The Little Book of Farmyard Tales

This is a book for fans of "Find the Duck" (of which I am). It is another book by Stephen Cartwright (and Heather Amery). If your child enjoyed finding the duck, then this is for them.

This is a collection of stories about Appletree Farm (which appears a lot in Stephen Cartwright books) that will grow with your child. At first, you'll be reading the entire story to your child . As they start to read, they can start with the short sentence at the top of each page. There is a longer sentence or two at the bottom of each page which you can read. Eventually, the child will be able to read the entire book.

A little game that you will be able to play together will be Find the Duck! Yes, the little duck from the original book is located in every picture in the book!

 Click Here to get your own copy of "The Little Book of Farmyard Tales" from Miss Stacey's bookstore

Find the Duck

When Matt was just a toddler, a friend was getting rid of some old books her children had outgrown and passed on "Find the Duck" to us.

I fell in love with the drawings and loved helping Matt find the little rubber duck on each page. At the back of the book there are additional characters for the child to find throughout the book. It also includes a page with some simple counting. I think it's a great book for the 1-year-old into kindergarten child. At an Usborne party I hosted a 6-year-old girl loved this book so much she wanted to get it for her little sister.

This was the book that introduced me to Usborne Books and Stephen Cartwright's illustrations. I love both now.

Click Here to get your own copy of "Find The Duck" from Miss Stacey's bookstore

A Squirrel's Tale...

The squirrel says, on the front cover, "Please come with me through the woods and help me to find my nuts!" What child doesn't want to help? The great thing is that while they help the squirrel, they will be working on their pre-reading skills, pre-writing skills and fine motor skills.

The book comes with a little squirrel that sits in a pocket on the front. Encourage your child to take the squirrel out and follow the dotted line. Every page has a slot for the squirrel to "hop" through as he goes through the woods and asks other animals for help.

One little thing that I appreciated was that the people behind the book understand the reality of kids. Just in case your little one destroys the squirrel, instructions on creating a new one is included! I looked at them and they are really simple.

Every child who has looked at this book has loved it! So much so, that their mothers have gotten them its sister book, "There's a Mouse About the House."

Miss Stacey

Click Here to get your own copy of "A Squirrel's Tale" from Miss Stacey's bookstore

Matthews's Pick of the Month: Why?

This is a really cute book for the 4-to-8 year old set. Inside, questions, such as "Why do zebras have stripes?" are asked. Then several silly answers are given. The real answer is also provided.

Matt enjoyed the silly answers and we were able to make a game of it all. I asked the first question and Matt's response was "Because God made them that way". I then gave the first silly answer and asked if that's why God did it. Matt said "Nooooo". We proceeded that way through every silly answer until I gave the real answer when Matt very happily said "YES!"

The book is published by Kane/Miller, which distributes books from around the world. This book is from Slovenia.

Matt & Miss Stacey

Interested in more about Matt's Pick of the Month?
Click Here!