A Book Munching Buddy

Many babies love to chew on books. BookBairn generally doesn't but then she's never been a fan of cloth, fabric or bath books and I imagine she picked up early on that paper and cardboard don't taste very good and it's more fun to flip the pages. But, of course, most babies explore the world through their mouths and will chew on most things. At the moment we are constantly telling BookBairn not to eat the crayons for fear that they might quit! (She is so cheeky about this now, looking me right in the eye, grinning and then chomping down on the crayon anyway. Perhaps we should read The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers to encourage her to give the crayons a break!)

We recently discovered another book monster who positively thrives on munching his way through books! Meet 'Nibbles: The Book Monster' created by Emma Yarlett. It didn't take us long after opening our book post to unleash Nibbles from his crate, and even after a month of reading, this is still BookBairn's favourite thing about this book.
Once unleashed, Nibbles nibbles his way through a library of books and then through three classic fairy tales, the pages of which are cut to look like 'books within a book'. The nibble holes of Nibbles are also die-cut throughout the book truly bringing this story to life! Fortunately, Nibbles is returned to his crate at the end of the book and little Bookbairn loves to shut him safely and securely inside but... *no spoilers*

This is a wonderfully written tale of a little yellow ball of fluff with legs and arms who, despite looking adorable, leaves chaos in his wake! This story will appeal to younger readers thanks to all the wonderful interactivity through lift the flaps and peek-through holes but also to older readers who will enjoy learning about how Nibbles interacts with the fairy tale characters that they are familiar with and how his intrusion into their stories alters the events and endings of the fairy tales.

The illustrations in this book make reading it a truly wonderful and magical experience! You will be utterly charmed by the devilishly irresistible little book monster and the delightfully expressive fairy tale characters. Each page is layered with details of books and you will be drawn into the backgrounds, which older readers will love discussing. The fairy tale books within 'Nibbles' are beautifully constructed and I think it would be wonderful if Emma Yarlett would create a series of fairy tale retellings!
Undoubtedly, I love Nibbles because I empathise with his love of books, not that you will find me chomping or munching holes in my books, of course, but you might catch me devouring them before bedtime! This story is truly a celebration of books, reading and book lovers!

As you can imagine, Daddy BookBairn often returns home from work to a new book lurking around the house but this was the first time I've seen BookBairn crawl to the door to greet him, and then return to find her copy of 'Nibbles' and hold it out for him to read to her. She is often quite tired by the time daddy gets home (as am I!!) and usually quite clingy to mummy so this was a pretty wonderful experience for us all. Thank you Nibbles for bringing Daddy and BookBairn together for extra cuddles at the end of a long day. Books truly do work magic!
If you're hungry for more Nibbles reviews and discussion, he is doing a blog tour around some of our favourite book blogs this week, I have posted the itinerary below if you want another slice!
Enjoy, Mummy and BookBairn xx
*DISCLAIMER* I was given 'Nibbles the Book Monster' for free for review purposes, however, all words and opinions are my own. These books are set for release on 7th April 2016.
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