Following our review of
动物狂欢节 and 从头到脚 Chinese story books, today, I'm reviewing 12 Chinese books! That's right! A whopping 12 books. I can't believe it myself. And it's all possible because 11 of them come in a set. The titles are 小绵羊生气了 and 奇迹小宝宝初次见面绘本系列 (11 books in this series).
小绵羊生气了
Let's start with the single title first. This is about a little sheep Momo who, with his friend Molly, finds a tree full of yummy red apples. While Molly eats any apples she finds, and is being rather flexible about her choice, Momo eyes one single apple hanging from the tree and tries his utmost best to reach out to it. Unfortunately, he fails, and tired from his attempts, falls asleep.
Then when he wakes up, he finds that Molly ate the apple he had been eyeing on. He gets into a huge temper, angry at his friend for eating 'his' apple and turns into a monster sheep.
He throws a tantrum. He goes on a rampage, destroying the chicken shed, frightening the ducks from the pond and bites the cow's tail. He's so furious that his stomping cracks the earth, and he falls into a dark hole. There, he gets some quiet time, and slowly he calms down. His friend then finds him, with another apple for him.
A translated version of the English title Marvin Gets Mad by Joseph Theobald, this title is recommended for kids 3 and above but I say it is perfect for AA. Why? Because Momo sounds just like him! You see, AA can be rather quick tempered, and when he doesn't get what he wants, he throws a tantrum and creates chaos, just like Momo. Perhaps it's because he's still learning to express himself and throwing a ruckus is currently his way of doing so. Or perhaps he knows he's the youngest and he's trying to get away with things. Whatever the reason, when he's in one of his moods, he has to be brought to one quiet corner and one of us adults will help him calm down. We help him manage his anger, slowly teaching him to do so himself.
That's why this book is brilliant in helping me teach AA about controlling his anger when things don't go his way. He's able to see from another perspective how ugly it looks when one gets angry, how ugly MMo looked when he turned into a monster, just like how ugly he is when he gets angry. And it's relevant for EV too. For though she's older and more mature, she still gets into her monster moods at times, and this book too illustrates very clearly how ugly she can be, with monster teeth, monster claws, and monster face.
奇迹小宝宝初次见面绘本系列 (11 books)
Suitable for kids below 3 years old, this series features titles from selected Japanese authors and illustrators. And it clearly shows, because between EV and AA, AA is more intrigued by them.
Featuring simple text and bright colorful illustrations, the titles in this series help little toddlers in their discovery of the world and stretches their imagination. AA's two favourite books are 什么火车来了 and 什么汽车来了, about trains and vehicles, where a bridge and a tunnel 'discover' the type of transportation that use them, based on how they look and how they sound. It's interesting to see that with each new transportation on each page, one only sees part of the vehicle on the left, before the rest of it is revealed in the next page. This adds a sense of mystery, and also keeps the little one in suspense and guessing.
The titles that both AA and EV love are 彭彭脑门儿 and 顶顶鼻子. They are both fun, and shows different animals either touching foreheads or playing nose-to-nose. Besides imitating these actions while reading, it's also possible to talks and discuss about the different animals, like how a baby kangaroo rests in his mum's pouch.
My personal favourites are 蜡笔咕噜咕噜 and 彩色纸哧哧. I like how the titles demonstrate creativity by using crayons and coloured paper, and it shows kids that it's possible to create something out of a few crayon scribbles or pieces of paper. Like how green crayon doodles become grasshoppers and purple circles become grapes. It really shows that creativity has no limits, if only one spends a little more effort to think out of the box.
Nature is also touched upon in the other titles. 小雨嘀嗒嘀嗒 tells the tale of a little girl who goes out when it is raining, and discovers how rain, and her boots, make prints in the water puddles, on the sand and everywhere around her. 小螃蟹 is set by the beach, where crabs witness the rising and setting of the sun by the seaside.
Our verdict
The other three titles that make up this series are equally entertaining and enriching. Just that the ones I've highlighted here are those that we tend to read more often. So overall, we really do enjoy this series of simple books, especially AA, who asks for his favourite every night.
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Disclaimer: We were provided with a copy of 小绵羊生气了and a set of 奇迹小宝宝初次见面绘本系列 (11册) for review purposes, as well as a $20 voucher for giveaway purposes. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions and images are our own.
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