I Love My Mum by Anna Walker

I Love My Mum by Anna Walker
Buy I Love My Mum by Anna Walker at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Ruth Ng
Summary: Delicate watercolour illustrations depicting the everyday things that mums and children get up to make this a sweet, gentle story to share with little ones.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 24	Date: March 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0007309160
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Ollie B is a little zebra and in this story we see him spending time with his mum, doing chores, playing together and finally being settled down for the night with a goodnight kiss. The text is rhyming and very simple so it's nice and easy for little ones to follow. The situations shown are easily recognisable to small children (and their parents!) as we watch Ollie and his mum hanging out the washing, going for a walk together, stopping along the way to look at creepy crawlies, dancing with shadows, walking on walls...

The illustrations in the book are beautiful. They're all done in watercolour, mostly in pastel colours with the odd touch of vibrant red here and there. They're quite simply drawn, with lots of space around them, so the story is a good one for reading aloud to groups of toddlers at playgroup or nursery as it's easy to see what's going on with each page. The text also works well for sharing with a group of children since it's very simple, written in rhyme, and it's a short little story so doesn't require a long period of concentration to follow!

I like the little dog who appears in some of the scenes, although we did wonder why he wasn't taken on the walk with them. I also really liked that the things Ollie and his mum are shown doing are such simple, everyday things and they both have happy smiles throughout. It's nice to see simple pleasures being encouraged and as much as I'm glad that my little girl no longer stops to investigate every bug, flower and shiny object she sees on the path I do also miss the way that made me stop and take in the little details all around me that I would otherwise stride past every day.

The typical everyday events also make this a nice end of the day sort of book to share with your toddler and discuss what you've been up to during the day that's similar to Ollie B. My daughter and I enjoyed reading it, although it did feel like a book for younger children really as we whizzed through it very quickly (she's four and a half). I felt it would be a nice book to use with babies who are just ready to move on from board books and you want to try with a 'real' book since it's nice and short and easy to follow. The girly colours and butterflies might put off some really boyish boys from reading it, but otherwise it's ideal for babies and younger toddlers to share with their mummies!

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

Further reading suggestion: Another lovely mummy book to share: I Love My Mummy by Giles Andreae and Emma Dodd

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You can read more book reviews or buy I Love My Mum by Anna Walker at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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