Books We've Been Reading | July 2021


Anyone who knows me knows that I love to read. It's something I've always enjoyed and I think it's so important that we grow and nurture a love of reading for future generations. We've really missed our trips to the library but thankfully it's reopened now and we get to enjoy browsing again. I'm still making the most of our libraries online ebook loan service to keep my kindle well stocked with reading material. Here's what we've been reading this month....

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Image of the front cover of itchy, scritchy, scratchy pants by Steve Smallman and Elina Ellis. Features the book title and author's names alongside an image of 3 viking's all in knitted pants scratching their bottoms. The book is laid on a pastel pebble effect background.


Iris is at that stage in life where silliness is everything so a book that mentions pants and bums was always going to be a winner. This book has been read every night since we got it from the library. Iris loves it. The illustrations are perhaps a little too old for Iris but that hasn't stopped her enjoying the story. She loves to laugh along as Yop and the gang go on a quest for knitted knickers. I love the storyline, it's really funny but I find the rhyming style a little clunky to read. This book sounds best when read using a limerick style of rhyme but there's parts in the book that are too wordy to fit with the flow making it a less enjoyable book to read aloud.

Image of the front cover of The Princess and the Wizard by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks. The cover features the book title and authors names alongside an image of a princess hiding in a bush and a wizard high in a castle. The cover also features an image of a crow, dove and cat. The cover is bright pink and yellow and also an emblam indicating that this version comes with picture book and CD and that it has been created by the same people that made What The Ladybird Heard.



Iris and I disagree on this book. I really enjoy it. Iris isn't keen. We chose it because it's by Julia Donaldson and we've loved every book of hers that we've read so we just assumed we'd love this one too. I think it's in keeping with her other books and I love the illustrations by Lydia Monks. Iris likes that our version contains glittered elements in it's design but that's about it. Iris finds the storyline a little scary. I think it's because she's at an age where she's starting to understand good and evil and is apprehensive about the wizard and the fact he kidnaps the princess. In general Iris's anxiety is growing as she understands more of the world, which is an important safety mechanism but it's starting to make enjoying fantasy books like this a little harder for her to enjoy. I think this section of Julia Donaldson's work maybe have to be left for a while to enjoy when she's a bit older and can grasp reality versus fantasy a little better. It's a great book but better suited to slightly older children.

Image of the front cover of the children's book Gordon's Great Escape by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet. Featuring and illustration of a red balloon with a happy smiling face and various other birds and balloons in the background. There is also an acknowledgement that this book was wirtten by the creators of the Supertato books. The book is placed on a black and white city print backdrop.



We are enormous fans of Barry The Fish With Fingers so we jumped at the chance to discover another  story by the same creators. Iris absolutely loves this book and to be honest so do I. It's fun and giggly, bold and bright and it has some real suspense towards the end. I like how an everyday object, that children often encounter has been given a personality and brought to life. We recently had some balloons laying around from an anniversary party and Iris started using them as characters and giving them voices and personalities. I love it when a book sparks creative play like this.


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The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Image of the front cover of the ebook version of Lucy Foley's book The Guest List displayed on a Kindle Paperwhite laid on a backdrop of flowers and bunches of herbs.

An intensely atmospheric whodunnit set on a uninhabited island off the coast of Ireland. The guests disembark bringing much more baggage than they intended.  As guests mingle, secrets are unveiled and history comes back to haunt them. Read my full review The Guest List by Lucy Foley to reveal whether this page turner should be next on your to be read list.

Thanks For Reading,

UK blogger parenting and lifestyle coeliac, autism, mental health,

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ChatterFox

7 comments:

  1. Cute colourful pictures!! #BWBR

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  2. Adorable books. I love your reviews too. My kids would love these. Thanks for linking up #KCACOLS

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  3. I have read the guest list, really good story x #kcacols

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  4. I just realised that Guest List sounds like And then there were none by Agatha Christie. I loved that story as a child,. The idea of it seemed so exciting and fun (not the killing part but the going to an island to play a game...) #KCACOLS

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  5. Anything by Julia Donaldson gets our vote in my house! Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS.

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  6. I like the sound of "The Guest List". Will make a note of it. Thanks for sharing your review with us, :-) x #KCACOLS

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