself lifts the animals up to get the airplane out. He has the most awesome ideas always! He plans to get the animals one on top of the other and he climbs a top of all of them, he holding a squirrel and the squirrel holding the mouse to fetch the airplane out of the tree branch.
The animals all tumble down except rabbit , who again meaning well saves the mouse by holding onto the airplane with the mouse abroad. And the end is hilarious.

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love the lovely illustrations in this book. The animals are illustrated in an unique way and the teeny-weeny rabbit carrying the huge animals is cuteness overload. A beautiful story of friendship can be told in the most humorous and playing way only through picture books. Caldecotts are Caldecotts not without a reason.

We picked this book up from Hippocampus Bangalore without paying attention to the medal (not sure how the nonCaldecott obsessed me missed it, then ) on the cover but liking the illustrations on a quick flip, and the book just didn't fail us in any way.
We give it 4-bubbles.


Bubbling's verdict:
Bubbling loves books these that have stuff getting piled up and then tumbling down for her to say "Daaaammmmaaaaaaaaaaal". So , this book is one of her giggly reads by the sight of the huge animals being carried by the bunny.
It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

0 D is for David Shannon : No! David Book review

Part of the A to Z Authors/Illustrators

D is for David Shannon

David Shannon:
Winner of Caldecott Honor for No!David and well known for his David books.

Pic Courtesy :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shannon

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
No! David, Oh! David, Too many Toys

Books read to the Bubbling:
No! David, Oh! David,

Bubble Ink pick:
No! David

Bubbling Pick:
No! David

Some more that we think are great:
A bad case of Stripes.

We will review here,  No! David.

The Book:
No! David is written and illustrated by David Shannon and is a Caldecott honor for 1999.
The author illustrated parts of this book when he was a 5 year old boy knowing only to spell the word No and his name. He did a remake of the book and it came to be called No! David.

The Bubble:
An almost wordless picture book, which on each page has the naughty David do the things he shouldn't be doing and his Mom calling out to him, "No! David". 
We love the pictures that show all of David's naughtiness as he tumbles down a fish tank, kicks a ball to break the vase, puts on a superman cape when sent to bed, makes noise with pots and pans, his toy-strewn floor and his gross digging nose act!

Bubble Ink's verdict:
A great book to remind a parent on how many times the toddler hears a "No..." during their growing up years. We love the last page of how despite all the No s the mom hugs the child and says "Yes, I love you".
Been there, Done that, Felt that - Moment that.

A must read with every toddler. Bubble Ink personally likes this book for the delight it brought to the bubbling on its read and how that giggle and chuckle that she makes is contagious.

We borrowed our copy from Hippocampus Bangalore.
We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling verdict:
Not many books are an instant hit with the bubbling with its very first read. This one, is! We brought it from the library this evening and have already done 5 non-stop reads. At every page, I narrate what David is doing and ask what did his Mother say and she goes "No, David , No" and then I say "David is a..." and she completes ..."Naughty boy" - with the naughtiest giggle. 

It is a bubbling-full-five.

0 C is for Crews : Freight Train Review

Part of the A to Z of Picture books

Donald Crews:
Winner of 2 Caldecott honors, he writes and illustrates his books mostly based around vehicles.

Pic Courtesy: http://inspirationlaboratories.com/the-virtual-book-club-for-kids-author-list-2013-2014/

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
Freight Train

Books read to the Bubbling:
Freight Train

Bubble Ink pick:
Freight Train

Bubbling Pick:
Freight Train

Some more that we think are great:
Truck (Caldecott Honor), Ten Black Dots, Big Mama's

We will review here,  Freight Train.

The Book:
Freight Train is written and illustrated by Donald Crews. The book is a Caldecott Honor 1979.

The Bubble:
The book introduces the components of the Freight Train in different colors and its journey through day and night, through tunnels, over bridges and past busy cities. Red caboose, Orange tank car, Yellow hopper car, Green cattle car, Blue gandola car, Purple box car, Black tender and a black steam engine are all chugging their way on the tracks. The journey is illustrated beautifully as the train moves in these lovely colors through tunnels, passing cities, during daylight and in the night.

