It's Jumbo the elephant's birthday - and what better way to celebrate than by having a jungle jamboree? All Jumbo has to do is tell the toucan and he'll tell everybody else. But where is the toucan? Jumbo can't find him, and nor can the tiger, the warthog, the hippo...or anyone else.

 This fun book by Colin West is teeming with wonderful pictures of animals, which will delight babies and toddlers, who will be able to enjoy the illustrations even without the text, spotting the different animals and making their noises. Young children will probably appreciate the repetition of the text, which they will quickly  be able to join in. However, adult readers beware - you may have exploded from frustration at having to read the extensive repetition in the text, by the time you reach the end of the book! One page has sixteen lines of "what the (insert animal) told the (insert another animal)"

!When reading this aloud with younger children, it would be a good idea to invent  a sign or action for each animal that the child can make when they hear the name of that animal read out, in order to keep their attention.. With such beautifully crafted layout on each page, and such attractive illustrations and strong, clear, simple storyline, this book should prove a hit with different ages of young children, who will read and use the book in different ways.

2009-06-13