The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth, by Ellie Hattie

Has anyone seen a mammoth around here?

Oscar is awoken at midnight, the magical hour, to find a mammoth outside his window. His name is Timothy and - oh no! - his younger brother Teddy is on the loose!

There's only one thing to do. Start the search! But can Oscar and Timothy make it through the whole museum, through the exhibits (who are throwing one wild party!) and bring Teddy home before the clock strikes one and the magical hour ends?

This is such a fantastic book - fun, imaginative and engaging. Each page takes us through another exhibit of the museum and lift-the-flap fun keeps the surprises coming. I loved the facts on every page (the ocean exhibit and flight floor are our favourites) and there's so many hidden gems that it's a great book to come back to again and again. It's also a great one to inspire a bit of exploration at your own museum.

It would make the perfect birthday present for kids three and up - and if you're quick, the book currently comes with it's own super cute Teddy mammoth softie!

Enjoy, wild explorers!

the book and the bea x

We're All Wonders, by R.J. Palacio

Late last year, as part of our Christmas Gift Guide series, we reviewed the incredibly moving Wonder on the recommendation of two of my nieces. 

Wonder tells the story of August (Auggie), who has a facial deformity and, after 10 years of homeschooling, enters real school. All he wants is to be accepted, normal and ordinary but is that possible when the first thing that people notice is how you look? Very sad, moving and ultimately uplifting, this was a favourite of Miss M (10 years old).

Well, to our huge delight, Auggie is back - this time in a children's picture book. 

We're All Wonders tells the story of Auggie in very simple terms. He looks different yes, but really he is just like everyone else. He rides his bike, walks his dog...and has his feelings hurt when people stare or talk...just like anyone would.

The message of the book is clear. Look with kindness on other people and remember always, that we are all wonders - different in our own way, but amazing all the same. 

This is such a beautiful and important book. We're All Wonders is the perfect opening to start a discussion with your kids about differences, kindness, friendship and empathy.

Perfect for kids 3-8 (and the older kids will love the original Wonder).

the book and the bea x

Nanette's Baguette, by Mo Willems

When I was early in my pregnancy with Bea (at that time "Gus", so convinced was I she was a boy), I discovered Mo Willems on one of my regular lazy lunchbreak strolls through the bookshop. Firstly, through the hilarious, drive-kids-crazy, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and then through the incredibly sweet, Knuffle Bunny series (written for his own daughter Trixie).

I snapped up the whole series then and there and Bea, also unable to go anywhere without her bunny, has loved it since she was tiny (I'm not able to finish the third without a little tear in my eye - the final pages are so beautiful).

It felt like a while since we'd added a new Mo to our shelves, so I was super excited to find a new arrival in our bookstore.

Nanette's Baguette!

This hilarious (and terrifyingly tongue-twisting) tale tells the story of Nanette who, on a day that she won't soon forget, gets to get the baguette! She runs into Georgette! And Suzette! And Bret (with his clarinet)! But still remembers to get the baguette from the baker Juliette!

But then - disaster! Nanette can't resist the call of the baguette (like the rest of us, I bet) and before she knows it CRACK, CRACK, CRACK - it's all gone. What will Nanette do? Move to Tibet? In a jet? Nanette is filled with regret.

This book is so, so great - Bea thinks it's hilarious and loves the quirky illustrations of poor, beset, Nanette. Be warned, it's a mouthful (a Mum next to me in the bookstore read two pages to her toddler, grimaced and placed it firmly back on the shelf), but good fun - and I can highly recommend starting up a competition with the rest of your family to see who can get through it the fastest.

Great for kids 3-7 (older kids will love the tongue twisters!).

the book and the bea x

Lucy's Book by Natalie Jane Prior

Is there anything greater, as a child and an adult, than finding a book you so love that you read it again and again (and again)?

I remember when I started uni, my favourite place to relax was the library. It had the most amazing old book smell (second only to the library at Harvard - I swear, they should bottle that smell!) and I'd ignore the books that I should be studying (there is a reason I failed Botany) and head straight for the children's fiction section.

There I'd find all of my old friends. Ramona Quimby, Jesse and Leslie (never forget), even Del-Del who gave me nightmares as a child but taught me about grief as an adult. I'd hide away in the stacks and read, all day, piling these favourite stories next to me as I went. There was something so incredibly soothing about revisiting my favourite stories, even now, so many years on.

Not so long ago, while visiting family, I saw this same thing in my gorgeous niece. Despite the stack of new books she'd received for Christmas (and which she sped through in four days) I found her once again was curled up, with a Harry Potter novel so loved that the spine was fraying. I was so thrilled to see the love she felt for her books, knowing that they will comfort her, in years to come, the way that mine favourites have for me.

Lucy's Book is about this kind of love.

Lucy and her Mum go to the library every Saturday. Lucy loves to read but she has a favourite book, that she races to get, every week. She borrows it and borrows it, and lends it to friends who take it around the world, until she can borrow it again, and take it on holiday - until finally - one sad day, the book is no longer there. It was too old, and too loved by everyone, to hold up to one last borrow.

Lucy rushes to the bookstore, but alas, it's out of print.

Months pass by and although everyone who Lucy introduced to the book is on the lookout, it remains missing.

Until....a second hand book sale appears in her village.

This is a love story about books and for everyone who has ever had that special treasured story that they simply had to share with the world. It's about how books bring people together, on a shared journey, and inspire imagination and friendship.

This is a sweet one for kids 5-7, especially those sweet bookworms among us.

the book and the bea x