Bubble Ink's verdict:

The illustrations in this book are exceptional. We love how the static Freight train is shown introducing most of the lovely rainbow colors and then the moving Freight train looks prettier appearing to be movie with those lovely colors.

We love the details in the illustrations , specifically the pages, where going through the tunnel, the part of the train is hidden as being inside the tunnel and the passing by cities page showing high skyscrapers.

The book is great for introducing colors, playing a game of color matching and to learn the components of a Freight Train.

We bought ours in a book sale.

We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:

The bubbling didn't take to this book all that well, meaning she wouldn't bring the book on her own to be read. However, we always sing the Mother Goose Freight Train song whenever we pick this book.

It is a bubbling-teeny-two.

0 B is Brown, Margaret Wise : Runaway Bunny Review

Part of the A to Z Authors/Illustrators

Margaret Wise Brown:
Most famous for her classic , Good Night Moon, she has written some beautiful ones.

Pic Credit:http://www.abdopub.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=13433

Books that Bubble Ink has read :
Good Night Moon, Big Red Barn, Runaway Bunny, Home for a bunny

Books read to the Bubbling:
All the 3 except Home for a bunny(a recent buy).

Bubble Ink pick:
Runaway Bunny

Bubbling Pick:
Runaway Bunny.

Some more that we think are great:
The Color Kittens

We will review here, the Bubble Ink and Bubbling pick : Runaway Bunny

The Book:
The Runaway Bunny is written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd.

The Bubble:
This book is about mother-child love with some beautiful illustrations alternating in black and white and color. It is the story about a baby bunny which wants to run away from the mother bunny and the mother bunny who retorts saying he will run after the baby bunny to find him.

We love the different imaginative forms that the baby bunny thinks up to run away and the mother bunny devising the fitting form to find him. 
When a fish, the mother would become a fisherman to fish for him; When a crocus in the garden, the mother would become a gardener to find him; When a bird, the mother would become the tree to fly into. 

Sampe Lines:
"If you are gardener and find me", said the little bunny, "I will be a bird and fly away from you."

"If you become a bird and fly away from me," said his mother, "I will be a tree that you come home to"

Bubble Ink's verdict:
At least one mother child book is a must own in every child's library. If you are little one loves bunnies or if these illustrations appeal to you, this might that ONE.
We were impressed by the bonding and the protective nature of mothers that the book brings out in the form of text and illustrations. The text touches you, the illustrations move you. 
We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling verdict:
We had this since the bubbling was a little over 18 months. While she wasn't ready then to understand the mother-baby thing, she loved the illustrations and we both delighted spotting the baby bunny disguised in the many forms. She loves the mountain climber page and spotting the bunny hidden so intelligently amidst the mountain peaks.
It is a bubbling-fab-four.

0 A is for Ahlbergs - Peepo Review

Part of the A to Z of Picture book authors and illustrators.

This is the first author roundup at the Bubble Ink blog. 

An author round-up post will have the following sections:

Author/Illustrator introduction

Books that the picture book lover Bubble Ink has read : This will include books read at libraries, borrowed from friends or even bookshop reads :).

Books read to the Bubbling: Some of the books may not be age-appropriate for the bubbling, so the ones read to her will be listed here.

Bubble Ink pick: This is my favourite choosing only from the ones I have read by the author

Bubbling's pick: Bubbling favourite from the ones that have been read to her.
More reads that we think are great : This is also limited to the books that we have come to hear. Any suggestions on this are welcome as comments in the blog.

The Ahlbergs:
A husband-wife duo with Allan, the writer and Janet the illustrator.

Coutesy: http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/library/authors/janetandallanahlberg.htm

Pic courtesy: http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/library/authors/janetandallanahlberg.htm
Books that Bubble Ink has read :
Peepo, Each Peach Pear Plum, FunnyBones, Clothes Horse and other stories and The Pencil.

Books read to the Bubbling:
Peepo and Each Peach Pear Plum

Bubble Ink pick:
The Pencil (This is only Kid-Lit eBook that we own)


Bubbling pick:
Peepo


Some more that we think are great:
Starting School, Previously have been on our wish list.

This post will review the book - Peepo.

The Book:

Peepo is written by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Janet Ahlberg.




