There's a Bison Bouncing on the Bed by Paul Bright and Chris Chatterton

There's a Bison Bouncing on the Bed by Paul Bright and Chris Chatterton
Buy There's a Bison Bouncing on the Bed by Paul Bright and Chris Chatterton at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Sam Tyler
Summary: Bouncing on the bed may be fun, but Bison and friends find out the hard way that it does not always end well. Join them in this wonderfully dynamic and fun tale that has a couple of surprises up its sleeve.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 24	Date: June 2016
Publisher: LTP
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9781848692350
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Becoming a parent gives you many new insights into life; the pleasure in seeing a child smile or the amazement as they start to utter words. However, the one thing that you really begin to understand is – how much stuff costs. Clothes, food, transport, toys, even furniture. It all costs money and you now have a tiny wrecking ball running around the house seemingly doing their best to destroy them all. It may seem like harmless fun to jump on the bed, but who pays for it when it breaks? The bison? I don't think so.

Bison is bouncing on the bed and it all seems like innocent fun. So much so that Aardvark, Chipmunk and Ladybird all think it looks fun too, but as they say; too many jumping animals break the bed. To make matters worse it appears that the bed was not quite as empty as they first expected – Bear may just be waking up with a sore head.

There's a Bison Bouncing on the Bed is a joyous kids book that is great fun to read, not only as it looks great, but the rhyming couplets also work well. Children are very much drawn to jumping on beds so seeing a bunch of animals doing so makes sense. Like some of the best children's books Bright gives the reader a little indication of what may result of their actions – crash! Just having a few creatures wreck a bed would not be a satisfactory ending, so there is a great twist midway through the book as well as another at the end. This is truly a fun book to read as it entertains and surprises throughout.

Bright is able to keep the pace of the book moving by writing a pithy story that rattles along. Each sentence rhymes and to further enhance the storytelling some words are in big letters to tell the reader that they are important – BEND, SHAKE, BREAK. By adding these words in context it is a great way for a toddler to learn what they mean, but also helps your storytelling as they indicate when to emphasise the words.

Great stories are sometimes let down by average illustrations, but this is not the case with Chatterton's images. Each double-page spread has bright colours and a vibrancy. He is also able to capture the dynamism of jumping on a bed by using simple perspective to have the animals jumping towards the reader. Seems like an easy idea, but I have read other books that have not done this and the jumpers seem flat. Each creature has its own personality and the use of bold pictures makes this book short, but sweet.

More jumping fun can be found in Ready, Steady, Jump by Jeanne Willis and Adrian Reynolds, whilst more funny and naughty animals can be found in Circle, Square, Moose by Kelly L Bingham and Paul O Zelinsky. You might also enjoy The Best Bear in All the World by Paul Bright, Brian Sibley, Jeanne Willis, Kate Saunders and Mark Burgess.

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You can read more book reviews or buy There's a Bison Bouncing on the Bed by Paul Bright and Chris Chatterton 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 There's a Bison Bouncing on the Bed by Paul Bright and Chris Chatterton at Amazon.com.

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