Sea by Britta Teckentrup

Story Book Sunday 👧🏽👧🏽📚♥️

Last night we read Sea by Britta Teckentrup.

💫

✨

Synopsis

Discover a world beneath the waves that is teeming with life, from tiny graceful seahorses to darting tropical fish and from electric eels to humpback whales. A colourful array of sea creatures is brought to life by award-winning illustrator Britta Teckentrup in this delightful peep-through picture book.

Our Thoughts

This such a beautiful looking book! The colourful cover is made of gorgeous textured card and both of the Littles enjoyed touching it.

🐠

Sea is full of stunning and bright illustrations; so eye-catching and interesting for little readers. The peek through format with the clever die-cuts, really sparked the Littles’ interest and they were eager to turn the pages to see which creatures were coming up next.

🐠

Sea is a great book for exploring life under the sea, but also creates environmental awareness; teaching children about sea creatures and reminding them to to care for our oceans. The gentle rhyming text is perfect for reading aloud.

🐠

Beautiful, interesting and informative; Sea is a delightful picture book and we thoroughly recommend it for little hands to enjoy and explore!

🐠

Our thanks go to @leilah_makes and @littletigerbooks for our beautiful review copy. It’s out on 09 July paperback and available to pre-order here now.

📚

Until next time! Have a wonderful day!

@mrscookesbooks

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Hello bookish friends! Today it’s my pleasure to be sharing my #WhatsTurningMyPages review of Beach Read by Emily Henry with you! ✨

Synopsis

TWO WRITERS, ONE HOLIDAY. A ROMCOM WAITING TO HAPPEN…
January is a hopeless romantic who narrates her life like she’s the lead in a blockbuster movie.
Gus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy-tale.
But January and Gus have more in common than you’d think:
They’re both broke.
They’ve got crippling writer’s block.
And they need to write bestsellers before summer ends.
The result? A bet to swap genres and see who gets published first.
The risk? In telling each other’s stories, their worlds might be changed entirely…

My Thoughts

🏝

I was SO excited to start Beach Read – I’ve been on a bit of a thrilller drive for a while and the promise of a good rom-com was too much to turn down. I wasn’t disappointed. This book is rom-com gold – and there is STEAM aplenty!

🏝

Written with electrifying sass (and not in the slightest bit slushy or gooey); I found it so hard to put Beach Read down. With hilarious and at times side-splittingly funny and awkward banter, Beach Read really is just the ticket for the misery in which we currently find ourselves.

🏝

Being an aspiring writer myself, I was enthralled by the fact that both Gus and January were writers and fascinated by their individual journeys towards their finished pieces. This really gave the story some flesh and credibility; setting it apart from a typical summer romance.

🏝

So friends, I’m happy to admit that my name is Mrs Cooke and I am in love with Augustus Everett… and what?! Trust me… you will be too… 😉

🏝

Smart, sexy and dripping with sparkling wit, Beach Read is this year’s essential Summer book!

🏝

Beach is out on 09 July in paperback and you can preorder it here . My thanks go to Georgia Taylor and Viking Books for my finished copy and also to Aperol Spritz for my fabulous hamper 🍹🧡

Until next time! Have a wonderful day!

@mrscookesbooks

The Family Holiday by Elizabeth Noble

Hello and happy Monday!

Today I’m sharing my thoughts on The Family Holiday by Elizabeth Noble as part of the #blogtour 💫

✨

Synopsis

The Chamberlain family used to be close.

Charlie and Daphne were happily married, and their children Laura, Scott and Nick were inseparable. But then, inevitably, the children grew up and their own messy lives got in the way.

Since Daphne died, Charlie can’t help but think about happier times for the Chamberlain family – before his children drifted apart. His wife was the family’s true north, and without her guidance, Charlie fears his kids have all lost their direction.

For his eightieth birthday, all Charlie wants is to bring his family together again. And by some miracle, they’ve all said yes.