 The Bubble:
A perfect first book for babies , the book has a circle cut out on every page to have a peek on to what it happening around the baby. For babies, the baby illustrations are easy to relate to, for toddlers - peeping entertains, for older toddlers - it is a great game of guessing. 
The book features the activities of a baby from morning till bedtime and what he sees from his crib, in his high chair, in his push chair, at the park, on his sister's lap.It offers a small peep to what he sees the rest of the family doing and the following opens to the family scene. The book ends on a beautiful note with the baby put back to bed leaving the read guessing what he sees in his dream.

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love the pretty and detail oriented illustrations. The page spread that shows the scene of the family has been done with a lot of attention to detail. Details to the extent of the baby's night suit being hung to warm on the oven door to the baby actually wearing it to bed when kissed good night. The text says the sisters are looking for a tin to go fishing and the next scene has the sisters sitting beside the pond fishing with the tin nearby. Details like this and the lovely rhyming text will sure have this book grow with the baby.
We bought ours at a book-sale.
We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
The bubbling didn't have this book as a baby but when she was about 2 years old when she still loved Peek-a-boo books and also had a liking for babies. So the book was an instant hit. She explains what the baby does on each page and we discuss the page which shows the rest of the family.
It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

The post contains Flipkart affiliate links. Should you choose buy these books through the site, please use the link. Bubble Ink will make a small commission out of your purchase and we ll use the money we make for Bubble Ink giveaways

0 Z is for Zoe-Beans

Part of the A to Z blogging challege.
The challenge that started with A for Annabelle ends with Z for Zoe.

The Book:
Zoe and Beans - The Magic Hoop is written and illustrated by Chloe and Mick Inkpen - they are father-daughter duo.

The Bubble:
This book in the adorable Zoe and Beans series is about Zoe and her dog Beans who transforms himself into different things while jumping through her magic hoop. Zoe tempts her dog, Beans with some chocy bears to jump through the hoop- the magic hoop and that transforms Beans into a rabbit. Zoe is delighted having Beans as a rabbit . She can't wait and further tempts Beans to jump again offering some more Chocy Bears. Beans is now a mouse and she doesn't seem to like it.

She makes him jump again and he then becomes crocodile and then an elephant at the next attempt. While he jumps as a crocodile to become the BIG elephant - he gets stuck inside the hoop. Zoe then devises a plan for him to go on a diet with No chocy bears! Does, Beans the elephant stay away from Chocy Bears? Does Beans come out of the hoop and what does he come out as ? Himself, the dog? or anything else?

The illustrations are real pretty - the little girl, her adorable doggie , her Binky Boo and the multicolor hoop - Beautiful.

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love how little ones love magic and can never have enough of it. We love the introduction of the twist in the story when the girl isn't liking the magic that the hoop is doing. We love love the illustrations.

We bought ours at the LightRoom bookstore. It is one of the books which you hadn't even heard of once before - neither the title nor the author/illustrator , but you buy at stores by flipping through the pages. Such books turn out to be some of our best buys!
We give it 4-bubbles

Bubbling's verdict:
Bubbling has watched some older kids play Hula-Hoop and she loves the illustrations in the book and names the different animals that Beans becomes in the story.
It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

0 Y is for Yay, You

Part of the A to Z challenge #atozchallenge

The Book:
Yay, You is by Sandra Boynton. 

The Bubble:
Perfectly sub-titled Moving Out, Moving up, Moving On!, the book is a perfect read for all ages. It is best suited when you are moving schools, graduating, moving cities, shifting jobs or for just a light read to liven up your mood.

It tells all the things that you want to hear to feel good about yourself, to feel confident about the decisions that you have made or yet to make and to feel just great about doing what you are doing. It lists many different options like map reading and travelling, going fast, going slow, loving art, Nothing preachy! 

Sample lines:
And whatever you do -
now or later,
big or small,
loud or quiet-
whatever you do,
don't worry.
Just try it.
Whatever you do,
whether near or so far,
I know you'll be great.

You already are!

Love, love those lines.

Bubble Ink's verdict:
A must read for every one. It was an adorable and touching read. Love the illustrations with the cute Pookie. When the most profound life's lessons are told with cute illustrations like these, who would think it is advice?

