Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld

Set against a cityscape backdrop, Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site tells the story of five tough trucks working on a big construction site. It is the end of a hard day's work and the reader gets to learn a little bit about each truck and the work they do before saying goodnight to each of them.

The story is told in delightful rhyming text. There are lots of action words used, which provides wonderful opportunity to engage little ones - Maximilian loves to "reach and stretch and lift" like Crane Truck and, of course, the repetitive Shh...goodnight is nice to say together with "shushing". The language used also makes this a great read aloud book, as it's fun to crrrunch the gravel along with Dump Truck and rooaaar along with Bulldozer.  Like all good bedtime stories, there are also lots of opportunities throughout the story for parent and child to enjoy some good cuddles!

Lichtenheld's illustrations are just magnificent and really are works of art. The trucks and diggers manage to be both cartoonish and realistic, and their faces are filled with such personality. There is also incredible detail in every picture, and I've been amazed by how many things Maximilian sees in the pictures that I've missed - there is one page with a little owl that he spots every time! As he gets older and his vocabulary grows, I'm sure he'll notice and articulate even more of the details in the pictures.

The bedtime detail in the pictures is also really charming - Crane Truck has a teddy bear and night light while Cement Mixer has a little blankie. The night sky with the lovely sleepy moon illustration is featured on each goodnight page and the twilight blue is really striking and unusual and very engaging - as are the illustrations of the trucks and diggers.

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site is a wonderful book that will always hold a special place in our hearts, because this is the book that taught Maximilian about bedtime!

We chose very gentle bedtime techniques with our babies. As a small baby, we always cuddled Maximilian to sleep before putting him in his cradle or cot. As he grew bigger, we would cuddle him on our bed before transferring him to his own cot once he was fast asleep. But, as I got bigger and bigger when I was pregnant with Walther and as Walther's arrival grew closer and closer, it became impossible - I simply couldn't bend over his cot to lift his 12kg sleeping body in any more!! It was time to help Maximilian learn to go to sleep in his own bed. 

We tried lots of different things - putting him in his bed awake and sitting nearby singing songs or reading books, patting him off to sleep, etc. We had moderate success and things were going quite well. Then, one night when Walther was only a few weeks old, Daddy had to be out at night and Mummy needed to do bedtime by herself. I knew I didn't have very long before Walther would need feeding, so it had to be a pretty quick bedtime routine. I cuddled Maximilian up in my feeding chair and read him Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. As we said Shh...goodnight to each of the trucks in the book, Maximilian grew sleepier and sleepier. When we had finished the book, I carried him over to Walther's cot and he said Shh...goodnight to bubby, then Shh...goodnight to our parrots, then Shh...goodnight to ape (his favourite cuddly toy) etc. When I put him in his bed, I simply said Shh...goodnight Maximilian, tucked him in and left the room - and he went straight to sleep and didn't wake again until morning. It was magical! And it was the same night after night - the bedtime ritual and routine that this book gave us worked like a dream and we haven't looked back since.

Maximilian received Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site as a gift for his first Christmas. We fell in love with the beautiful artwork and delightful rhyming text immediately and tried reading it to him when he was a few months old. It is quite a long story though and didn't immediately catch his interest. We tried again a few months later and made it through a few of the trucks in the book, but it wasn't until he was around 14 months old that he started to really enjoy this book and sit through the whole story. Once this happened though, Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site was a firm favourite and the only book he wanted to read for several weeks!!

I really can't recommend this book highly enough. Great for any little person interested in trucks, diggers and construction equipment. This is a wonderful book to give as a gift - we have the hardcover edition. The story is most suitable for ages 2 and up, and there is also plenty to engage older readers.

This is our best bedtime story ever!

What is your favourite bedtime story to read with your children? I'd love to hear about it!

Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

Once there was a boy and one day he found a penguin at his door...

So begins Lost and Found: the story of an unlikely friendship between a young boy and a penguin. When the penguin turns up, the young boy assumes he is lost and tries to help the penguin find his home - with surprising and heart warming results.

Lost and Found is quite long for a picture book - I remember when Maximilian first chose it for us to read (when he was around 13 months of age) that I was surprised that he sat through the whole book. The story is told in narrative format with no rhyming text. A young child with a short attention span might not make it through the whole story initially, but there is lots of detail in the illustrations to help sustain their interest.

