Winter has definitely arrived in Cape Town and we find ourselves looking for a sunny spot and a book to read together. Is there anything better than a lovely picture book?
I thought I would share a pile of the latest picture books with you. And these are just lovely. We especially love South African themed stories and we love How Many Ways Can You Say Goodbye? by Refiloe Moahloli and illustrated by Anja Stoeckigt. And what an adventure is tucked between the pages of Storm Dragon by Dianne Hofmeyr and Carol Thompson.
Storm Dragon
This is a story of a fabulous adventure of a young child and their grandpa. It is the perfect read for wintry weather. In the story there is a wild storm outside, the kind of weather that makes most folk want to snuggle down under the covers with cocoa… but not these two adventurers.
They head out of their beach cottage and down to the sea, looking for a Storm Dragon. In the spirit of “We are Going on a Bear Hunt” these two stomp and stamp down the walkway, they harumph and galumph through the sand, they skitter and scatter through the seashells… There are loads of wonderful noises, there are heaps of little seaside surprises, a wonderfully imaginative pirate ship… and of course a STORM DRAGON!!!
A wonderful splishy, splashy storm dragon. The illustrations are lose and lovely, watercolours, inks and collage. This is a fantastic romp and wild little people and their bedtime story reader will totally love it.
How many ways can you say Goodbye?
We love love love South African stories, so much so that we actively seek them out… and we love Refiloe Moahloli. Her previous story: How Many Ways Can You Say Hello? Sara arrives in a new school and needs to learn how to say Hello in the eleven official languages of south Africa. In this story, it is the end of term and all the children are saying Goodbye, in their own languages… The children go up in their hot air balloon and they fly across the country, taking the children home and saying good bye.
How many ways can you say Goodbye? The Colouring Book.
Oh my goodness, I cannot love this enough… a story book that comes with its own coloring book!!! The coloring book is extra special because children can turn the book into their very own artwork.
We absolutely love the crayons from Colour Me Kids. Natural skin colour, for children of all colours of the South African rainbow.
The Great Adventure
A beautiful adventure, with lovely local animals. Otter, Mongoose and Squirrel are best friends and they are so excited to see that their bird friends have arrived home from their annual holiday to the northern hemisphere.
They hear the birds’ great adventures and decide that they need to have their own adventure. So, they build themselves a boat, they get swimming lessons and they pack for every possible event… they might have overpacked!
Disaster strikes and Pelican comes to the rescue.
It is a sweet story, with just enough adventure for little people to enjoy, and just enough cosiness to make it a perfect bedtime read.
It will be OK
This is a truly sweet story, with a BIG theme: it is all about empathy, kindness and looking out for your friends. Everyday, best friends, giraffe and zebra, go down to the watering hole together. But, on this particular day, Giraffe is trembling up the tree and is absolutely terrified of a teeny tiny spider. Zebra tells Giraffe why he needn’t be afraid, but Giraffe continues to be wary.
Zebra waits and waits and waits until Giraffe is feeling comfortable enough to come down the tree. There is a sweet little twist in the tale. (Spoiler alert: Turns out Spider is very afraid of Giraffe!!!). There is lots to talk about in this story… especially if you want to talk about how to be a good and understanding friend with your little ones.
Z is for Zack
These are short easy readers from LAPA Publishers, and one of our favourite South African Authors, Jaco Jacobs. These stories are about a little boy called Zack, he lives in a yellow house on Zucchini Street, we love that the stories are just regular kids doing regular things in a truly South African way.
- The Funfair: Zach and his friends are heading for the funfair, and the class bully, decides to tease Zach’s friend, Vincent, who is frightened of the Ghost Train. Zach and Vincent decide to play a trick on the bully… who hopefully learns his lesson. The boys take all sorts of rides at the Fun Fair and have a great day. A sweet book for friends who stand up for each other.
- The Perfect Pizza: In this story Zach and his friend Vincent go to the market and together they buy a pizza. And once again Brett, the bully, intervenes. He asks for a taste of their pizza and then eats the entire pizza. There is a lady at the market selling very hot and spicy sauce, that nobody really wants to buy. And once again, Zach and Vincent, decide to trick Brett when he asks for a slice of pizza and they say that he is welcome… Brett was in for a “hot surprise…” and then they discovered that the hot and spicy sauce was very good for getting rid of not just bullies but ants!
- The Terrible Trip: Zach and Vincent go on a camping trip with Zach’s dad… only to discover that Brett, the bully, is in the adjascent campsite. Zach’s father takes the boys fishing and birding, but Brett and his dad keep disturbing the peace… later that night a storm comes up and Brett and his dad are frightened of the storm and they get miserably wet… and go home. Leaving Zach and Vincent to enjoy the rest of their camping trip in peace.
Amazon Affiliate Links for the Books Mentioned in this Post
These books were given to us for review purposes by Penguin Random House South Africa and Lapa Uitgewers. This is not a sponsored post and opinions expressed are entirely our own.