Love the page that says , 
Hey, What s the hurry anyhow?
There are places to get to, projects to do,
people to talk with and lunches to chew ,
but Stopping a while is ok , too ( this page has the Pookie, blowing bubbles - We love bubbles - blowing bubbles is the best thing on this earth, we believe).

Atleast one page or a line is sure to touch you in a way of "Been-there-felt-that" feeling or "just-what-i-wanted-to-hear" moment! 

A borrowed read.
A sure 5-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
Since the book was a borrowed read , it was not read to the bubbling. My little bubbling isn't the age yet for this one! But am going to have her read this , for sure, whenever she is ready.
So no bubbling verdict on this one.

0 X is for X-Mas Pick : Welcome to Santa's Toy Shop

Part of the A to Z blogging challenge #atozchallenge.

The Book:
Welcome to Santa's Toy Shop is a pop-up storybook by Granddreams Limited.

The Bubble:
It is a perfect Christmas story for every child who dreams of Santa filling stockings with toys and leaving them under the Christmas tree. The story is of the elves helping Santa make toys - chiselling , hammering and painting to make engines, aeroplanes; stuffing and stitching to make stuffed toys. 

The illustrations are utterly cute with toys strewn all over, the little elves doing all the chores like stacking, the toys, painting them, relaxing with tea, snoozing and wrapping the gifts is a delight to watch. 

Bubble Ink's verdict:
A perfect Christmas story for even the youngest child who can delight in the colorful and cute illustrations; for the slightly older to make-believe how gifts end up under the Christmas tree. The book being a pop-up just makes it better.

We give it 4-bubbles. We bought ours at a book sale for a throwaway price. The book has not got any author or illustrator listed on it.

Bubbling's verdict:
This is her first popup book and she loves looking at the toys, counting the elves and all the Santa!
It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

0 W is for Where's Walrus?

Part of the A to Z blogging challenge #atozchallenge

The Book:
Where's Walrus is a wordless picture book by Stephen Savage.

The Bubble:
Where's Walrus is wordless and as in all wordless books, the story is left to the interpretation of the readers. The outline is a walrus which escapes the zoo and ventures out donning different hats , thus disguising himself as a princess, dancer, painter, fire fighter, builder and a diver. The zoo-keeper sets out on a mission to find the walrus - Does he succeed? Would he recognize the walrus in all his hats? Is the walrus playing a joke on him? Does the zoo keeper recognize him when the hat comes off? How does the hat come off? Does the walrus get back to the zoo in an all new form?

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love wordless picture books. In this book, we love the stylish and witty illustrations - with the walrus looking super smart in all his disguises.
We love the painter disguise where the walrus draws the zoo-keeper!
We love the high-step dancer disguise of the walrus!
We love-love the diving walrus winning the medal!

Atleast one wordless is a must-have in your child's library. If your little one is into walruses and loves "find-where" books, this can take that place. 

We borrowed our copy from Hippocampus Bangalore.
We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
The bubbling loves most of the "Where's" books and this was read with a lot of enthusiasm too. It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

0 V is for Vir from The World of Anahi and Vir

Part of the A to Z blogging challenge #atozchallenge

The Book:
The world of Anahi and Vir is a series from Little Latitude. 
This is a review of "If I lived in a tree house" written by Kalpana Subramanian and illustrated by Prashant Miranda.

The Bubble:
The book is Anahi and Vir visualising what they would do if they lived in the different places like tree house, forest , a water pipe , a cave and so on. The illustrations are such a visual treat complemented well by the rhyming text. We love the imagination of Anahi and Vir who think up even a water pipe with mice stuck inside as house.  The book talks about homes like a pouch for the baby kangaroo, those weaved in the air as webs by spiders, grand kings' palaces and even the homeless monks too. It ends on a lovely note which drives home the message "Home is where the heart is". 

Sample Lines:
A home could be a pouch
Or it could be a shell
It could be spun around you
And no one can really tell.

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love the entire series for its pretty water color illustrations, the whimsical impact that they leave on you and the simple , yet adorable rhyming text. There is some thing infectious about the illustrations in this book, something that touches you at every flip of the page.