On the flip side, Lost and Found is definitely a picture book with lasting value - even primary school readers would find much of interest in the illustrations and parents could have some fascinating discussion with their older child about the story elements. It would also be a nice addition to a beginner readers collection - so often early reader books don't really have much of a story so Lost and Found would be a nice story to help children who are learning to read independently.

Maximilian was lucky enough to receive this gorgeous book as a gift from a dear friend. Lost and Found was the first Oliver Jeffers' book to make it into our picture book collection (although I do have a copy of The Heart and the Bottle that is in my own book collection that I bought some years ago - an amazing book about grief. Right up there with A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.)

As I said in my post about Stuck, I love everything Oliver Jeffers creates and he is one of my favourite children's authors. He manages to create stories that are funny, interesting and completely engaging as well as books that are absolutely delightful and beautiful to look at. Jeffers is an amazingly talented artist - most of the artwork in his picture books could easily be framed and hung on the wall, and the illustrations in Lost and Found really are unique and beautiful. Jeffers' website has prints of images from his books for sale - I'm coveting this one of the cover of Lost and Found amongst others!

We have the board book edition of Lost and Found, but it is available in paperback as well. If you are buying this book as a gift, I'd definitely recommend the board book for any child aged 3 and under - it will be much more hard-wearing for those little hands that won't be able to resist turning pages and examining the illustrations. For an older child, the paperback version is a great choice as the illustrations look even better bigger!!

Lost and Found has won multiple awards and has also been made into an award winning short film, which I can't wait to watch! 

I highly recommend this book as an addition to any picture book collection, and it is a real keeper - so perfect as a gift for any child. Best suited for children aged 2 and up.

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.

Mr McGee by Pamela Allen

This was the first installment in the classic and popular Pamela Allen stories about Mr McGee. These stories about the funny little man in a bowler hat who lives under a tree are great fun for kids of all ages.

I love these books! They are fantastic to read aloud, perfect for any age to enjoy and Pamela Allen's illustrations are excellent - simple and detailed at the same time, colourful and often hilarious.

The language in Mr McGee is simple and clear and would be great for children learning to read. The rhyming text is fun to read aloud - the Mr McGee books are a favourite choice for my library story time sessions and toddlers aged 2 to 4 love these stories.

Maximilian has really enjoyed this story. He laughs when the bird pecks Mr McGee and likes to chime in with the words he knows. The story is also the perfect length for the attention span of a wriggly 18 month old - this is a great book for when I'm looking for a quick story to fill in some time.

There is always an element of humour in the Mr McGee stories, which engages both the children and adult reader. He often gets himself into trouble of one kind or another, mostly through poor decision making, which children find funny (and probably relate to!!) Humour can also often be found in the illustrations - details such as Mr McGee's bright yellow underpants will have kids of all ages chuckling!

Pamela Allen is an absolute classic in Australian children's publishing and Mr McGee, like all her books, shows why.

If you are ever looking for a picture book to enjoy or to buy as a gift for someone, you simply can't go wrong with a book by Pamela Allen!

The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett

All the birds have laid an egg. All except for Duck. But when Duck finds a large, spotted odd egg and decides to sit on it to hatch it, everyone is in for a surprise!

This is a really lovely little board book. The format is very clever, with small flaps that lift as each bird's egg hatches - "Creak, Crack".

The sweet illustrations are very engaging and I really like the washed out colours that Gravett has used - the bird artwork is beautifully realistic. The detail is also amazing - I love the way that each of the baby birds is born saying something cute; the flamingo says "honk, honk" while the owlet says "twit-two x 2 = 4..."!!

The Odd Egg is a very simple story with few words. Despite this, there is a lovely depth to the story and it has a nice message about following your dreams and not worrying about what other people (or birds!) think.

There is also good opportunity throughout the story for discussion with older toddlers, such as which animals have eggs, can boy animals lay eggs (duck is a he), 

This is a humorous and cute book - there is much in The Odd Egg for young children to enjoy but also more complexity for older kids and parents reading the story. This book is probably most suitable for ages 3+

We borrowed The Odd Egg from the  library. It was my choice, as I recalled it from previous occasions. Maximilian has really enjoyed reading it and often selects it from the book bag for us to read over and over again. Although the humour is beyond his immediate comprehension, he still enjoys the story - duck was one of his first words so he has a special fondness for books with ducks in them!!