Very Special Friends: Down by the River

By Jane Chapman 

Year: 2012

Publisher: Little Tiger Press, London

Age: 4 and above

No. of Pages: 32

ISBN: 978 1 84895 305 5

Here’s another magical book from Jane Chapman on friendship, happiness and the sheer joy of contentment.

Mouse awaits her Special Friends by the riverside. As she waits, Rabbit decides to wait with her. They are joined by Frog and eventually, Turtle. The four of them have a lovely day by the riverside and realize at the end that Mouse’s Special Friends never did come by.

But they did, didn't they? :-)

The book captures the passing of a beautiful day with elegant prose. And, the paintings make this book a collector’s item. Simply beautiful!

Excerpt

“Just the weather for waiting,” smiled Frog. “Can I join you?”

Sunshine speckled the trees.

Caterpillars munched lazily in the leaves.

A single cloud drifted in the blue, blue sky. 

Who Stole the Cookies? Puffin Young Readers Level - 2

By Judith Moffatt

Year: 1996

Publisher: Puffin Young Readers, New York

Age: 4 and above

No. of Pages: 32

ISBN: 978-0-448-45795-6

This book belongs to the Puffin Young Readers series for little readers.

This book seems almost entirely based on that childhood rhyme “Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?”

With clean, non-fussy illustrations that convey the point just perfectly, this book makes for a good starter book for beginners.

Excerpt

I think Squirrel stole the cookies from the cookie jar.

Who, me, did you say?

Not me. No way!

I think Turtle stole the cookies from the cookie jar.

Oh no! Not true!

But here is a clue.

Other titles in this series

• Level - 1: A new friend
• Level - 1: At the beach 
• Level - 1: Ice Cream Soup
• Level - 1: Max has a Fish
• Level - 1: Nicky Upstairs and Down 
• Level - 1: Play with Blue
• Level - 1: Tiny goes camping 
• Level - 1: Tiny the Birthday Dog 
• Level - 1: Tiny the Snow Dog 

• Level - 2: Cowboy Roy
• Level - 2: Red, White and Blue
• Level - 2: Shape Spotters
• Level - 2: The Garden that we grew  
• Level - 2: The very lonely firefly

• Level - 3: Agapanthus Hum and the Eyeglasses
• Level - 3: Amanda Pig on her own
• Level - 3: Why do birds sing?