Our Gorgeous Baby by Smriti Halls - Illustrated by Eve Coy #BookReview

 

Our baby's eyes are NOT brighter than the sun...

And NO, she's NOT light as a feather...

***

A charmingly funny picture book that celebrates the unconditional love a family has for their slurpy, burpy and boisterous new baby!

Smriti was inspired to write Our Gorgeous Baby after reading Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130. With lyrical humour the story reflects the routine chaos a new baby brings upon a family and – in so doing – shows that even the slurpiest, burpiest, noisiest, smelliest and messiest of babies (multiple night-time wakings included) is no challenge whatsoever to the unbreakable bond and endless and unconditional love, care and affection a family has for their gorgeous baby.

***

This book could not have been more timely for me when it arrived this week. I had a new granddaughter make her entrance into the world just a few days ago. Of course, she is utterly gorgeous and this book epitomises how every big brother or sister might view a new arrival.

Written throughout in rhyme the book is beautifully illustrated. These support the text perfectly, and young children will adore following them. They add further to the story and there is much that adults can share with their little ones in the book.

Aimed at the preschool age group young children will enjoy having this book read to them and equally will enjoy looking at the colourful pictures themselves.

It has a timeless quality to it and portrays the burping, dirty nappies and sleepless nights which accompany the arrival of a new baby. It is done in a loving and charming way that parents and children alike will enjoy.

My son and his family do not live locally and so have yet to meet our latest addition to the family. Needless to say, I can hardly wait to meet her and have a cuddle, and I cannot wait to share this book with her two year old brother who will definitely be able to identify with it.

ISBN:  978 1406391770

Publisher:  Walker Books

Formats:  Hardback

No. of Pages:  32

About the Author:

Smriti Halls is an award-winning, critically acclaimed children’s author. Since publication of her first picture book in 2012, she has had a U.S. number 1 bestseller and been published in more than 30 languages, from Arabic to Afrikaans and from Catalan to Korean.

With a cast of characters as varied as mischievous monsters and disgruntled geese, she explores relationship and identity; the personal and the political; how it feels to be in your own skin — and in someone else’s. Her books, often fast-paced and funny or lyrical and tender, are always full of hope and heart and speak to the child in all of us.

 

Several of her books have been nominated and shortlisted for national awards. The Little Island (illustrated by Robert Starling) is currently shortlisted for the 2020 Teach Primary Awards and the 2020 Little Rebels Award.

Smriti works extensively with the Bedtime Stories Prison Project, helping parents in prison stay connected with their children at home through stories. She has been interviewed about this work by BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and The Guardian.

Smriti has been a judge for several awards and prizes, including the Stratford Salariya Prize, Faber's FAB Award and the Booktrust Lifetime Achievement Award. She is currently BookTrust’s Writer in Residence.

South Indian by birth, British by nationality and London-loving by heart, Smriti lives near Richmond Park with her husband and their three sons, reading, writing and eating iced buns. 

(Book courtesy of the publisher)

(author media coutesy of her website)

(all opinions are my own)

Janet Jackson's Yorkshire B & B by Becky Papworth - #BookReveiw #BlogTour

 

How would I describe Lavender Cottage? You'd never know from the outside quite how big the garage cottage is. It has a pitched, red slate roof you can actually touch if you stretch high enough - useful when clearing the gutters - and a small, pale green, uPVC door, which looks like wood, with two square casement windows either side. The duck-egg linen curtains in the windows are ones I knocked up myself. (Well done, Janet.) They look decent, as long as you don't interrogate them  too closely. They're not straight, plus I ran out of green and white cotton, so I went with a navy blue zigzag stitch. Hopefully it looks deliberate, like something Kirstie Allsopp might run up in a quiet morning.

***

Dental receptionist and Yorkshire lass Janet Jackson (no, not that one) has just turned her garage into a Bed & Breakfast - and without any experience at all, is now awaiting her very first guests.

What can possibly go wrong?

Helped by sulky teenage daughter Chloe and hindered by sex-mad sister Maureen, Janet lurches from one crisis to another, relying on her Yorkshire wit and wisdom to get her through with her bank balance, her love-life and her sanity intact.

A word of warning: if ever you've dreamed of running a B & B, read this book and, like Janet, you'll probably do it anyway.

***

I am so very glad that I was offered the opportunity of being part of the blog tour for this book. It is a little different to my usual reading fare but I enjoyed every word.

I think that its appeal to readers will largely lie with the main character, the titular Janet Jackson. She was a delightful character, and I think most readers will find something in her with which they will identify. The author has not only portrayed her as likeable and engaging, but has developed all of the other characters thoughtfully and thoroughly too. They each contribute to the story, and it will be quite some time before I forget about Maureen, who is Janet's sister and completely attention worthy in so many ways.

As we observe Janet being coerced by those around her, it was a joy to observe how she reins back control of her own life. I felt as though I was accompanying a friend on her journey rather than reading her story and I felt a little bereft to finish the book. I was left wanting more of Janet, her family and friends, and not forgetting the array of guests who frequent her B and B.

Written with humour throughout, this is a wonderfully pleasurable book to read and I recommend it to anyone who wants a lighthearted read but with enough depth to keep you enthralled.

ISBN: 978 1739794811 

Publisher: Can Can Press

Formats: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages: 254 (paperback)

About the Author:

Becky Paapworth has spent 20 years making people laugh as a TV Producer on shows like Have I Got News For You, Rab. C. Nesbitt and Citizen Khan. She's hoping to entertain readers with this account of running a B&B, some of it is based on her own experience (she's not saying which bits).

(Thank you Rachel's Random Resources for gifting me a copy of this book)