Time to Read: Flabby Tabby

Review also includes:

Time to Read: Bumposaurus, Penny McKinlay and Britta Teckentrup, 978-1847805423

Time to Read: Miss Fox, Simon Puttock and Holly Swain, 978-1847805454

Time to Read: Max and the Lost Note, Graham Marsh, 978-1847805447

Varied in story content and illustration style, these jolly books about animal characters are the latest edition to the Time to Read series for emergent readers. Tabby, in Flabby Tabby, sleeps her life away, her every need catered for by her owner until Fit Kit enters the scene, bouncing his way across the room, gobbling up her food and stealing attention. So, reckons Tabby, it’s time to reverse the situation, which she does by changing her lifestyle. Little Bumposaurus is so short-sighted that he’s always bumping into things. His mum even had to help him clamber out of his eggshell on the day he was born. His parents are his eyes but, inevitably, one day he finds himself alone, face to face with a ravenous T Rex. Miss Fox is the new teacher in town. Her pupils adore her – all, that is, except rebellious Lily Lamb, who believes that she is up to no good. Max, in Max and the Lost Note, is a very cool cat – until he loses a note from the tune he is composing. He looks for it everywhere, then turns to his musical friends. Can they help him retrieve it?

This is an attractive series. The titles, previously published as stand-alone picture books, have been selected with care. The storylines are engaging while providing a moral or learning point – the importance of exercise, the need for glasses, keeping safe and the importance of time and stimulus – in the creative process. The books are in a small paperback format. Text is set large, ranging from one to five lines positioned at the bottom of the page, accompanied by cheerful illustrations that support the text. Sentences are simple, without clauses and adjectives to distract, and dialogue is short and straightforward. Since the books are aimed at developing reading skills, page numbers would have been helpful. A chart on the back cover provides a list of key words.