What Fred Read: reviews and celebration of books for young children

Welcome to WhatFredRead, a blog for people looking for recommendations, reviews and celebration of books for young children. I am the mum of four young children and I have a passion for children's literature. This blog is my new year's resolution, to share our daily reads. WhatFredRead is brought to you by 30-something me and my trusted panel of critics aged 7,5,3 &1.

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Book Reviews - April 2017

Book Reviews - April 2017

Ernest by Catherine Rayner

Winnie the Witch by Thomas and Paul

Rose Blanche by McEwan / Innocenti

Gangsta Grandma by David Walliams

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Blog Manifesto

Books for young children deserve a critical platform and a place for applause. This blog aims to share and celebrate children's literature popular, or at least being read by one family, in the UK today.

About Me

Fred Read: I'm the mum of 4 children (all under the age of 8) and I have found a dearth of reviews (from the UK) of books to read for this age category.It's as if there's a literary snobbery about reviewing for this age range, as if preschooler lit isn't worthy, or important enough. And books for toddlers...don't get me started (where's the discussion on these!). I'm genuinely worried that in the UK we don't celebrate our writers and illustrators (particularly the contemporary ones) enough. We're quick to criticise but not to applaude.So hopefully you'll find my reviews constructive but celebratory in tone. Sadly, The Guardian ceased to publish its children's lit reviews last year. The rise of cheap book retailers online- okay, but they 'recommend' everything; high street bookshops recommend new launches (they're expensive!)- where to start? This blog is the result of a New Year resolution to myself, share what I know. I've 7years experience of reading 6 odd books a day to my children, and I'm passionate about reading aloud and getting kids, especially boys, to enjoy literature. Getting children to read is so very important, yes, but getting children to enjoy books is the first battle.

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Fred Read

Reviews and Celebration of children's books for the under 8s

Pages

Home
About Me
Reasons to love Second Hand Books
What We're Reading
Book recommendations for adopted children
Blog Contents Page: Links to all Book Reviews
Book Reviews - January 2017
Book Reviews - February 2017
Book Review - March 2017
Book Reviews - April 2017
Book Reviews - May 2017
Book Reviews - June 2017

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Blog Archive

▼ 2017 (98)
- ▼ October (1)
  - Baby Brains
- ► August (2)
- ► July (4)
- ► June (7)
- ► May (9)
- ► April (4)
- ► March (15)
- ► February (26)
- ► January (30)

Age Categories

1 - 7 years (2) 1- 18 months (8) 1- 2 years (2) 1-18months (4) 1-3 years (2) 18 month + (5) 18 months - 2 years (5) 18 months-2 1/2 years (3) 18months-2 1/2 years (4) 18months-2 years (1) 2- 5 years (4) 2-4 years (5) 2-6 years (3) 2-7 years (4) 2-7years (8) 3 - 5 years (3) 3 - 8years (1) 3- 6 years (2) 3-4years (2) 3-5 years (7) 3-7 year olds (8) 3-7 years (2) 3-8year olds (2) 4 - 8years (2) 4 -7 years (1) 4-6 years (4) 5 years + (3) 5-7 year olds (4) 5-8 years+ (1) 6 years + (1) 6 years+ (2) 7 years + (5) baby (6) baby- friendly (3) boys 4-5 (1) early reader (9) early years (2) key stage 1 (1) KS1 (1) pre-school (1) preschooler (8) preschoolers (3) young babies (2)

Authors and Illustrators

Adrian Reynolds Ahlberg Alex T Smith Andy Mansfield Anholt Anna Currey Anna Kemp Ant Parker Anthea Simmons Audrey Wood Awdry Benji Davies Catherine Rayner Charles Fuge Chris Wormell Clement Hurd Colin King Cynthia Rylant David McKee David Walliams David Weisner Debi Gliori Dick Bruna Ed Vere Edward Lear Eileen Browne Emily Bone Emma Chichester Clark Emma Dodd Eric Carle Frank Lampard Georgie Birkett Helen Nicholl Helen Oxenbury Ian Beck Ian McEwan Ian Whybrow Jaclin Azoulay James Bowen Jan Berenstain Jan Pienkowski Jeff Kinney Jez Alborough Jill Barklem Jill Murphy Jude Wisdom Judith Kerr Julia Donaldson Kate Leake Korky Paul Lynley Dodd Margaret Wise Brown Michael Rosen Nick Sharratt Peter Bently Pippa Goodhart Quentin Blake Rachel Bright Roald Dahl Rob Biddulph Roberto Innocenti Rod Campbell Sara Ogilvie Saviour Pirotta Sheena Knowles Sheila McCullagh Shirley Hughes Stan Berenstain Steve Antony Susan Varley Tony Mitten Tony Ross Valerie Thomas

