Trying to calm my nerves

Hi and welcome to my brand new blog. I'm a bit of a novice to all of this so please bear with me as I find my way. I thought I would start this blogging journey by telling you a bit about myself and how this blog was born.

My name is Kat and I am the mother to two wonderful children, a handsome and cheeky young man whose pet name is Va and is almost 4 years old and a gorgeous and equally as cheeky 2 year old girl whose pet name is Poppy.

I am a NZ trained primary school teacher who has a passion for books, especially children's literature. I have always loved a range of children's books from picture to young adult and you can often find me lurking in the children's book section in various book shops scoping out the latest additions. I often over hear parents asking the retail assistants for their advice about what bo

oks their children would enjoy reading and I need to restrain myself from offering my 10 cents worth. So to fulfil that need, this blog has been born! 

I will be reviewing a broad range of children's literature from basic picture books to graphic novels, sophisticated picture books to young adult fiction and everything in between.

My thesis was inspired by the amount of reluctant readers I have come across in my teaching and the belief that there is a book out there for everyone. Sometimes you just need a hand to find it. So whether or not you are trying to help a reluctant reader build up their reading mileage, are trying to find a book for a birthday present, or are just wanting some cool books to read aloud to your children before bedtime, this is the right place to come.

To kick start this blog I thought I would review a current picture book favourite of my sons. It's called:

When Dinosaurs came with everything by Elise Broach 

A little boy with a dislike for Fridays because they are his mothers "errand days" quickly changes his mind when one Friday "dinosaurs come with everything". He gets a triceratops with doughnuts from the bakery, a stegosaurus when he goes to the doctors for a check up and a pterosaur with a haircut. The problem now is what are they going to do with them?

I'll be the first to admit that dinosaurs have never been a huge interest of mine, but I found this book a joy to read with the kids. I will warn you however that all of a sudden my son has a fixation with dinosaurs, stamping around the house and roaring like a T-Rex, so you may wish to purchase a set of earplugs at the same time. The illustrations are gorgeous and it is a pleasure to read aloud. If your child enjoys Harry and his Bucketful of Dinosaurs or is going through a dinosaur stage then this book would be perfect.

As a read aloud I would say this book would be great for 3 years +.