Madhouse Family Reviews: Children's Book review : The Moca-do-poo Bird

Thursday, 2 February 2012

Children's Book review : The Moca-do-poo Bird - Alasdair Adie

A few weeks ago, we received a lovely new children's book to review called The Moca-do-poo Bird. We were instantly off to a good start. Without even turning to the first page, 2-year-old Pierre and 6-year-old Juliette were in fits of infectious giggles over the word poo in the title !

They were also attracted by the big, colourful illustration on the front cover, and we were all pleased to see that these illustrations were carried on throughout the whole book, giving Pierre things to point at as I read the words.

The official blurb is as follows : "Come on a journey with Sam and Daisy into the fabulous fantasy land of the Home Stream, as they meet the Moca-do-poo bird and his enchanting friends. The Moca-do-poo bird is a bright and comical character who Sam and Daisy discover was abandoned as a young chick on the edge of the Home Stream and raised by Moo, the cow. Sam and Daisy share a series of encounters with the Moca-do-poo’s animal friends and help him to rediscover his purpose in life and find out what happened to his own family."

The book has been designed specifically to make it easy for you to read aloud to toddlers at bed time, with large text, big spacing between paragraphs, short chapters (so you can easily read one or two before bed) and full page, colourful illustrations (at least one per chapter). This also makes it ideal for beginner readers to read aloud to their younger siblings, a task which Juliette has proudly taken on.

Alasdair Adie, who started writing the book two years ago following the birth of his daughter, says that he wanted to write a nostalgic story that would encourage parents to read to their children at bed time, and it does indeed have a very retro feel, reminding me of books I enjoyed as a child. The short, fun-sounding character names such as Moo, Ribbit, Flap, Flop and Pop have the words rolling off your tongue and keep the kids listening intently and, as it becomes more familiar, joining in.

Despite it being a much longer book than I would usually read to Pierre, both he and Juliette really got into the story-telling routine over several sessions. The characters are lovely, the story is interesting and there is some great humour which had them - and me ! - giggling before bedtime.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £5.99