Themes

friendship (15) love (9) siblings (9) family (8) imagination (8) Legend (6) baby (6) loyalty (6) British culture (5) adoption-friendly (5) animals (5) death (5) diversity (5) emotions (5) girls (5) reunion (5) sharing (5) trains (5) adoption (4) boys (4) childhood (4) dogs (4) dragon (4) fairy tale (4) fear (4) fostering (4) gendered expectations (4) generation (4) hero (4) loss (4) multiculturalism (4) princess (4) retro (4) togetherness (4) unconditional love (4) witch (4) bear (3) bedtime routine (3) birthday (3) blended families (3) cat (3) cats (3) children (3) dinosaur (3) discussion (3) dog (3) extended families (3) history (3) individualism (3) learning (3) memories (3) monkey (3) monster (3) new baby (3) pets (3) positive representations (3) post-feminist (3) relationships (3) similarity (3) skeleton (3) steam train (3) surprise (3) survival (3) teamwork (3) underdog (3) British countryside (2) Disney (2) SEN (2) Spy (2) accidents (2) anxious (2) attachment (2) bananas (2) beach (2) being yourself (2) birdlife (2) boy (2) bullying (2) cafe (2) capture (2) celebration (2) chase (2) communism (2) competition (2) counting (2) creatures (2) crime (2) desert island (2) difference (2) disguise (2) diverse representations (2) dreams (2) dysfunctional family (2) eating (2) exploration (2) exploring (2) familiarity (2) feminist (2) gender (2) haphazard (2) hatching (2) holiday (2) hope (2) hug (2) imaginative play (2) island (2) journey (2) kindness (2) knights (2) loneliness (2) lost and found (2) magic (2) misadventure (2) mishaps (2) mission (2) mortality (2) mum (2) new sibling (2) nostalgia (2) nursery rhymes (2) owl (2) parenting (2) park (2) pig (2) pirates (2) protagonist (2) psychedelic (2) queen (2) questioning (2) rabbit (2) rescue (2) sad (2) sadness (2) sister (2) sorrow (2) stick (2) unconventional (2) voyage (2) war (2) working together (2) young babies (2) Africa (1) American (1) Antarctic (1) Batman (1) British animals (1) Caribbean (1) Fish (1) Grandma (1) Holocaust (1) Kenya (1) Mog (1) Robin Hood (1) Snow-White (1) Titanic (1) World War II (1) abuse (1) achieving (1) activities (1) adoration (1) adulthood (1) ageing (1) army (1) art (1) artwork (1) back-in-time (1) ballet (1) beard (1) behaviour (1) being lost (1) bereavement (1) bravery (1) brothers (1) busy (1) camera (1) camp (1) camping (1) capital letters (1) car crash (1) car journey (1) changes (1) cheating (1) chicks (1) chip (1) chipmunk (1) choosing (1) city (1) collectivism (1) colour wheel (1) community (1) community togetherness (1) complexity of love (1) conformity (1) control (1) cooperation (1) cowardly (1) cricket (1) culture (1) days of the week (1) den (1) differentiating (1) disability (1) disaster (1) dots (1) dream (1) dreaming (1) duckbill (1) dwarf (1) elderly (1) emotion (1) emotionless (1) ethnicities (1) ethnicity (1) expectations (1) experiences (1) expressions (1) facts (1) fairies (1) families (1) family-fun (1) famous (1) farm yard (1) feelings (1) fight (1) fish and chips (1) fitting in (1) flotsam (1) flowers (1) food chain (1) football (1) foster child (1) fox (1) fragility (1) freedom (1) fruit (1) gadget (1) gadgets (1) game (1) gangster (1) garden (1) gay (1) gear (1) general knowledge (1) giants (1) gift (1) girl (1) goblin (1) google-eyes (1) gorilla (1) grief (1) guide (1) guru (1) hat (1) haunting (1) hen (1) heritage (1) hiccups (1) homelessness (1) honest (1) humanism (1) hypnotism (1) ice cream (1) ideologies (1) ignoring (1) imitation (1) innuendo (1) kick-ass (1) kite (1) landscape (1) lesbian (1) library (1) life-cycle (1) limbo (1) little girl (1) love of books (1) mark an occasion (1) merry men (1) mice (1) misadventures (1) mishap (1) missing (1) mix-up (1) moose (1) mother (1) mouse (1) museum (1) names (1) native species (1) nature (1) neglect (1) neighbour (1) night (1) nightmare (1) noise (1) numbers (1) ogre (1) old (1) old and new (1) old fashioned (1) one-parent family (1) only-child (1) opposites (1) orphan (1) outdoors (1) penguins (1) perfect (1) permanence (1) personality (1) pet (1) phonics (1) physics (1) play (1) playtime (1) posterity (1) promise (1) puppy (1) rabbits (1) race (1) rascal (1) rats (1) reactions (1) reflection (1) regret (1) return (1) ritual (1) road safety (1) robber (1) robots (1) role play (1) rural (1) scenarios (1) science (1) sea (1) searching (1) seaside (1) seasons (1) secret (1) sensitive (1) separation (1) shark (1) sinister (1) sisters (1) smiling (1) snow (1) social history (1) spells (1) stones (1) storm (1) strong woman (1) summertime (1) sunsets (1) super hero (1) tantrum (1) team work (1) teddybear (1) tick-list (1) tired parent (1) tooth (1) tooth fairy (1) town (1) toy (1) train (1) transitions (1) transport (1) travel (1) treasure (1) treasure hunt (1) tree (1) tribe (1) tricks (1) trust (1) tyrannosaurus (1) unrequited love (1) vegetarian (1) vehicles (1) voice (1) voices (1) volcano (1) wanting (1) weather (1) whale (1) wildlife (1) wind (1) winter (1) wishing (1) zoo (1)

