Book Review: Mine! by Sarah Hammond

Since our latest Parragon book buddy book arrived to review, we’ve been very short on reading time.  N’s had a cold and has been really tired so wanting to go to bed without a bedtime story (usually unheard of); I’ve also had a bad cold with sore throat, cough and bunged up nose, so as chief only storyteller, we’ve been a bit short on motivation.  During the day, N doesn’t tend to spend much time with books during the day at home as he’s more concerned with trying to get outside to play.

When Mine! arrived, it looked like a more girlie book than N or I would choose, although the key message is around playing together and sharing, so is applicable for both boys and girls.  N ignored my excitement at the book arriving (how could he not get excited about parcels?!), and turned up his nose at coming to see what it was about.

However, later on he did wander over to it to look at the cover, picked it up saying ‘Topsy and Tim’.  Hmmm, not quite.  The illustrations definitely don’t look like the 70s style Topsy and Tim book he has with really flat illustrations.  The illustrations are by Laura Hughes and are more gentle, almost looking like water colours.  We tend to have books with much stronger illustrations, but these do associate well with the gentle outcome of the book.

The story’s about Kitty who sets up a cafe with her teddies, but is interrupted by her friend Lea who wants to liven things up with music and dancing.  Kitty gets upset and storms off, only to realise that it’s more fun with Lea to play with; they start playing together again in compromise.  Like so many story books, it encourages children to understand about playing together, so it’s perfect for toddlers.

N however, can’t currently be tempted with this book.  At the moment he’s not keen on having stories at all, so maybe he’ll be more interested in a few days (and I’ll be able to get back to reading at bedtime with him again).  If we long term fail, we might have to donate it to nursery instead.

So, in summary, if you’ve got a child who’s into underpants and pirate stories, this might not be the book for them.  For any other toddlers, it’s a prettily illustrated book, with a fun font and placement of words, and with a happy ending where everyone ends up being friends again.

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Disclosure: We received this book to review as a Parragon Books Book Buddy; all opinions are our own.