Atleast one from this series is a must look-at!
We borrowed our copy from Hippocampus Bangalore.
We give it 4 bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
Bubbling loves the illustrations, we name all the pretty things on each page. She loves the tree house page with mangoes and banana and the page in which Vir hangs upside down like a monkey.
It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

0 U is for Up Down

Part of the A to Z Blogging challenge #atozchallenge

The Book:
Up Down is a bilingual written by Vinayak Varma.

The Bubble:
A cute little book about a little boy who is looking for the right companion to play see-saw with. Appu goes about asking the grasshopper, mouse and a dog only to realize that he is too heavy to play see-saw with them. While the grasshopper, mouse and the dog found him too heavy, the cow found his too light.

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love the simplicity of the book and the beautiful illustrations with action words as each characters falls off the see-saw. After all the simple joys of childhood and the most beautiful memories of childhood are those of the delightful things like the see-saws!
We bought ours at the Tullika stall at the Chennai Book Fair.
We give it 4-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
The bubbling loves her park visits and loves books with these sounds words like "aaa-wwwwww", "woooooooo". This is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

0 T is for Twice my Size

Part of the A to Z blogging challenge = #atozchallenge

The Book:
Twice my Size is a book by Adrian Mitchell and illustrated by Daniel Pudles.

The Bubble:
This book starts with a tiny ladybird who meets a friend who is twice her size, the butterfly. The butterfly then meets a friends who is twice its size, bird. The bird then meets a squirrel who then meets a cat and so on. 

The illustrations on every page make for a guessing game for which animal is going to appear on the next. It is a great first book for its colorful illustrations and can grow well on the toddler - for the guessing game and to learn comparative sizes among animals. birds and insects. The text rhymes beautifully and describes what comes on the next page. 

Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love how the book ends  with the Sun being the biggest among all and the illustration that go with it, showing all the creatures introduced in the earlier pages on a single page around the BIG SUN. We also love the way the creatures are sequenced - cat meeting a dog, dog meeting a boy who then meets a girl , a horse, elephant , dolphin and finally the Sun!

We borrowed our copy from Hippocampus, Bangalore.
We give it 3-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
Bubbling loves books with guessing games or I spy books. This is a very recent read for her - So no bubbling rating yet for this one.

0 S is for Sleepy Head

Part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge - #atozchallenge
S is for Sleepy Head

The Book:
Sleepyhead is written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by John Segal.

The Bubble:
The book is a bed time scene between a cat who tries to put a teddy bear to sleep. The narration has the dialogue between the two complemented well by the dreamy and imaginative illustrations. It starts with the teddy bear pleading for one more book to be read before going to sleep. The illustrations show books with pictures of cat, walrus, penguin, giraffe, dolphin strewn on the floor. The teddy bear delays bed time by asking for one more hug, one more kiss - one more of everything. The cat is shown to be losing patience with illustrations to indicate louder and sterner calls "go to sleep, It's time for bed".

The quilt that is spread out also has the same characters as in the books on the first page. From then on, the pleads for one more drink, one more snuggle, one more cuddle, one more blanky, one more stretch and one more yawn leading to the teddy bear falling asleep. The illustrations on each of these pleads show the cat begging, impatient and tired and the teddy bear happily taking plight in his own imagination in each of the characters on the quilt/book - the walrus in the quilt is tucked in the blanky, penguins from the book stretch and yawn, the dolphin in the book is used as a ride-on!

Sample text:
One more hug, says Sleepyhead.
Sleepyhead, Sleepyhead.
Now close your eyes,
my Sleepyhead.

We've kissed our kiss, your quilt is spread.
Go to sleep, It's time for bed.
One more kiss, says Sleepyhead.

Thus go the plead for one more of everything.

Bubble Ink's verdict:
It's an apt bed time read narrating and illustrating the deja-vu scene is most households before bed. We love how the illustrations show the tending-to-impatient cat and the undisturbed-by-that teddy bear . We love the dreamy effect, of how the characters in the quilt and the books read take life in the teddy's bear imagination as the cat calls out "Time for bed" and he pleads for "one more of everything". Such beauty in the details.

