What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday Paperback – March 18, 2021

Not since Dr suess has there been such wizardly whimsicaly pharases put together that makes reading a true joy for both parents and child!! I haven’t ever not enjoyed one of her books!

My son loves these book series. The rhyming is great and the stories is entertaining.

This story is one that is told in rhymeThat’s a winner for me, every time!It concerns the ladybird whoFlies to London and visits the zoo.She hears two thieves who are plottersPlanning to steal Monkey Joe - the rotters!To discover what happens you’ll needThis delightful story yourself to read.With zoo animals and the Queen’s corgis, too,The story is action packed through and through.The illustrations are superb, colourful and brightAnd overall I believe this story really is just right!A fun and entertaining tale children will adoreReading once then again and again and more.Via NetGalley I was given a copy of this bookI’m so glad I gave it a careful look!I highly recommend it to anyone whoKnows children who’ll love it, too!

My three year old grandson is already an avid fan of Julia Donaldson’s books and will no doubt love this one too. Written in the author’s trademark rhyming couplets style, enhanced by delightful illustrations from Lydia Monks, we encounter the ladybird on holiday in London. While she is there, she hears Lanky Len and Hefty Hugh cooking up a dastardly plan to capture a monkey from the zoo as a means of stealing from the Queen.Their scheme is foiled by the ladybird’s careful listening and hatching her own crafty plan with the animals at the zoo. As the action unfolds, we see how they collaborate to rescue their monkey friend. Along the way, subtle teaching helps inform a listening child about animal activities, sounds and species, and general moral principles relating to behaviour, friendship and helping others in need. A lovely, pacey book for preschoolers.

The book is great, but three of four pages had tears.

Julia Donaldson gave herself a really hard act to follow with The Gruffalo - on Amazon UK this has over 1,000 reviews and an average of 4.9!! Both my grandchildren love it and their parents already know it off by heart. So it was with high expectations that I requested a copy of What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday from NetGalley.I gave this a run-through and found the rhymes a bit awkward, so I borrowed it's predecessor, What the Ladybird Heard, from my grandson, to compare them. To my delight, I discovered that in the paper copy of the book, the ladybird has texture - so instead of saying 'where's the ladybird' on each page of my review copy, my son was directing, 'touch the ladybird', which is already so much more fun. But I also found that the rhyming in the original copy takes a few reads to get the hang of, to get the rhythm right.What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday is intended for a slightly older audience (3 - 6 years) than The Gruffalo (2 - 5 years), so my grandchildren are still a little young for it, but they loved the animals and will get more involved with the book as they understand the story better.I may be giving this one 4 stars, based on the slightly awkward rhyming, but it's still an excellent choice for all young children.