So, for the first time in a long time, the Chamberlains are going on a family holiday.

It’s only ten days . . . how bad could it be?

My Thoughts

Elizabeth Noble is a new author (to me) and I’m so pleased I to have discovered her. I love a good family drama and this is definitely one of those – and then some!

🏖

With short chapters and each from a different character’s perspective, Noble deftly weaves together a collection of individual stories into an intriguing yet cosy yarn. The story, whilst being heavily character driven, is also cosy and comforting and I enjoyed spending my time with the Chamberlain’s.

🏖

I particularly enjoyed Noble’s careful and considered writing style; it was easy to get into and she sets the scene and the build up to the holiday very well.

🏖

Noble examines the delicate balanced of the family dynamic and how it is affected by an array of difficult themes, in a sensitive and realistic way. At times I felt as though I was a bystander in as the scenes played out around me!

🏖

Charming, contemplative and very involving; The Family Holiday makes for a fantastic summer read.

🏖

The Family holiday is out now in paperback And you can buy it here and my thanks go to Ella Watkins and Michale Joseph Books for the invitation to the blogtour💫

🏖

If you enjoyed my post, please do check out my others and also the other stops on the blogtour (see below).

🏖

Until next time! Have a wonderful day!

@mrscookesbooks

This is Crab by Harriet Evans and Jacqui Lee

Story Book Sunday 👧🏽👧🏽📚♥️

Last night we read This is Crab by Harriet Evans and Jacqui Lee.

💫

✨

Synopsis

This is Crab. Join him for a cl-awesome adventure and explore the wonders of the ocean. Readers will want to dive right in to this humorous, interactive book again and again.

Our Thoughts

Well this is the most STUNNING hardback! A gorgeous electrically bright blue with an enormous picture of a lovely looking crab adorning the cover – what’s not to love?!

🦀

This is Crab showcases beautiful, high contrast, vivid and exciting illustrations throughout – so eye catching and fun and exceptionally appealing! They really do make the book come to life.

🦀

This is Crab is a really great book for getting young children to use their imaginations as they take the plunge into the undersea home of Crab and his friends. It is gently informative; introducing interesting facts about Crab and his shell, and the interactive element of instructions to help Crab and the fun flaps really make for an engaging read.

🦀

Quirky, light-hearted and so much fun; This is Crab is a beautifully informative book and we thoroughly recommend it for little hands to enjoy and explore!

🦀

Our thanks go to Little Tiger Books for our beautiful review copy. It’s out on 09 July and available to pre-order here now.

Until next time! Have a wonderful day!

@mrscookesbooks

I’m Sorry by Barry Timms & Sean Julian

Story Book Sunday 👧🏽👧🏽📚♥️

Last night we read I’m Sorry by Barry Timms and Sean Julian.

💫

✨

Synopsis

Scribble and Swoop are the best of friends – until the day they have a TERRIBLE QUARREL! Which friend will be the first to say sorry? And can an apology fix their precious friendship?

The perfect story for teaching young children the importance of meaningful apologies.

Our Thoughts

This is a huge hardback, with a lovely picture of a fluffy owl cuddling a squirrel on the front; such an endearing image and very appealing to the Littles! There was lots of “ooo-ing” and “aahhh-ing” when I whipped this book out!

💙

I’m Sorry contains beautiful, cosy-looking illustrations with a lovely muted and calming colour scheme throughout. This particularly helped with delivering and discussing a serious message in a fun way!

💙

The themes of this book are friendship and sharing and apologising when we have done something unkind. It triggered much discussion about polite and kind behavior and the Littles really enjoyed going back through the book to point out where things could have been different.

💙

I’m Sorry is a gorgeous and gentle introduction to the idea of sharing and we really recommend it for discussing how to work though problems.

💙

Our thanks go to Leilah Skelton and Little Tiger Books for our beautiful review copy. It’s out on 25th June and available here to pre-order now.

📚

Hope you all have lovely week!

Until next time! Have a wonderful day!