Educational children’s books to cultivate the hungry little minds
ONE of six delightful little board books that works like a game, The Game of Patterns is just that: pages of brightly coloured shapes for matching. Find a friend and play the pattern game.
See how many differences you can spot together.
My four-year-old granddaughter enjoyed finding the matching shapes with their same patterns.
“These match. These are not the same.”
Tullet uses primary colours to give the pages a bright, attractive look. The shapes are varied and appealing. The other four books sound fun to play:
The Game of Finger Worms (your child draws a face on an index finger to play this game);
The Game of Mix-up Art with flaps to turn;
The Game of Light which I would enjoy – you shine a torch to make pictures on the ceiling or walls and
The Game of Let’s Go, where you take a journey into the world of your imagination.
Known in France as “The Prince of pre-school books”, Tullet’s books teach reading by “teaching young minds to think imaginatively, independently and creatively”. — Jean Wyatt
ILOVE joke books, so this was an awesome read for me. The book is based on Humphrey the Hamster. The book has different chapters of jokes – Humphrey’s fabulous food jokes, Humphrey all at sea and many more. The jokes are quick and witty, aimed at boys and girls ages seven to 12. My dad and I burst into fits of laughter at the jokes. Here are a few I liked: “How do you make a witch itch? Take away the ‘W’.”
“Knock, knock. Who’s there? Anna. Anna who? Anna gonna tell ya.”
“What happens if you play table tennis with a bad egg? First it goes ping, then it goes pong.”
The illustrations and layout of the book are fun and funky. It’s a nice read that makes you feel good and gives your tummy a workout from all the giggling. — Isabella Askew
LITTLE Sanele can’t sleep at night. There’s always a “monster” under her bed or a noise outside keeping her awake.
Every night there is something new that Sanele is afraid of.
Her mother tries her best to allay the girl’s fears but nothing seems to help – not even leaving the light on.
It is only when Sanele chooses a little black kitten from a neighbour’s litter that she is able to sleep peace- fully. Whenever Sanele is afraid she hugs her kitten tight and falls straight back to sleep. — Nicolette Scrooby
WELL-KNOWN South African crime author Margie Orford has put pen to paper in the retelling of The Magic Fish, while Lizza Littlewort has done the illustrations.
This book for kids forms part of Jacana’s best loved tales for Africa series. The story is about a poor fisherman who catches a magic talking fish. He immediately sets the fish free and goes home to tell his brother. The brother insists he go back and ask the fish for a bigger house for them.
But the fisherman’s brother is very greedy and keeps wanting more wealth and power. Of course this can only lead to the brother’s downfall and therein lies the moral of the story. — Nicolette Scrooby
ONE day a little boy asks his dog to watch the cattle in the kraal. The cattle beg the little dog to unlock the gate and let them out. They try to offer the dog all sorts of cool things to get him to open the gate. Eventually the dog gives in, and just as he opens the gate there is loud clap of thunder and all the cattle storm out of the kraal. The dog runs inside and hides and that is why, the story says, to this day dogs are scared of thunderstorms. — Nicolette Scrooby
AGRANNY goat goes out one day to look for food. She instructs the kids to be careful. They must not open the door for anyone – especially the crafty hyena who will eat them.
But the hyena is just too clever, and eventually the kids open the door believing it is actually the grandmother. He gobbles up all the kids except one. When granny comes home she has to rescue her kids from the hyena’s belly and get revenge. — Nicolette Scrooby
BOYS will love Dinosaur Dig! because of all the pictures of colourful dinosaurs with their awesome trucks. But don’t forget about the girls – they’ll enjoy it just as much.
The delightful little hardcover book is all about teaching kids to count. Ten dinosaurs are all busy digging – a very big hole.
While the dinosaurs are busy building there’s lots of crashing, bashing and roaring. But just what are they trying to build? Well, you’ll have to get the book to find out. — Nicolette Scrooby