Top That! Publishers have sent us a fabulous bundle of books to review. We have a lovely, big glossy picture book and some Flip-over Phonic books to aid children with reading and spelling.
Po-Tolo is a picture book with a green message. When spaceman Po-Tolo came to Earth on a quest, the brave, busy bumblebee Izzy helps him save his planet. In Po-Tolo's world, the bees have all gone and all the plants are dying. The environmental message is clear, making young children understand the importance of the humble bumblebee. Po-Tolo's plan diagrams show how bees collecting pollen leads to more plants!
The CGI illustrations are bold and bright and the fun story is entertaining to little ones as well as having the important green eco message. Freddy laughs out loud at this story, when Po-Tolo's spacesuit springs a leak thanks to a naughty wasp! It also makes little ones realise that they don't have to be big to be a big help! It costs £6.29 and is suitable for ages 3 and up.
We also received three free-standing flip over Phonics books: Short Vowels, Three Letter Words and Word Families. The books are quite sturdy with thin card pages.
Each page is split into three, allowing children to flip through to match up the correct letters, rhyming words or phonemes to make words or groups of words.
Freddy is a bit too young yet to really benefit from these as they are recommended for children aged 5 and over. They will however be great aids in learning to read and spell. The books come with notes for parents to help the understanding of phonics. By using colour and picture matching, children can find the correct matching pages, even before they have learned the alphabet. This is a great resource for pre-schoolers!