There are things in life that make you feel old; when the last Premiership footballer born the same year as you retires, or when their arresting officer looks like they don’t even shave. The fact that Kipper is over 25 years old makes me feel my age; this collection of books always felt a little ageless and classic. The new 25 year anniversary releases look to cement this.
| Kipper's Toybox by Mick Inkpen | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Sam Tyler
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| Summary: Kipper has put all his toys away in his toybox and decides to count them so that they are safe. Oh dear! There appear to be more toys than there should be, what is going on? Join Kipper in a 25th anniversary edition of one of his most popular tales. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: March 2015 |
| Publisher: Hodder Children's Books | |
| ISBN: 9781444923773 | |
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The Kipper series are the type of joyful storybooks that appear simple to write, but if that was true we would all be doing it. It takes someone like Mick Inkpen to strip down some of the unnecessary paraphernalia that can surround a book for sharing and create something as pleasurable as ‘Kipper's Toybox’. In this tale, Kipper and his stuffed toy pals have a mystery to solve. There appear to be a few too many creatures in the toybox and Kipper is unsure of what is going on. Via a series of counting tasks he is able to work out that a couple of additional friends may have just come to visit.
‘Kipper’s Toybox’ is a perfect example of a follow on book for children just starting to actually read a story with you. The language is simple in nature, but complex enough that it requires some thought. Most pages have an illustration and three or four lines of text telling the story. You are encouraged to play along with Kipper as he tries to work out what is happening. Counting toys is great fun, as is spotting a sneaky tail or two that may have just snuck into the picture.
Perhaps the best thing about Inkpen is his ability to balance the story and the images. The words are not over dominant and allow the clean images to sparkle. Kipper is a simple design and this is a simple story, but told well. It does remind you of the Spot books with the simple use of Kipper in the middle of the page and white all around him; Kipper is a great follow on book for lovers of Spot.
The 25th Year edition is not particularly different from any earlier version that you may buy. It comes on good quality paper and has a 25 year notice on the front. It is useful if you are a collector as you can use the back page to see which Kipper books you have not managed to pick up yet. The Kipper series and ‘Kipper’s Toybox’ in particular, is an ideal bedtime story. The books are gentle to read and simple enough to follow. There is nothing quite like having a kip after reading a bit of Kipper.
Kipper will let you see the character from the start, or more doggy antics can be found in I Don't Want a Posh Dog by Emma Dodd.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Kipper's Toybox by 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 Kipper's Toybox by Mick Inkpen at Amazon.com.
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