Genre / Techniques

adventure (12) humour (12) Fun (10) early reader (9) board book (8) funny (8) simple (8) bizarre (6) classic (6) folklore (6) comic (5) highly recommended (5) language (5) promotes discussion (5) scary (5) bright (4) calamity (4) educational (4) fairy tale (4) fantasy (4) fear (4) moral (4) non-fiction (4) quirky (4) retro (4) vocabulary building (4) wit (4) beautiful illustrations (3) chapter book (3) detail (3) discussion (3) empowering (3) favourite (3) history (3) independent reader (3) learning (3) performance (3) poem (3) post-feminist (3) quiet (3) rhymes (3) surreal (3) traditional story (3) BBC adaptation (2) Ladybird (2) bold (2) cheeky (2) collage (2) comedic (2) comedy (2) counting (2) counting book (2) crime (2) cut away sections (2) dark comedy (2) difference (2) dramatic (2) drole (2) dry (2) early years (2) expression (2) fairy-tale (2) familiarity (2) feminist (2) first-reader (2) graphics (2) interactive (2) invites interaction (2) lift-the-flaps (2) loud (2) macabre (2) mishaps (2) mission (2) mystical (2) myth (2) nursery rhymes (2) psychedelic (2) questioning (2) read aloud (2) reading scheme (2) slapstick (2) unconventional (2) vibrant (2) vintage (2) I-spy (1) Ladybird Books (1) action-packed (1) action-rhyme (1) adaptation (1) adventure. (1) alliteration (1) amusing (1) appealing (1) authentic (1) biographies (1) book for sharing (1) brash (1) busy (1) cadences (1) camp (1) caper (1) capital letters (1) catalogue (1) categorising (1) characteristics (1) charming (1) cheerful (1) choosing (1) chronology (1) clever (1) colour wheel (1) comic book (1) context (1) creativity (1) critical (1) cult (1) culture (1) cunning (1) cyclical (1) dated (1) depth of perspective (1) dots (1) engaging (1) exposition (1) expressionless (1) facts (1) factual (1) fairies (1) farce (1) fiction (1) flap book (1) flap-book (1) general knowledge (1) grammar (1) handwriting (1) historical figures (1) hybrid (1) iconic (1) ideologies (1) independent (1) layout (1) learning letters (1) letters (1) limbo (1) lullaby (1) macho (1) maths skills (1) metaphor (1) misadventures (1) multi-sensory (1) mythical (1) noise (1) non- fiction (1) numbers (1) phonics (1) poetry (1) reading level (1) rhyme (1) satirical (1) science (1) seafaring adventure (1) series (1) short chapters (1) shout aloud (1) social history (1) spotter guide (1) stimulating (1) stylish (1) sublime (1) subvert (1) thriller (1) thriller-seeker (1) tick-list (1) tragedy (1) turnability (1) uncomfortable (1) voice (1) voices (1)

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