Zoe and Beans: Look at me! by Chloe Inkpen and Mick Inkpen

Zoe and Beans: Look at me! by Chloe Inkpen and Mick Inkpen
Buy Zoe and Beans: Look at me! by Chloe Inkpen and Mick Inkpen at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Trish Simpson-Davis
Summary: Simple board book story giving the smallest children some ideas of how to go about imaginative play.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 12	Date: May 2013
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
ISBN: 978-0230766549
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This is the first board book in a Zoe and Beans series in development, so it will be played with and handled by very young children. Babies and toddlers will like the cheery pics, friendly faces and Beans, the faithful playmate-dog. I loved Beans. He conveyed all the resignation of a household mutt dominated by an ever-demanding toddler.

Zoe and Oscar are having a play-date. First Zoe dresses up as a bee; then they both appear as pirates. Next they improvise a doctor story, a robot on the loose, and finally they dress up in each other’s clothes.

If there are no older brothers and sisters handy, this book might be just the job for giving an under-3 actual ideas about how to play. The pirate, robot and doctor pages suggest some little stories, with household props, such as sweets for pills and a saucepan on Zoe’s head for a helmet, to inspire the children.

In the final page Zoe and her friend, Oscar are dressing up in each other’s clothes. I found the wording on this page a little confusing initially. However, once it’s explained, I think a child will enjoy and maybe try out the idea when playing with a friend.

The story is gentle and lay back and won’t cause bedtime problems. However, I suspect that this will limit the interest span for children over two. So this is a book best bought and used when your child’s language is just emerging, while there is plenty of simple stuff to chat about in Mick Inkpen’s attractive illustrations.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending this book.

For very young children, we recommend Miaow! by Mick Inkpen and Don't Lose Pigley, Wibbly Pig! by Mick Inkpen. Here at The Bookbag, we have always liked Chloe and Mick Inkpen’s work, so browsing here for previous work will give several recommendations for slightly older children, including the ever-popular Kipper.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Zoe and Beans: Look at me! by Chloe Inkpen and Mick Inkpen at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Zoe and Beans: Look at me! by Chloe Inkpen and Mick Inkpen at Amazon.com.

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