We love the giraffe page which has the cat stretching out a book to be read and the teddy bear whimsically sitting atop the giraffe saying "Just one more!".

When we say, picture books delight us - This is one of those books!

When you read this book to your Sleepyhead,
Be prepared for the plead,
One more time!

We borrowed our copy from Hippocampus, Bangalore.
We give it 4 bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
The bubbling enjoys the characters in the illustrations and tries to picture read them. It is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

0 R is for Rosie's Walk

Part of the A to Z Blogging challenge #atozchallenge

The Book:
Rosie's Walk is written and illustrated by Pat Hutchins.

The Bubble:
The book is about a hen named Rosie who is going for a walk in the farm and the text narrates her path. The illustrations convey the plot where in Rosie is being followed by a fox who attempts to hunt her and ends up in mishaps. Does Rosie reach home safely or does she fall prey to the fox?


Bubble Ink's verdict:
We love these kind of picture books where the text narrates the obvious and the illustrations tell the plot and how some interpretations are left to the reader. Here, if Rosie is purposely leading the fox to those dangers or is she unaware of the fox following her is left to the reader. We love the look and feel of the illustrations which is a perfect farm setting with haycock, bee hives, flour mill and pond.

We bought ours at a book sale. We give it 4 bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
The bubbling repeats "Fox is going catch the hen" and "Aach-cha-cho, Fox fell Damaaal" alternatively on the illustrations. It is a bubbling-fab-four.

0 Q is for Quiet Loud

Part of the A to Z blogging challenge. #atozchallenge
We are loving how the A to Z challenge is giving a chance to review some of our most-loved books and we also love how some of our books like these fit into these tougher letters like Q, Y etc! We have already done a Leslie Patricelli and one more coming up for Y!

The Book:
Quiet Loud is written, hand lettered and illustrated by Leslie Patricelli.

The Bubble:
The book features on each spread a thing that is Quiet and the one that is Loud. We love the way the quiet and loud things are paired on the pages of the book. Whispering with Screaming, Fishes with doggies, Thinking with singing, Slippers with Mommy's shoes, Sniffles with Sneezes, Turtles with Monkeys, Birds with Airplanes - The choices to explain the quiet and loud are impressive. 

Bubble Ink's verdict:
Like we said here, the books featuring the one-haired bald baby are perfect first books. The objects and situations illustrated are so easy to relate from a very young age.
We highly recommend these for your child's library. Choose the one that best suits your baby's likes. 
We give this one 3-bubbles.

Bubbling's verdict:
The bubbling loves Huggy Kissy the best from the author and she could relate the fishy on this book with the fishy from the Huggy Kissy book. Such is the impact , the illustrations have on a child. Leslie Particelli's were one of her first board books. This particular book , Quiet Loud, is a bubbling-tantalizing-three.

0 P is for Pete the Cat

Part of the A to Z Blogging Challege. #atozchallenge 
The Book:
Pete the Cat, I love my white shoes is written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean. 
It is a series featuring Pete the cat, the coolest cat in the world of picture books. 

The Bubble:
The book is a story of a super cool cat - Pete who goes for a walk with his white shoes singing his song, "I love my white shoe". Along the way , he steps into strawberries , blueberries and mud turning his white shoes into red , blue and brown. 
Despite his shoes getting discoloured and dirty - Pete doesn't cry and keeps singing his song because it's all good. 
The story is in the form of a dialogue, hence makes a great interactive read aloud with the child. 

Sample lines 
"Oh No, Pete stepped into a pile of strawberries.
What color did it turn his shoes ? 
RED.
Did Pete cry?
Goodness No! 
He kept walking along and singing his song .
I love my RED shoes ,
I love my RED shoes,
I love my RED shoes. 

Bubble Ink's verdict:
Great illustrations , repetitive text, a sing-along verse within the book and a cute story and message weaved in - this one can easily become one of your child's first books to be picture read , well before knowing letters and sounds. 

We bought ours at a book sale. We give it 5-bubbles. 

Bubbling's verdict: 
One of the books that was an instant hit on the very first read itself. The bubbling loves singing along and dancing to the verse "I love my white shoes ". It is , without any doubt , a bubbling-full-five. 

Buy your copy from Amazon or Flipkart.