Two Little Bugs by Mark and Rowan Sommerset

 Two Little Bugs tells the story of friends Little Bug Red and Little Bug Blue.

Little Bug Red lives on top of the leaf while Little Bug Blue lives underneath. Little Bug Blue would like to move to the top of the leaf but lacks the courage and confidence to do so, despite Little Bug Red's offers of help.

Each page follows the dialogue between the two bugs as Little Bug Red munches away at their shared leaf. The pages feature really interesting die cut holes and cutaways to illustrate Little Bug Red's appetite and this makes Two Little Bugs a beautiful and unique book.

The artwork is very unusual and quite lovely. I like the bug illustrations very much and they are very expressive. The use of colour is understated and works well, although probably isn't interesting enough to engage young children.

Two Little Bugs is the first book published by New Zealand husband and wife team Mark and Rowan Sommerset and is dedicated to their son. I was not surprised to read that Two Little Bugs won the Best Children's Book in the 2012 New Zealand Book Design Awards. The judges said "this wonderful book looks as if it was fun to design. In other words... it is a work of wonderful charm and considerable skill" and I really have to agree - it is one of the most unusual and most well-produced children's books I've come across. 

The problem I have with this book is the depressing and defeatist attitude of Little Bug Blue. All he does for the whole book is sit around complaining about poor little him and how hard his life is. It's downright infuriating!! And the ending, where he flies away with Little Bug Red only adds to my frustration because if he could fly the whole time what was he complaining about?!? Aargh!!

Most children's books with morals and values have a good message and I'm just not sure what this one says. I guess as Maximilian gets older we can discuss life choices and how to be positive and make something of yourself.

Putting that aside, this is a lovely little book and Maximilian often chooses it for us to read so it definitely has appeal for him. It will certainly be a book he'll grow into even more as he is older and can enjoy the lovely page cut outs (without fear of ruining it).

If you want to find out more about this great book, you'll find an excellent review of Two Little Bugs by someone who doesn't want to squash Little Bug Blue here on mylittlebookcase.

I like the way this book shows the lifecycle of a caterpillar while telling another story altogether - it is almost a story within a story. Two Little Bugs could be used well in conjunction with other books about caterpillars or bugs for a themed story time or science curriculum.

This really is a beautifully produced book with really interesting and unusual die cut pages - too interesting unfortunately for an 18 month old. We've had many near misses with this lovely little book so I'd recommend it for older picture book readers, ages 3 and up.

The Very Hungry Bear by Nick Bland

The Very Hungry Bear by Nick Bland definitely qualifies for Day 3 of the Book-a-Day challenge: A book you love to read aloud.

This is a terrific new instalment in Bland's books about Bear. He's been cranky, itchy and now he's hungry! I will look at the other titles later, but I think The Very Hungry Bear is my favourite so far.

Bear is not impressed when he reels in a polar bear while fishing for his breakfast - especially when the polar bear is eating all his fish! The polar bear's iceberg is shrinking and he cleverly persuades (bribes!) Bear to help find the polar bear a new home.

The reason I love to read this book aloud is the wonderful rhyming throughout it. There is a real rhythm to Bland's storytelling, and it really does make this book a pleasure to read aloud - Maximilian is always totally transfixed by it.

"Now a fish to a bear 

is like a chocolate eclair, 

it's INCREDIBLY hard to resist

So the thought of a pile

that would last for a while

was an offer too good to be missed!"

Lines like these simply roll off the tongue. The illustrations throughout the book are also extremely engaging: bright and colourful with expressively drawn characters. Bland uses decorative font and bold text to great advantage, and I found this really helpful with reading the text out loud - the bold text helps the reader to emphasise the syllables well for great effect when reading out loud (I'm not sure if Bland intended this, but is very clever and effective!) I think this would be really helpful for parents not used to reading books out loud.

Another wonderful book by an Australian picture book author - Nick Bland will definitely feature in other posts as we have many of his other titles too. He is a favourite in our house and definitely a name to remember.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Day 1 of the Book-a-Day in May challenge called for "A Classic" and is there a book more classic than this one?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar has a special significance for our family. While pregnant with Maximilian, I was always hungry and so "the very hungry caterpillar" became his in utero name. When looking for a first book to buy before he was born, there really was no choice - it had to be this one!

We chose the big BIG board book version, because we knew we wanted to read it with him at a very early age and board books are so hardy. As it turns out, it was an excellent decision - it is a nice large size so the illustrations are very engaging and the holes where the caterpillar eats through the food are just the right size for little fingers!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a simple and engaging story of a caterpillar's metamorphosis into a butterfly. The language is clear and repetitive, excellent for early learning, and the illustrations are simple, colourful and interesting. We started to enjoy this book together when Maximilian was around six months old. As he has grown older and his concentration has improved, it has remained a firm favourite. Now, at almost eighteen months, he can point to the little egg on the leaf, the moon, the sun and the many kinds of food, so it is still a really interactive reading experience.

Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party

The other day I was totally blown away when I asked Maximilian to get me the very hungry caterpillar book from his bookshelf and he toddled over and chose the correct book from the dozens there and brought it back to me to read. (I'm often surprised at the moment by just how much he understands - it really is fascinating to watch the evolution of language and comprehension unfold!)

First published in 1969, I am sure this book needs no further introduction as it has remained in print and popular ever since. Quite the franchise now, there is a huge array of Hungry Caterpillar merchandise available and it is a popular theme for children's birthday parties too - we went to a first birthday party with this theme and it was very cleverly executed and lots of fun. There are also heaps of free online resources to use based around this book - great for parents, teachers and librarians looking for book themed activities.



This really is a book that every child will enjoy for many years. Like I said, a classic!